★
REVIEW TEAM FAVORITE
Noah's Ark
By: Peter Spier
Medal Winner
Reviewed by: Sara Masarik
Also read and recommended by: Sandy Hall, Sherry Early
In 1978, Peter Spier blessed the world with one of the most engaging renditions of Noah’s Ark that I have ever seen. In a nearly wordless book, the reader is invited into one imaginative scene after another delightful scene of the biblical tale.
Two things struck me while I enjoyed this book.
First, Spier is so creative in his storytelling that each wordless vignette is alive and gives the reader pleasure to ponder over. Second, this story could not be told this way today, nor would it likely even be considered for a Caldecott Medal. In 1978, the story of Noah’s Ark was well-known by the overwhelming majority of Americans. Today? I don’t think so.
I showed this book to my three teenagers and each made startling observations, like Noah managing the beehive and pushing the swarm of bees out (because he could only keep 2). Michael began to wonder which he kept – two queens? A queen and drone? The pictures are whimsical but the thoughts that they suggest are profound.
I love this book and am delighted to have found it in hardcover. I want to have all of his books!
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Castle
By: David Macaulay
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Castle. The word itself conjures up mystery, romance, intrigue, and grandeur. What could be a more perfect subject for an author/artist who has continually stripped away the mystique of architectural structures that have long fascinated modern man? In the 13th century, when England was attempting to conquer Wales, the English built impressive fortresses with adjoining towns—towns that in the long run proved more effective in bringing about the desired conquest than the castles themselves. With typical zest and a wry sense of humor punctuating his drawings, David Macaulay traces the step-by-step planning and construction of both castle and town from the hiring of a skilled master engineer to the actual test of castle defenses when hundreds of Welsh soldiers launched a direct attack.
Generous illustrations full of explicit details and unusual perspectives masterfully combine with the straightforward and lucid text to guide the reader through this engrossing exploration. Drawing upon the qualities that have made his other books so successful—superb design, magnificent illustration, and clearly presented information—David Macaulay has once again illuminated a subject with his own unique perception and sensitivity.
David Macaulay's previous four books, Underground, Cathedral, City and Pyramid, have won numerous national and international awards—the Caldecott Honor Medal, the German Jugendbuchpreis, and the Dutch Silver Slate Pencil award.
From the dust jacket
It Could Always Be Worse: A Yiddish Folk Tale
By: Margot Zemach
Honor
NOT REVIEWED
Once upon a time a poor unfortunate man lived with his mother, his wife, and his six children in a one-room hut.
Because they were so crowded, the man and his wife often argued. The children were noisy, and they fought. At last, when the poor unfortunate man could stand it no longer, he ran to the Rabbi for help.
As he follows the Rabbi's surprising advice, the poor man's life goes from bad to worse, with increasingly uproarious results. The little hut is soon filled with calamity after catastrophe, each sillier and more foolish than the last, and all depicted in illustrations that are both funnier and lovelier than any Margot Zemach has ever done.
From the dust jacket
