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The 2015 Caldecott Award Winners

By Charlou L. - Johnson County Library February 26, 2015
This year was a record breaking year for the Caldecott Award given annually to the artist of the most distinguished picture book for children. More diverse illustrators than ever before were recognized including five female illustrators in a field dominated by men.

And the winner is - The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, illustrated and written by Dan Santat.  Beekle is a cute, little, imaginary friend tired of waiting to be imagined by a child so he set off to find his perfect child. Truly a mixed-media book, Santat used pencil, crayon, watercolor, ink, and Adobe Photoshop for his illustrations and the text was hand-lettered. There are wonderful two-page spreads of the colorful island of the imaginary, the dark scary city, and the shared world of Beekle and Alice.



Six honor books were chosen this year – more than any previous year!



The beautiful watercolor illustrations of Nana in the City written and illustrated by Lauren Castillo reflect the feelings of a little boy, from scared to excited, as he discovers the city with his grandmother.

Picture book biographies are becoming better and better and three were recognized this year. The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky's Abstract Art, illustrated by Mary GrandPré, written by Barb Rosenstock and experience Kandinsky’s ability to hear colors and see sounds.

The wide variety of media - puppetry, printmaking, painting and photography – give color and life to the colorful life of Frida Kahlo in Viva Frida, illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales.

Peter loved words and even as a child kept lists and those lists turned into a book. The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant is a picture book about the power of words.

Do you have a child who has tried to dig a hole to the other side of the earth? Take a look at Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett, who are, I must say, one of my favorite author/illustrator pairs. I’ve found that kids get the story hidden in the illustrations sooner than adults.

Not only was this the first  year a graphic novel was recognized, it pushes the upper age limit of the Caldecott which is ages up to, and including, fourteen. This One Summer, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki, for a middle and high school audience, is the story of two girls just on the verge of growing up –one still a carefree child and the other seeing life as a new young adult. The illustrations are a beautiful monochromatic blue hinting at the sea side setting and the reflecting the mood of the story.



Check them out soon at your neighborhood Johnson County Library!