A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION is truly a celebration of some distinct artists who have been awarded the Caldecott Medal
for contribution to Children's Literature. Written by Leonard Marcus, this enjoyable book focuses on six artists, one
from each decade the award has been given, from 1942 to 1992. (The book was published in 1998, sixty years after
the first Caldecott award in 1938.) The artists celebrated are: Robert McCloskey, Marcia Brown, Maurice Sendak, William
Steig, Chris Van Allsburg, and David Weisner.
A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION is a about the process of making a picture book. The process is not necessarily how the
pages are bound or the pictures are drawn; it is more about the process of creating art. From how an idea is conceived
to how it is finally brought to life: A CALDECOTT CELEBRATION examines how it was done by some of the very best artists
and writers of our time.
Each essay explores some biographical information about the author and how they began writing and illustrating children's
books. It offers interesting insights into how and why and book was created. The most interesting part of the
essay explores how the Caldecott winning books was created. Maurice Sendak's original idea, for example, was entitled
Where the Wild Horses Are. He continued through several versions of the story, eventually considering abandoning
the entire project.
According to Sendak, the ideas in a book mix together in upredictable ways, like ingredients for a bowl of soup.
This is clearly seen in the essays on the Caldecott artists. Each had a unique journey to go through before the final
project was complete.
