Caldecott Winners 2013

Earlier this week the ALA announced the winners of the 2013 Caldecott Award and Honors. As soon as the winners were announced I buzzed over to local the library to snatch the books up before lengthy hold lists interfered. With a little luck and a couple of the books already in my home library, we’ve been happily reading and enjoying these books all week:

This Is Not My Hat – Illustrated and written by Jon Klassen. Well, it’s been a good year for Klassen. This Is Not My Hat is about a little fish that steals a hat and the consequences he incurs as a result. Silly, silly, and with fresh, fun illustrations, Klassen is a great artist and one to watch for in the future.

 

 

Extra Yarn – Illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett. Extra Yarn has been a favorite at our house since we first saw it hit the library new arrival shelf. We liked it so much, I ran out and bought it as soon as I could no longer renew it at the library. It’s about a little girl who comes across a box full of bright colored yarn and then knits, knits, knits a little something for everyone in her town. The illustrations are fabulous. I love the way Klassen used color in this book.

Sleep Like a Tiger – Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue. Sleep like a Tiger is about a little girl who doesn’t want to go bed and is curious if all the different animals in the world have to sleep. The illustrations are beautiful. Absolutely a new favorite of mine and one I’ll soon be adding to my personal library. My daughter really likes it too.

 

Green – Illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Seeger’s illustrations in Green are are so creative. She’s used cutouts on many of the pages that peek through to the previous or next page and she’s been very clever in her execution of this. This is a fabulous book.

 

 

 

Creepy Carrots! – Illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds. So clever and fun, Creepy Carrots! is about a rabbit that voraciously likes to eat carrots; especially the carrots in Crackenhopper Field. But has Jasper Rabbit’s carrot eating gone too far? Convinced that carrots are following him and pose a threat to his well-being, the Jasper decides to take matters into his own hands. I love this book and is another I want to add to my personal library.

 

 

One Cool Friend – Illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo. One Cool Friend is a fun story about a sophisticated little boy who finds a new friend at the local aquarium. Small’s use of color in his illustrations is wonderful and I really like the way the dialogue is illustrated as well. My daughter really likes the story of Elliot and his new pet. I kinda wish Elliot hadn’t stolen his new pet (I imagine that my daughter is already hatching plans to climb over zoo fences to get to the animals herself), but appreciate how polite he is in most every other way.