While scrolling through the list of Caldecott winners, this book’s title stuck out to me right away. Written and illustrated by Mordecai Gerstein in 2003 and winner of the Caldecott in 2004, this book serves as both nostalgia to the author’s favorite street performer, Philippe Petit. Considering that this was only written two years after 9/11, its significance is heightened through its illustration of the Twin Towers and its underlying theme of triumph within the human spirit. While I was not aware that this book existed until recently, it still manages to pull at my own heartfelt emotions towards such a significant place in our country.

For the picture book assignment, I chose the 1982 Caldecott  winner, Jumanji. I always enjoyed the film adaptation as a child and was not even aware that it was first a children’s book. I am excited to be able to explore this book in detail and also get a chance to see how it compares to its film counterpart.

I chose this story because I originally liked the title and adorable illustration but I soon loved it, entirely. It’s about two boys and the exhilarating feelings they must have felt being away from their parents for entire week. Who couldn’t relate to that? Two young boys fulfilling every young boys fantasy of no rules and childhood fun only a kid can understand.

The book that I am choosing is, Where The Wild Things Are. Maurice Sendak is the author and illustrator of this book. I have read this book several times. It may not be as popular as it was when I was a child, but is still being read by children today. I would like to familiarize people with the challenges the author faced. When the book was published in the 60s the author took a lot of raft for writing this book and it joined several other books on the challenged list. Overall, the book is still loved because it is about monsters and exploring the unknown.

After much searching, in the end I’ve decided to write on one of my own favorite books growing up. The Funny Little Woman won the Caldecott medal in 1973. In addition to owning a copy of this book, I chose it for its stunning ink and watercolor illustrations and for its retelling of an offbeat story about a little old lady who just wants to find her precious dumpling, but winds up meeting an actual demon. I’m really excited to revisit this book after so long and hopefully get a better sense of not only what its appeal was for me in the past, but also what made it a contender for the award to begin with.

In my mind, Where the Wild Things Are is easily one of the greatest picture books ever published, and it meant a lot to me as a kid. The book had a special kind of understanding of children that other books just didn’t have, and it was willing to treat its readers as actual human beings, flaws and raw emotion included. Where the Wild Things Are saw a great deal of difficulty in initial publication due to its content, and I’m almost surprised it won the Caldecott when it did. I’m curious to see how well it fits the criteria put forth at the time.

For my picture book project, of course I chose the classic 1955 Medal Winner, the Cinderella Story, or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown, merely because it’s my favorite childhood book that seems to never get old, no matter how many times it’s rewritten. Furthermore, after assessing the requirements of the Caldecott Award, it’s evident that this book exceeds those requirements. This picture book does a fantastic job of demonstrating a story through visuals that allows an easy connection for all children. I look forward to researching further on this classic story.

The book that I have chosen for the picture book essay is Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg. I chose this book partially due to familiarity. I can recall the Robin Williams movie from the ’90s, so when I saw this on the list of Caldecott winners, it peaked my interest. While I am somewhat familiar with the storyline, I am interested in seeing how the author will use visuals to draw in the reader and strengthen the overall story.

Sleep Like A Tiger

by. Mary Logue

illustrated by. Pamela Zagarenski

For my picture book essay, I chose Sleep Like A Tiger by Mary Logue. It’s a perfect bedtime story about a young girl who isn’t tired and doesn’t want to go to sleep. The dialogue in the story reminds me with the endless questions of “what if” asked by children. The illustrations in the book are very beautiful and enriched the story tremendously.