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 Van
Allsburg, Chris. The Sweetest Fig. 1993. Houghton Mifflin Company.
ISBN 0395673461
Appropriate for ages 5 to 9. A greedy and unsympathetic dentist treats
neither his dog, nor his patients with great kindness. One day an
old woman pleads with him as he is leaving his office to help her
with a terrible toothache. Thinking of the extra money, he accepts.
When he is done, the woman offers him two figs in payment for his
work. Enraged, he shouts at her and stomps back home to his little
dog. He goes ahead and has one of the figs for supper that night,
and it is exquisite. He dreams and then the next morning, much to
his consternation, his dream happens. Excited, he realizes that the
other fig will likely have the same magic. He trains himself for days
to dream of money, and finally, he thinks he is ready to eat the second
fig. What happens next is fitting and will satisfy a reader’s
sense of justice. The illustrations are grainy and dreamlike, which
enhance the tone of the story. They done realistically though, and
the expressions and actions very well illustrated. This Bluebonnet
nominee will appeal to older children’s sense of fairness and
those children who can recall a few dreams that they wish would come
true.
 Appelt,
Kathi. Elephants Aloft. Illustrated by Keith Baker. 1993. Harcourt
Brace & Co. ISBN 015225384x
Appropriate for ages 1 to 5. Two young elephants receive a letter
from their aunt who misses them. Their journey to visit their aunt
in Rwanda takes them over, under, around and much more. A long trip
in a hot air balloon by two elephants is fanciful, amusing, and will
appeal to a child’s sense of adventure. The illustrations have
great texture and are adept at teaching relational concepts. One word
per page leaves the story of the journey entirely to the pictures.
Large and lovely illustrations reminiscent of Babar will delight preschool
children with the wealth of details to look at over the course of
the journey. Toddlers and older babies will have a delightful example
of prepositions, one to a two page spread. They will also enjoy the
bright colors and happy elephants.
 Coy,
John. 2003. Two Old Potatoes and Me. Illustrated by Carolyn
Fisher. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0375821805.
Appropriate for ages 5 to 7. A girl finds two old potatoes sprouting
in the back of a cupboard at her dad’s house. “GROSS!”
she exclaims, but her dad stops her from throwing them away. Instead,
they call up her grandfather who advises them on how to grow potato
plants. They start their potato garden in her father’s back
yard and take care of the plants all summer until potatoes are ready
to be dug up. The issue of divorce is handled subtly and sensitively,
but the fascinating part of the story for children will be how they
harvested so many potatoes when they only started with two. The illustrations
are vibrant and in a naïve, collage-like style. The text is sometimes
merged with the illustrations, and often wiggles around the page.
A great addition is the recipe in the back of the book for mashed
potatoes, simple enough for a young child to participate in and for
even a novice chef to follow.
 Rohmann,
Eric. My Friend Rabbit. 2002. Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 0761315357
Appropriate for ages 3 to 7. Poor Rabbit! And poor Mouse too, for
it’s hard to be friends with someone who is never far from trouble.
But friendship does persevere and bring many interesting and sometimes
improbable adventures. The illustrations practically dance with life
and humor. Many times in this work, the text supports the illustrations,
leaving the bulk of the storytelling to lie with the pictures. The
story moves along briskly and there are several pages without any
text at all, but they are very eloquent and amusing. The two-page
spread of the culmination of Rabbit’s plan turns the book on
its side and one can practically see the animals wobbling and straining
with effort. It is no wonder that these illustrations won the Caldecott
for 2003. The story is engaging and you find yourself wondering how
these two characters became friends, and what other wild mishaps Rabbit
has brought into Mouse’s life.
Children will delight in the humor of the ideas Rabbit is inspired
with to help his friend as well as the brilliantly illustrated scenes
that speak for themselves.
 Marcus,
Leonard S. 1998. A Caldecott Celebration: six artists and their
paths to the Caldecott Medal. Walker and Company. ISBN 0802786561.
This nonfiction look at six artists that have won the Caldecott
Medal is interesting and insightful. Taking one artist from each of
the decades that the Caldecott has been given, the book gives biographical
information, preliminary sketches, some quotes from the illustrators,
what happened to the illustrator after they won the award and other
books illustrated by each winner featured. The titles featured are
Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey, Cinderella; or, The Little
Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown, Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice
Sendak, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, by William Steig, Jumanji
by Chris Van Allsburg, and Tuesday by David Wiesner. The book also
lists all Caldecott Medal winners from the first given in 1938 to
1998. Seeing the preliminary sketches and versions of the illustrations
of these classic books is intriguing and illuminates how much work
it took to complete and complement the story in these picture books.
Some of the artists were also the authors of the books, and some are
the illustrators only.
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