A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka is a picture book without words and Caldecott winner for 2012. Words aren't needed to convey the story of this children's book about a dog and her beloved red ball. One day a little girl takes her dog Daisy to the park to play with her ball. Another dog decides to play ball with Daisy, but is a little to zealous and accidentally punctures the ball causing it to miserably deflate. Daisy is heartbroken as she carries her deflated mass home with her and mourns over it until the next day when her little girl takes her back to the park where they throw away the ball. The pair end up running into the other dog again and are pleased to see that the dog and his owner brought a blue ball to replace the broken one. The water color illustrations are endearing and sure to please young readers.
Flotsam is written and illustrated by David Wiesner and won the Caldecott award for 2007. In this book a very scientifically minded boy goes with his family to the beach and sees what he can uncover with his various magnifying devices. He is happily discovering the ordinary when he happens upon an extraordinary underwater camera. While looking at his new discovery he finds that there is a roll of film just waiting to be developed so he takes it to a one hour photo and replaces the roll of film with a new one. The pictures he finds opens a world of enchantment beneath the sea. Wonder he could never have imagined. He also discovers that this camera has been passed along from beach goer to beach goer and the boy adds his picture to the new roll and sends the camera on it's next adventure. These carefully detailed pictures don't need words to tell this enchanting story.
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback is a a creative combinations of gouacge, pencil, ink and collage illustrations with die-cut holes that are designed to engage readers. This picture book was a 2000 Caledecott winner. It's a story of a man who started out with an Overcoat that he wore so much, he wore it out, but he wasn't done. He turned it into something else and something else after that. Each die-cut gives the reader a clue as to what the next use of the material will be. This book shows children how to think outside of the box in order to reuse their stuff instead of just throwing it away. There are short sentences and colorful pages making this book ideal for children up to 8 years old.
Smoky Night is written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by David Diaz. It is the Caldecott winner of 1995. Diaz uses bright acrylics to bring this story to life. This picture book is for older children and depicts a Los Angeles riot in the streets that eventually forces the people in the building to leave their home. Though the riot is a serious topic the author uses the event to bring people closer together and overcome racial differences. There are several sentences on each page and this combined with the serious subject matter make this reader better for older children ages 7-12.
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say is 1994's Caldecott winner and beautifully illustrated with painted images. This story follows a young Japanese man as he immigrates to North America where he is enchanted by California. He goes back to Japan where he marries his childhood sweetheart and brings her back to California with him. They start a family and live happily for many years until he starts to yearn for home. This story is a beautiful depiction of immigration and cultural exchange. There are a couple of sentences to each page and the words go from easy to moderate making this book good for children up to 8.
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