As I’m sure you’ve all been waiting with bated breath about what will take place in our grand Caldecott competition (details about said competition found here)– ladies and gentlemen and other gentlebookcreatures, allow me to introduce who I am sure will be the front runners in this competition. Mirette with her death-defying feats of balance! Sylvester with his death-defying trick of turning into a rock when threatened (but, ah, also being unable to unturn himself back–but that’s irrelevant)! The nameless ox-cart man with absolutely no death-defying feats whatsoever but with solid family values and an excellent work ethic!
Let’s start with brave little Mirette. Mirette on the High Wire won the Caldecott in 1993, just in time for me to dive in and become obsessed with it while I was learning to read. Written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, this beautiful book is about a little girl in France who stumbles across a high-wire walker practicing his art while he is staying at her mother’s inn. Mirette is obsessed. She has to learn how to walk on the wire too! And as you probably have guessed already, she does, and she does it marvelously. I don’t want to give away too much, so suffice it to say, she RULES at the high-wire by the end. So here’s my case for Mirette: she is nimble like a cat, y’all. She’s also a sassy redhead who doesn’t give up, so she’s a fierce competitor. Bring it on Emily Grossenbacher, Queen of Oz. Mirette will crush your contestants.
Next in the ring is the ever-industrious Ox-Cart Man (winner in 1980 and written by Donald Hall and illustrated by the incredible Barbara Cooney). This nameless colonial family man lives off of the land, makes all of the stuff that he uses to live off of the land, then proceeds to sell all of the things that he made and all leftovers of the food from the land he lives off of, and then starts all over again the next year. BAM. I have nothing else to say about this. Wilderness god. If you’re stuck in a bind, stick with this fellow. But ask his wife first– she’s pretty intimidating too.
Lastly but not leastly, Sylvester and that dang magic pebble. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble won the Caldecott for William Steig in 1970, so I can’t play the nostalgia card like I did with Mirette and tell you that this marvelous book was released just as I was beginning my love affair with books. I wasn’t even a twinkle in my father’s eye in 1970 y’all. I’m very young. But being this young has it’s advantages, namely that I still remember how obsessed I was with this book when I was a tiny thing– like three weeks ago. So Sylvester finds this pebble that turns out to be magic and then immediately turns himself into a rock when he sees an angry lion heading his way. What an ass. (Pun intended. I know. I’m sorry.) Sylvester had to stay a rock for quite some time before his parents randomly find the rock that is Sylvester and have a picnic on it, in turn waking up Sylvester and reuniting their family. Sylvester was a tough pick for me because he was really quite dumb, but in the end, William Steig is hilarious and you always want any kind of magic stone or crystal in your corner– it might come in handy later.
cccccc
Comments are closed.