Brunching by Moonlight

I’ve been busy working on another project...so Sunday Brunch is a little late today. In fact, it’s being served by moonlight. Today’s entry counts Caldecotts, reviews a new book, and reports on the shunning of Pooh’s friend Piglet.

POOR PIGLET

Ever since H1N1 hit the scene, a number of cartoons utilizing children’s book characters have hit the web. There’s this take-off on A.A. Milne:


as well as this one:


What’s next -- a cartoon of Wilbur in his pen with the web above him spelling out, “Get Your Flu Shot”?

BOOKS FOR DOGS

Did you hear about Willow? This twelve-year-old mixed-breed has been in the news recently demonstrating her uncanny ability to “read.” When her trainer holds up a sign that says “BANG,” Willow plays dead. “SIT UP”causes her to rise up on her haunches and beg. Many experts question whether Willow can actually read words. Some say she reacts to the general shape of the words on the page, or takes cues from her trainer’s body language. What impressed me the most was this picture of Willow with a stack of books.


There’s no denying, Willow has good taste in books. If you squint your eyes and get very close to the computer screen, you may recognize most of the volumes as canine-related children’s books. I can’t quite see them all, but I can make out GO, DOG, GO by P.D. Eastman, BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo, HOTEL FOR DOGS by Lois Duncan, and GOOD DOG CARL by Alexandra Day.

COUNTING CALDECOTTS

Last Sunday I created a list of all the multiple Newbery winners. This week I thought I’d do the same for the Caldecotts. Last week’s list showed that no author had won a total of more than five Newbery Medals and Honor Books. Things are very different in the Land of Caldecott, where we’ve got a six-time honoree, an eight-time honoree and even someone with a combined total of NINE Caldecott Awards and Honor Books. Can you guess who that person is? Hint: it’s not Sendak.

Double-Dippers

Adrienne Adams had two Caldecott Honors: HOUSES FROM THE SEA (1960) and THE DAY WE SAW THE SUN COME UP (1962.)

Ludwig Bemelmans won in 1954 for MADELINE’S RESCUE and had an Honor Book in 1940 for the original MADELINE.

Virginia Lee Burton had one Caldecott winner (THE LITTLE HOUSE, 1943) and one Honor Book (SONG OF ROBIN HOOD, 1948.)

Jean Charlot had two Honor Books: WHEN WILL THE WORLD BE MINE (1954) and A CHILD’S GOODNIGHT BOOk (1944.)

Bryan Collier has had two Honors, in 2002 for MARTIN’S BIG WORDS and in 200^ for ROSA.

Barbara Cooney won two Caldecott golds -- for CHANTICLEER AND THE FOX (1960) and THE OX-CART MAN (1980.)

Donald Crews received a Caldecott Honor for FREIGHT TRAIN (1979) and another for TRUCK (1981.)

James Daugherty had two Honors: ANDY AND THE LION in 1939 and GILLESPIE AND THE GUARDS (1956.)

Marguerite De Angeli had a pair of Caldecott Honors: YONIE WONDERNOSE (1945) and BOOK OF NURSERY AND MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES (1955.)

Leo and Diane Dillion struck Caldecott gold two years in a row with WHY MOSQUITOES BUZZ IN PEOPLE’S EARS (1976) and ASHANTI TO ZULU (1977.)

William Pene Du Bois received Honors for BEAR PARTY (1952) and LION (1957.)

Roger Duvoisin won the 1948 Caldecott with WHITE SNOW, BRIGHT SNOW and had a 1966 Honor with HIDE AND SEEK FOG.Ed Emberley has had one winner (DRUMMER HOFF, 1968) and one Honor (ONE WIDE RIVER TO CROSS (1967.)

Tom Feelings won Honors for MOJA MEANS ONE (1972) and JAMBO MEANS HELLO (1975.)

Wanda Gag (who had two Newbery Honor) also received two Caldecott Honors: SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES (1939) and NOTHING AT ALL (1942.)

Paul Galdone’s illustrations for the Anatole stories were recognized in 1957 (ANATOLE) and 1958 (ANATOLE AND THE CAT.)

Margaret Bloy Graham had back-to-back Honors with ALL FALLING DOWN (1952) and THE STORM BOOK (1953.)

Kevin Henkes won for KITTEN’S FIRST FULL MOON (2005) and had an Honor with OWEN (1994.)

Elizabeth Orton Jones won for PRAYER FOR A CHILD (1945) and had an Honor Book, SMALL RAIN, the previous year.

Ezra Jack Keats won in 1963 for THE SNOWY DAY and had an Honor in 1968 for GOGGLES.

Nicholas Mordvinoff won for FINDERS KEEPERS (1952) and had an Honor with THE TWO REDS (1951.)

Kadir Nelson has won two Honors: MOSES (2007) and HENRY’S FREEDOM BOX (2008.)

Maud and Miska Petersham received the 1946 for THE ROOSTER CROWS and had a 1942 Honor Book with AN AMERICAN ABC.

Brian Pinkney has won two Honors: A FAITHFUL FRIEND (1996) and DUKE ELLINGTON (1999.)

Marjorie Priceman had two Honors: ZIN! ZIN! ZIN! A VIOLIN in 1996 and HOT AIR in 2006.

Alice and Martin Provensen won with 1984’s THE GLORIOUS FLIGHT and had an Honor for A VISIT TO WILLIAM BLAKE’S INN (1982.)

Chris Raschka won in 2006 for THE HELLO, GOODBYE WINDOW and had a 1994 Honor with YO? YES!

Eric Rohmann won for MY FRIEND RABBIT (2003) and had a 1995 Honor with TIME FLIES.

Allen Say won the 1994 Caldecott for GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY and had a 1989 HONOR with BOY OF THE THREE-YEAR NAP.

Brian Selznick won for THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET (2008) and Honored with THE DINOSAURS OF WASTERHOUSE HAWKINS (2002.)

David Small won for SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT (2001) and Honored with THE GARDENER (1998.)

Peter Spier won in 1978 for NOAH’s ARK and had a 1962 Honor Book, FOX WENT OUT ON A CHILLY NIGHT.

William Steig won in 1970 (SYLVESTER AND THE MAGIC PEBBLE) and had a 1977 Honor (THE AMAZING BONE.)

John Steptoe had a pair of Honors with THE STORY OF JUMPING MOUSE (1985) and MUFARO’S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS (1988.)

Helen Stone had two Caldecott Honors -- ALL AROUND THE TOWN (1949) and THE MOST WONDERFUL DOLL IN THE WORLD (1951.)

Simms Taback won for JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT (2000) and Honored with THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY (1998.)

Marjorie Torrey had an Honor Book two years in a row: SING MOTHER GOOSE (1946) and SING IN PRAISE (1947.)

Tasha Tudor had two Caldecott Honors: MOTHER GOOSE (1945) and 1 IS ONE (1957.)

Lynd Ward won in 1953 with THE BIGGEST BEAR and had an Honor in 1950 with AMERICA’S ETHAN ALLEN.

Kurt Wiese had two Caldecott Honors: YOU CAN WRITE CHINESE (1946) and FISH IN THE AIR (1949.)

Vera B. Williams scored a pair of Honor Books with A CHAIR FOR MY MOTHER (1983) and “MORE, MORE, MORE,” SAID THE BABY (1991.)

Hildegard Woodward had Honors in 1948 (ROGER AND THE FOX) and 1950 (THE WILD BIRTHDAY CAKE.

Three-peaters

Molly Bang has a trio of Caldecott Honors: TH GREY LADY AND THE STRAWBERRY SNATCHER (1981), TEN, NINE, EIGHT (1984), and WHEN SOPHIE GETS ANGRY -- REALLY REALLY ANGRY (2000.)

Stephen Gammell won in 1989 for SONG AND DANCE MAN and had two Honors, WHERE THE BUFFALO BEGAN (1982) and THE RELATIVES CAME (1986.)

Berta and Elmer Hader received the 1949 Caldecott for THE BIG SNOW and also had two Honors: COCK-A-DOODLE-DO (1940) and THE MIGHTY HUNTER (1943.)

Nonny Hogrogian won twice (ALWAYS ROOM FOR ONE MORE, 1966; ONE FINE DAY, 1972) and had one Honor (THE CONTEST, 1977.)

Robert Lawson had one winner (THEY WERE STRONG AND GOOD, 1941) and two Honors: FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS (1938) and WEE GILLIS (1939.)

Arnold Lobel won for FABLES (1971) and had Honors with FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS (1971) and HILIDID’S NIGHT (1972.)

David Macaulay won for BLACK AND WHITE (1991) and received Honors for CATHEDRAL (1974) and CASTLE (1978.)

Gerald McDermott won in the 1975 for ARROW TO THE SUN and has had two Honor Books, ANANSI THE SPIDER, 1973, and RAVEN, 1994.

Peter Parnall received three Honors for THE DESERT IS THEIRS (1976), HAWK, I’M YOUR BROTHER (1977), and THE WAY TO START A DAY (1978.)

Leo Politi won in 1950 for SONG OF THE SWALLOWS and had two Honors: PEDRO, THE ANGEL OF OLVERA STREET (1947) and JUANITA (1949.)

Dr. Seuss was a three time Honoree with MCELLIGOT’S POOL (1948), BARTHOLEMEW AND THE OOBLECK (1950), IF I RAN THE ZOO (1951.)

Marc Simont had one winner (A TREE IS NICE, 1957) and two Honors (THE HAPPY DAY, 1950) and THE STRAY DOG (2002.)

Peter Sis has a trio of Honor Books: STARRY MESSENGER (1997), TIBET THROUGH THE RED BOX (1999) and THE WALL (2008.)

Chris Van Allsburg has two Caldecott winners (JUMANJI, 1982; THE POLAR EXPRESS, 1986) and one Honor (THE GARDEN OF ABDUL GASAZI, 1980.)

Leonard Weisgard won in 1947 for THE LITTLE ISLAND and also had an Honor Book that year with RAIN DROP SPLASH. In 1946 he illustrated the Honor LITTLE LOST LAMB.

Mo Williems has three Honors: DON’T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS (2004), KNUFFLE BUNNY (2005), and KNUFFLE BUNNY TOO (2008.)

Taro Yashima received three Caldecott Honors: CROW BOY (1956), UMBRELLA (1959), and SEASHORE STORY (1968.)

Ed Young won for LON PO PO (1990) and had two Honors, THE EMPEROR AND THE KITE (1968) and SEVEN BLIND MICE (1993.)

Margot Zemach won the 1974 Medal for DUFFY AND THE DEVIL and had Honors in 1970 for THE JUDGE and in 1978 for IT COULD ALWAYS BE WORSE.

Four Times Fortunate

Trina Schart Hyman had a quartet of prizes with winner ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON (1985) and Honor Books LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (1984), HERSHEL AND THE HANUKKAH GOBLINS (1990), and A CHILD’S CALENDAR (1998.)

Blair Lent was recognized for his winner THE FUNNY LITTLE WOMAN (1973) and three Honors: THE WAVE (1965), WHY THE SUN AND THE MOON LIVE IN THE SKY (1969), and THE ANGRY MOON (1972.)

Leo Lionni had four Honor Books: INCH BY INCH (1961), SWIMMY (1964), FREDERICK (1968), and ALEXANDER AND THE WIND-UP MOUSE (1970.)

Evaline Ness won the 1967 Medal for SAM, BANGS & MOONSHINE and had three more Honors: ALL IN THE MORNING EARLY (1964), A POCKET FULL OF CRICKET (1965), and TOM TIT TOT (1966.)

Clare Turley Newberry had four Honor Books: BARKIS (1939), APRIL’S KITTENS (1941), MARSHMALLOW (1943), and T-BONE AND THE BABYSITTER (1951.)

Uri Shulevitz won the 1969 Caldecott for THE FOOL OF THE WORLD AND THE FLYING SHIP and also had three subsequent Honors. They are THE TREASUR (1980), SNOW (1999) and HOW I LEARNED GEOGRAPHY (2009.)

Paul O. Zelinsky won for RAPUNZEL (1998) and had three Honor Books: HANSEL AND GRETEL (1985), RUMPLESTILSKIN (1987) and SWAMP ANGEL (1995.)

Five Timers

In additon to his two Caldecott Medals (MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS, 1942; TIME OF WONDER, 1958), Robert McClosky racked up three more Honor Books: BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL (1949), ONE MORNING IN MAINE (1953) and JOURNEY CAKE, HO! (1954.)

Jerry Pinkney has had five Honor Books so far: MIRANDY AND BROTHER WIND (1989), THE TALKING EGGS (1990), JOHN HENRY (1995), THE UGLY DUCKLING (2000), and NOAH’S ARK (2003.)

David Wiesner has had three winners (TUESDAY, 1992; THE THREE PIGS, 2002; FLOTSAM , 2007) and two Honors, FREE FALL (1989) and SECTOR SEVEN (2000.)

Six Times Successful

Marie Hall Ets was recognized six times, with winner NINE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS (1960) and Honor Books IN THE FOREST (1945), MR. T.W. ANTHONY WOO (1952), PLAY WITH ME (1956), MR. PENNY’S HORSE RACE (1957), and JUST ME (1966.)

The Eight Timer!

Maurice Sendak won the 1964 Caldecott for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and had an amazing seven Honor Book titles: A VERY SPECIAL HOUSE (1954), WHAT DO YOU SAY, DEAR (1959), THE MOON JUMPERS (1960), LITTLE BEAR’S VISIT (1962), MR. RABBIT AND THE LOVELY PRESENT (1963), IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN (1971), and OUTSIDE OVER THERE (1982.)

The Nine Timer!!!!!!!!!

The illustrator with the most Caldecott commendations of all is Marcia Brown, who won three gold medals (CINDERELLA, 1955; ONCE A MOUSE,1962; SHADOW, 1983) plus a whopping six silver medals for STONE SOUP (1948), HENRY FISHERMAN (1950), DICK WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT (1951), SKIPPER JOHN’S COOK (1952), PUSS IN BOOTS (1953), and THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER (1954.)

JUST ONCE UPON A TIME

Considering how many people were honored multiple times, I was curious to see which illustrators received the Caldecott just once and never received any other recognition from the committee -- no winners or Honors -- for the rest of their career. They are:

1938 / Dorothy P. Lathrop / ANIMALS OF THE BIBLE
1939 / Thomas Handforth / MEI LI
1940 / Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire / ABRAHAM LINCOLN
1944 / Louis Slobodkin / MANY MOONS
1951 / Katherine Milhous / THE EGG TREE
1956 / Feodor Rojankovsky / FROG WENT A’COURTIN’
1961 / Nicholas Sidjakov / BABOUSHKA AND THE THREE KINGS
1965 / Beni Montresor / MAY I BRING A FRIEND?
1971 / Gail E. Haley / A STORY, A STORY
1979 / Paul Goble / THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES
1987 / Richard Egielski / HEY, AL
1988 / John Schoenherr / OWL MOON
1993 / Emily Arnold McCully / MIRETTE ON THE HIGH WIRE
1995 / David Diaz / SMOKY NIGHT
1996 / Peggy Rathmann / OFFICER BUCKLE AND GLORIA
1997 / David Wisniewski / GOLEM
1999 / Mary Azarian / SNOWFLAKE BENTLEY
2004 / Mordicai Gerstein / THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS
2009 / Beth Krommes / THE HOUSE IN THE NIGHT
...so, 19 out of 71 total winners-- or well less than a third -- have gone to illustrators who never before or since received any Caldecott recognition.

REVIEW : BYSTANDER BY JAMES PRELLER

Maybe you’ve never been the bully. Maybe you’ve never been the victim. But at some point, nearly everyone has been the bystander -- the individual who witnesses a bully’s attack and does nothing about it. Eric Hayes is new to Long Island when he meets Griffin, the reigning bully of Bellport Central Middle School. Initially, Eric is “drawn to Griffin, the way a caveman might be drawn to fire.” Hanging around the edges of Griff’s clique, Eric silently, even smilingly, watches his new friend’s Eddie Haskell act around grown-ups as well as his continual harrassment of a fellow student. When Eric eventually speaks up about the bullying, he suddenly becomes Griffin’s new prey. James Preller has written a fast-moving, accessible story about an everyday kid confronting a satisfyingly-complex villian. Occasionally the story seems overly purposeful -- especially when an entire class period (and and entire chapter) is spent explaining the issue of bullying (“Mr. Floyd said there were four types of bullying: verbal, physical, intimidation, and indirect bullying.”) And some of Eric’s insights are too adult (and too pop-psych) to be believable, as when he realizes that his mentally ill father is “like two men, the good guy and the sick one. For Eric to ever live a full life he would have to love both men.” The story is at its best when it sticks to Eric’s seventh-grade perspective, complete with artlessly perfect metaphors (“A long row of yellow school buses, like a line of enormous Twinkies, idled along the right side of the parking lot.”), a sense of emotional immediacy, and a realistically triumphant ending.

WORTH NOTING

In the book collecting world, people are always concerned about condition. Wear, nicks, and chips on dustjackets are always noted and, if bad enough, are sometimes a “deal breaker” when it comes to selling a book. I am not excessively picky about such things myself -- especially when a book is over forty or fifty years old. Nothing gets that old (and I count myself among that category) without a few battle scars. But what do you say about a book that’s only a week old and looks like it’s already been through a war? I’m talking about the aforementioned BYSTANDER. I just bought the book a week ago and only read it once -- and I was certainly careful with the volume. Yet look at the folds on the dustjacket:


I’m not sure if the photograph captures it very well, but both the folds on the fore-edge of the book are so cracked that the color has flecked off from top to bottom. In fact, the edges are now so rough and worn that it wouldn’t take much for the front and back flaps of the dustjacket to tear off and completely separate from the book. I’ve never seen something like this happen to a brand new book that’s only been read once. Did the publisher use subpar paper? Is the dustjacket coated with some kind of inferior paper treatment? Did I just get a bum copy? Whatever the case, it’s worth noting for future reference. If you purchase a copy for your home or library, you might want to slip a mylar cover over the jacket before reading.

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