2022 Caldecott Award Winner
Watercress, written
by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin
From the dust jacket: Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl’s parents stop suddenly when they spot something growing in a ditch by the side of the road . . . watercress! With an old paper bag and some trusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail-covered plant as they can. At first, it’s embarrassing. Why can’t her family get food at the grocery store? But when her mother shares the story of her family’s life in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress in this tender story inspired by the author’s childhood memories and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Jason Chin.
From the Amazon description: While driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl's Chinese immigrant parents spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. They stop the car, grabbing rusty scissors and an old paper bag, and the whole family wades into the mud to gather as much as they can. At first, she's embarrassed. Why can't her family just get food from the grocery store, like everyone else? But when her mother shares a bittersweet story of her family history in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged—and the memories left behind in pursuit of a new life. Together, they make a new memory of watercress. Author Andrea Wang calls this moving, autobiographical story “both an apology and a love letter to my parents.” It’s a bittersweet, delicate look at how sharing the difficult parts of our histories can create powerful new moments of family history and help connect us to our roots. Jason Chin’s illustrations move between China and the American Midwest and were created with a mixture of traditional Chinese brushes and western media. The dreamy, nostalgic color palette brings this beautiful story to life. An endnote from the author describes her personal connection to the story, and an illustrator’s note touches on both the process of the painting, and the emotional meaning brought to the work.
Awards: New England Book Award Winner; A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year; A Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of the Year; A Boston Globe Best Children's Book of the Year; A Washington Post Best Children's Book of the Year; A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book; Winner of the Cybils Award; An SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner; A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year; A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year; An ALSC Notable Children's Book; Named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, BookPage, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Lunch, Shelf Awareness , and more! A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book; An NPR 'Book We Love!'; A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!
You can listen to the book read here by
someone who had similar experiences growing up in Ohio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIU-Wp-CNOs
Author: Andrea Wang is the award-winning author of The Nian Monster and Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. [If you have a child or grandchild who loves Ramen noodles, this book is a fun read!] Wang was inspired to write Watercress by her experience growing up in rural Ohio as a child of Chinese immigrants. Andrea holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in Colorado with her family. (quoted from the dust jacket).
A Note from the Author: This story is about the power of memory. Not just the beautiful memories, like the ones my mother and father had about eating watercress in China, but also the difficult ones, the memories that are sometimes too painful to share. It starts with my own distressing memory of being made to pick watercress that was growing wild by the side of the road. As the child of Chinese immigrants, growing up in a small, mostly white town in Ohio, I was aware of how different my family and I were from everyone else. It’s hard to feel like you don’t belong, and collecting food from a muddy roadside ditch just made that bad feeling more intense for me—something my very practical parents didn’t understand. When I was young, my parents didn’t talk about their memories of China, of growing up poor, losing siblings, and surviving war. I don’t blame them—these are difficult topics to discuss with children. But it’s important, too, for children to understand their family history. Perhaps if I had known about the hardships they had faced, I would have been more compassionate as a child. Maybe I would have felt more empathy and less anger. More pride in my heritage and less shame. Memories have the power to inform, to inspire, and to heal. This story is both an apology and a love letter to my parents. It’s also an encouragement to all children who feel different and to families with difficult pasts—share your memories. Tell your stories. They are essential.
Illustrator: Jason Chin is a celebrated author and illustrator of children’s books. His book Grand Canyon was awarded a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award. His other acclaimed nonfiction titles—Redwoods, Coral Reefs, Island: A Story of the Galapagos, Gravity, and Your Place in the Universe—have received numerous starred reviews and other accolades. He is also the illustrator of Stephanie Parsley Ledyard’s debut title Pie Is for Sharing and Miranda Paul’s Water Is Water and Nine Months: Before a Baby is Born, the latter, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book. He lives in Vermont with his wife and children. (quoted from the dust jacket).
My opinion: The illustrations are soft and lovely and yet at the same time realistic. I love this story about a young girl learning her mother’s childhood memories and the difference that makes in her. She grows to appreciate her mother’s difficult memories, experiences compassion for the uncle who did not survive the famine, and learns to have more pride in her heritage. The book gives a window into the heart and mind of second-generation immigrants who really live in two worlds. I love the child’s new sensitivity and maturity that occurs as a result of hearing her mother’s stories.
2022 Caldecott Honor Books
Mel Fell, written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor
From the dust jacket: Sometimes, you might fall down, down down, before you learn to fly up, up, up . . . A charming and innovative tale about a plucky little bird, from the award-winning author of Fox the Tiger.
From the Amazon description: A Caldecott Honor Book and ALA Notable Book of the Year! An innovative
and charming tale about a plucky little bird, from the award-winning
author-illustrator of Fox the Tiger.Readers will delight in turning their book sideways and upside
down to follow Mel on her journey from downward fall to triumphant flight in
this tale of self-confidence and taking a leap of faith. An especially
enjoyable and satisfying read-aloud!
Sometimes, you might fall
down,
down,
down,
before you learn to fly
up,
up,
up…
Awards: Besides the Caldecott Honor 2022, the book has also won these awards: Barnes & Noble Picture Book Award Winner; PNBA Book Awards Shortlist; A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2021; A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2021; A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year; Kids Indie Next List selection, and starred reviews from Kirkus, Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly.
You can listen to the book being read here by the author/illustrator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ5mRq9g4es
Author: Corey R. Tabor is the author and illustrator of Snail Crossing, Fox and the Jumping Contest, Fox and the Bike Ride, Fox is Late, Fox versus Winter, and the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award-winning Fox the Tiger. Corey lives in Seattle with his wife and son and spends his time making pictures and stories. You can visit him online at www.coreytabor.com (quoted from the dust jacket). The author’s note says: Mel is a kingfisher. Kingfishers catch fish by diving into the water from tree branches or wires. Many kingfishers nest in tunnels they dig in earthen banks near water, while others nest in tree hollows (some even live in old termite nests). A young kingfisher probably doesn’t catch a fish the first time they leave the next. But then, Mel is a very special bird.
Illustrator: Corey R. Tabor is also the illustrator of this sweet book. The art is done with pencil, colored pencil, and acylic paint.
My opinion: This book is simply delightful! The story
brings the reader to a desperate hope that Mel, the little bird falling by his
own choice from the tree, will be safe. He gets offers of help all along his
fall as various creatures desperately try to save him from his fall. But the
book ends with all well, thankfully! The book is so creative in its format. You
turn it sideways and read each page with the bird falling down and down and
down, but then the story takes a turn and the pages literally take a turn as
well. You turn the book the other way and follow little Mel as he flies up and
up and up! Such a creative idea. I love the line, “As Mel flew by, the spider
clapped her hands. All eight of them.” I can highly recommend this book for
your youngest listeners, although older children will love it, too.
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, written
by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper
From the dust jacket: In the early 1900s, Tulsa, Oklahoma, was home to a thriving African American community. The Greenwood District had its own school system, libraries, churches, restaurants, post office, move theaters, and more. But all that would change in the course of two terrible, unspeakable days. On May 31 and June 1, 1921, a mob of armed white Tulsans attacked Greenwood. They looted homes and businesses and burned them to the ground as black families fled. The police did nothing to protect Greenwood, and as many as three hundred African Americans were killed. More than eight thousand were left homeless. News of the Tulsa Race Massacre—one of the worst incidents of racial violence in US history—was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years. Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and acclaimed illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a sensitive and powerful introduction to the Tulsa Race Massacre, helping young readers understand the events of the past so we can move toward a better future for all.
From the Amazon description: Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community. News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years. This picture book sensitively introduces young readers to this tragedy and concludes with a call for a better future.
You can listen to the book read here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEQkRj5kRXk
Awards: Besides being awarded the Caldecott
Honor, this book has also received these awards: Coretta Scott King Book Awards for Author and
Illustrator; A Sibert Honor Book; Longlisted for the National Book Award; A
Kirkus Prize Finalist; A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book; "A must-have"―Booklist (starred
review)
Author: Carole Boston Weatherford is the author of
numerous books, including Caldecott Honor winners Freedom in Congo Square,
illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Homer,
Spirit of the Civil Rights Movements, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, and Moses:
When Harriet Tubman Let Her People to Freedom, illustrated by Kadir Nelson.
A Sibert Honor winner and two-time NAACO Image Award recipient, she won a
Newbery Honor for Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom, illustrated
by Michele Wood. Her writing spans the slavery and segregation eras and covers
such topics as jazz and photography. When she’s not traveling or visiting
museums, Carole is mining the past for family stories, fading traditions, and
forgotten struggles. The daughter of educators, she has a passion for rescuing
events and figures from obscurity by documenting American history. She lives in
North Carolina. (quoted from the dust jacket). I have all of those titles
mentioned here and find them worthy additions to the shelves of my library. Carole’s
website for further information is https://cbweatherford.com/.
Carole’s son Jeffery Weatherford is an illustrator with much recognition.
Illustrator: Floyd Cooper received a Coretta Scott King Award for his illustrations for The Blacker the Berry and won Coretta Scott King honors for Brown Honey in Broom Wheat Tea, Meet Danitra Brown, and I Have Heard of a Land. He has illustrated numerous books, including Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey. Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he first heard about the Tulsa Race Massacre from his grandfather, who survived it as a young man. Floyd now lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two sons. (quoted from the dust jacket). I love the illustrator’s personal connection to these events as told to him by his grandfather who experienced them. The illustrations were created using oil and erasure. The faces are passionate and full of emotion.
My Opinion: The story of this event should be told and
remembered by new generations. We must learn from the past. I’m always amazed
at the actual connection people of today have with events from 100 years ago.
My dear husband’s grandmother was delivered by a Civil War doctor! To think we
have a link to someone of the 1860s is amazing! In this book, the illustrator
Floyd Cooper learned of this event from a grandparent who lived through it. I
think because of that, he so well drew the illustrations. It was part of his
own heritage. And he explains more in the Illustrator’s Note as the end of the
book. Yes, the book narrates that awful time, but it also ends with hope as it
tells about Tulsa’s Reconciliation Park which remembers the victims as a place
“to realize the responsibility we all have to reject hatred and violence and to
instead choose hope.” The book includes an Author’s Note in which Weatherford
tells of her own connection to the trauma of racism in her cousin’s life and
other family members of her ancestry. Knowing these things led her to research
the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 and to tell the story. And to further your
understanding of this event and help your children learn, Download the
free educator guide here: https://lernerbooks.com/download/unspeakableteachingguide
Have You Ever Seen a Flower, written
and illustrator by Shawn Harris.
From the dust jacket: Have you ever seen a flower? Have you ever been a flower?
From the Amazon description: Have You Ever Seen a Flower? is a beautiful exploration of
perception, the environment, and humanity. This enchanting picture book explores the
relationship between childhood and nature. In this simple yet profound story,
one child experiences a flower with all five senses—from its color to its
fragrance to the entire universe it evokes—revealing how a single flower can
expand one's perspective in incredible ways.
CELEBRATION OF NATURE: Full of bright, stunning illustrations, Have You Ever Seen a Flower? reminds
readers of all ages to appreciate the beauty of the world.
INCREDIBLE TALENT: Have You Ever Seen a
Flower? is the authorial debut of award-winning illustrator
Shawn Harris. His previous illustrated books have garnered multiple awards and
starred reviews, including Her Right Foot and What Can a Citizen Do (both by Dave
Eggers), Everyone’s Awake by
Colin Meloy, and A Polar Bear in the
Snow by Mac Barnett.
CRITICS LOVE IT: This award-winning book has received praise from numerous
esteemed publications. Highlights include:
"[A] stunning tour de force."—The
New York Times
"The pictures have a rich visual texture, vibrant color, and a naive
style, which together imply a child as ostensible artist. This effect is well
aligned with the playfully inquisitive text, with rhythm and repetition akin to
books by Margaret Wise Brown and Ruth Krauss. . . . Have you ever seen a book
quite like this? Not likely."—The Horn Book
Magazine
You can listen to the book read here by the author/illustrator
here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4tMuLaedQ0 (Also in this video, he does a drawing lesson
on how to draw flowers. So fun!)
Author/illustrator: Shawn Harris is an artist and musician who lives and works in Half Moon Bay, California. The first picture book he illustrated, Her Right Root, was the recipient of seven starred reviews. He is also the illustrator of What Can a Citizen Do? And Everyone’s Awake. This is his authorial debut. (quoted from the dust jacket). The illustrations in this book are done with pencil and colored pencil. His illustration style in the various books he’s illustrated are surprisingly varied with many different styles including cut-paper and more cartoon-like drawings. Very interesting.
My Opinion: This is a poetic “story” of what a flower is
like and what it would be like to be a flower. It describes the life of a
flower and how similarly we have life. Flowers “drink” and have veins and grow
and bloom, and so can you! “Have you ever felt a flower? Do a flower petal’s
veins feel like the veins beneath your skin? Have you ever pricked your finger
or fallen on your knee and seen the
brilliant color of your life?” And then the next page is all red, like your
blood. I love how the book starts out with the black/white drawings of a city.
Only the little girl is drawn in bright colors. Then the book explodes with
bright colors as the girl runs through a field of flowers and begins to explore
them. The drawings look similar to what a child would draw. This book is a
celebration of life all around us and inspires children to explore nature. A
worthy addition to your read-aloud time or your family library.
Wonder Walkers, written
and illustrated by Micha Archer
From the dust jacket: Ready for a wonder walk? Well, then
just head outside. Let your imagination soar and your curiosity run wild and
soon you’ll be looking at the world in a whole new light. Micha Archer’s
stunningly detailed collages bring the wonders of the natural world to vivid
life and demonstrate the fun to be had in exploring its marvels.
The book is available on Kindle and Audible.
Awards: Caldecott Honor
You can listen to the book read here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL5isUTsDWU
You can listen to an interview with Archer here: https://www.michaarcher.com/interview-on-nepr
Author/illustrator: Micha Archer wrote and illustrated Ezra Jack Keats Award winner Daniel Finds a Poem and its companion, Daniel’s Good Day, and has also illustrated several other picture books, including Girl Running (by Annette Bay Pimentel). Micha works in oil and collage on paper she creates with homemade stamps and layered tissue paper. She came from a long line of artists and teachers and taught for many years in a kindergarten. Raising two kids and teaching are where she cultivated her love for picture books and realized their importance as teaching tools. Micha lives in western Massachusetts in the house she and her husband built, surrounded by gardens and forests to roam in. (from the dust jacket)
My Opinion: I love this book! Let’s get kids off the
screens and outside to enjoy their surroundings. The children in this book
think creatively in such interesting ways as they wonder and ponder. “Are
branches trees’ arms? Are roots the plant’s toes? Do caves have mouths? Are
rivers the earth’s veins?” For older
students, this would be a lovely introduction to the literary technique of
personification. I highly recommend this beautiful book. Read it with your
children and then go outside….and wonder!
