ShareThisCaldecott Medal-winning artists have produced a wonderful crop of new picture books this season:
-- Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes is the author and his wife Laura Dronzek is the artist of a wondrous new picture book, "Birds" (Greenwillow, $17.99). Henkes, who won the 2005 Caldecott Medal for "Kitten's First Full Moon," proves once again that he is a master of the picture book form. "Birds" is essentially an introduction to the species, written with Henkes' trademark blend of detail, humor and a bit of drama. Dronzek's illustrations are the perfect match for Henkes' story as they combine simplicity of form with gorgeous colors and some visual surprises. This beautiful, engaging picture book already is touted as a possible 2010 Caldecott Medal winner and it's easy to see why. (Ages 3-6.)
-- Visiting her grandmother one day, a young American girl named Erika sees a print of a Japanese-style house hanging on a wall. Entranced by the print, Erika decides then and there that she wants to live in Japan when she grows up. Her dream never wavers; Erika studies Japanese through college and then journeys to Japan, where she eventually finds love and a new life. In "Erika-San" (Houghton Mifflin, $17), author/illustrator Allen Say, who won the 1994 Caldecott Medal for "Grandfather's Journey," offers a thought-provoking twist on the typical immigrant-comes-to-America story as Erika immerses herself in her adopted land of Japan. Say's story also provides young readers with a powerful yet subtle example of how childhood dreams can come true. As usual, Say's art is luminous with color and detail, capturing the bustle of Japanese cities, the dazzling beauty of the countryside, and Erika's delight in finding her true home. (Ages 5-8.)
-- Ed Young, who won the 1990 Caldecott Medal for "Lon Po Po," has just produced two wildly different new picture books. In "Tsunami!" (Philomel, $15.99), he teams with author Kimiko Kajikawa to tell the story of Ojiisan, the oldest and wealthiest resident of a Japanese village, who saves hundreds of lives by some quick-witted action. Young's cut-paper collages -- created from a variety of media including rice paper, magazine pages and even corrugated cardboard -- are spectacular as they capture the fervor of Kajikawa's tale. (Ages 5-8.)
-- In "Hook" (Roaring Brook, $17.95), Young is both author and illustrator as he presents a unique riff on Han Christian Andersen's classic tale, "The Ugly Duckling." Here, the duckling is an eagle who is adopted by a chicken, with the help of a young Pueblo boy. Hook is compelled to learn to fly, but it's a process filled with both comedy and disappointment until the young eagle finally soars off into the sky. Young's spare story is complemented by his sometimes breathtaking, sometimes humorous illustrations, created on adobe-colored paper in a Southwestern palette rich in blues, blacks, reds and browns. (Ages 3-7.)
-- A year ago, Adrianne Lobel discovered a cache of handmade books that her father, Caldecott Medalist Arnold Lobel, had given as gifts to friends over the years. Adrianne Lobel decided to collect the books into a new volume, "The Frogs and Toads All Sang" (HarperCollins, $16.99), an appealing volume of 10 poems and illustrations. The poems showcase Lobel's impish humor and provide an early look at the creatures who later would become the stars of his "Frog and Toad" books. The illustrations, colored by Adrianne Lobel, have a comic vivacity that will immediately appeal to children. Adults familiar with both the "Frog and Toad" books and "Fables," Arnold Lobel's 1981 Caldecott Medal-winning book, also will be charmed by this new discovery. (Ages 4-7.)
-- Author Rob Walker pairs 12 languages with English to showcase the bond between mothers and sons in "Mama Says" (Blue Sky/Scholastic, $16.99). Walker's lyrical text is matched by the illustrations of two-time Caldecott Medalists Leon and Diane Dillon. In their stunning artwork, the Dillons -- who won the 1976 and 1977 Caldecott Medals for "Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears" and "Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions" -- capture the spirit of each culture highlighted by Walker's text. (Ages 4-8.)
-- A little girl lives in a book. But she doesn't know what her story is, and she sets off to find it in the humorously mind-bending "A Book" (Roaring Brook, $16.95), written and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein. Young readers will be both educated and entertained as Gerstein, who won the 2004 Caldecott Medal for "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," shows his young protagonist journeying through fairy tales, mysteries and other types of books in search of her story. Eventually, she realizes that she's got to write her own tale. Gerstein's plot and his comic-book style illustrations will delight young readers. (Ages 5-8.)
(Karen MacPherson, the children's/teen librarian at the Takoma Park, Md., Library, can be reached at Kam.Macpherson(at)gmail.co
CHILDREN'S CORNER
