A Caldecott Celebration: Six Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal

By Leonard S. Marcus

This book takes readers along on the fascinating journeys of six artists as they discover their calling to illustrate children's books.  Each artist has a distinct story of the process they went through that ultimately led to becoming a recipient of the much coveted Caldecott Medal.  Each artist was selected from a different decade, and this allows for readers to experience a bit of the evolution of children's books throughout the past sixty years.

Leonard S. Marcus shares with readers the experiences of the six artists as told by them, offering first-hand portrayals of each individual's development as an artist.  A brief biological sketch of each artist is included, along with a detailed description of the process involved in the creation of their work honored by the Caldecott Medal.  Marcus shares with readers the stories of the following artists:

Robert McCloskey, recipient of the 1942 Caldecott Medal for Make Way for Ducklings

Marcia Brown, recipient of the 1955 Caldecott Medal for Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper

Maurice Sendak, recipient of the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are

William Steig, recipient of the 1970 Caldecott Medal for Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

Chris Van Allsburg, recipient of the 1982 Caldecott Medal for Jumanji

David Wiesner, recipient of the 1992 Caldecott Medal for Tuesday

Marcus shares a brief explanation of the Caldecott Medal at the beginning, and concludes his book with a listing of the Caldecott Medal Winners from 1938 to 1998.  I highly recommend this book to any person interested in picture books.  It offers a glimpse into the tremendous amount of work and planning involved in the creation of quality picture books.