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crystal_reading's review against another edition
4.0
This week I finished reading Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing, but I also attended the Charlotte Zolotow Lecture in Madison which was delivered by Leonard Marcus. His topic was Why Picture Books Matter. During his speech he said that "a book could have more than one story to tell." He explained that one of those stories could be how the book came to exist. His book about Randolph Caldecott does just that. He gives us the history of not only Caldecott's life and the many things that influenced him.
It was fascinating to learn that the advent of the steam engine and other mechanical types of advances actually affected illustrations. Marcus links speed of the trains to the fact that illustrators were creating pictures that conveyed motion. Caldecott excelled at this. They were pictures that invite readers to be a part of imagining the scene.
The book includes samples of Caldecott's early sketches and illustrations from his books. I loved the combination of text and artifacts. The old-fashioned cream colored paper on the end pages made me feel like I was stepping back through time. Marcus included a timeline, a list of Caldecott's books, source notes and a thorough bibliography.
This review was originally posted at http://readingtl.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-randolph-caldecott-man-who-could.html
It was fascinating to learn that the advent of the steam engine and other mechanical types of advances actually affected illustrations. Marcus links speed of the trains to the fact that illustrators were creating pictures that conveyed motion. Caldecott excelled at this. They were pictures that invite readers to be a part of imagining the scene.
The book includes samples of Caldecott's early sketches and illustrations from his books. I loved the combination of text and artifacts. The old-fashioned cream colored paper on the end pages made me feel like I was stepping back through time. Marcus included a timeline, a list of Caldecott's books, source notes and a thorough bibliography.
This review was originally posted at http://readingtl.blogspot.com/2013/10/review-randolph-caldecott-man-who-could.html
yyc_heather's review against another edition
3.0
A brief and lively biography, with beautiful illustrations, of the illustrator for whom the Caldecott medal is named.
nerfherder86's review against another edition
4.0
The story of the life of Randolph Caldecott, 1846-1886, the namesake of the ALA's picture book award. He drew from an early age, but became a banker's clerk and worked on his art on the side. After a few years he took his portfolio to London publishers and then got steady work illustrating for magazines and newspapers. Asked by another publisher to illustrate a children's book in a series, he became famous for that popular series. His style was new for the time, putting small sketches on some pages, loosening up the traditional picture book style, telling a separate story within the pictures with characters or information that wasn't given in the text. Lots of movement and humor, too. This book about him is heavily illustrated using only his artwork, reproduced from his books and early work, with a few historical illustrations to show the places he lived, the factory city of Manchester England, for example. Has source notes, a bibliography and a nice timeline that extends beyond Caldecott's lifetime to include the establishment of Randolph Caldecott Societies in the US and UK and the creation of the Caldecott Award. A fascinating look at this early art pioneer; even having studied him a little in children's literature classes I had never seen such an in depth look at his life before. The audience for this book would have to be older than the typical picture book audience, because it has so much information in it, but it certainly could be looked at by preschoolers who will be curious about the old-fashioned-looking art that still amuses today.
michelle_neuwirth_gray9311's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this biography about Caldecott. I realized I pretty much knew nothing about him until this book and wish it had had even more information about him.
calistareads's review against another edition
4.0
This was listed as a picture book in the children's section of the library. It is not. Yes, it has pictures in it and it's about a children's artist. This is a non-fictional historical account of Caldecott's life. It is dry at the beginning and it does get interesting. It is mostly words It would take about an hour to read and the kids would possibly be bored. It wasn't what I thought it was and it was good.
He was English and he inspired a young Beatrix Potter. What I found funny, is that an American award for children's literature is name after this British famous children's author. It is a wonderful nod.
He perfected making a drawing feel like it is in action. He also pretty much made the art of children's books. He came up with all kinds of wonderful ways to tell a story.
He was English and he inspired a young Beatrix Potter. What I found funny, is that an American award for children's literature is name after this British famous children's author. It is a wonderful nod.
He perfected making a drawing feel like it is in action. He also pretty much made the art of children's books. He came up with all kinds of wonderful ways to tell a story.
erine's review against another edition
4.0
Main take-away: the history of not only the man behind the Caldecott medal, but the image used for the medal itself. That galloping horse has quite the backstory.
daniellejones's review against another edition
3.0
This is beautifully designed and illustrated with Caldecott's work, but I found that the writing was too sophisticated for a juvenile audience. It is a fantastic adult read though!
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