I may have mentioned once or twice before that I want the books I review to have a little more purpose and a lot less randomness. So, for the foreseeable future, I'm going to focus on Caldecott Medal winners and near-winners (honorees). Today, let's look at the most recent winner: 2011's A Sick Day for Amos McGee.
THREE PROS
*The Caldecott is an illustrator's award and the one thing that really pops in this book is the detail in Amos' weathered face
*Speaking of that, I guess it's good for kids to see a story about how lovable a senior citizen is
*I enjoyed how he talked to the sugar bowl like a member of the family until I started to worry if dementia was setting in
THREE CONS
*Teaching kids the wrong things for no good reason is never good - why is the owl sleeping at night
*How much does it cost a rhino to ride a bus...oh yeah that's just stupid
*Is there no retirement age in this world cuz this guy McGee is clearly way too old to be working every day
ONE DAD'S OPINION
Looks like we are off to a bad start with this whole new strategy of mine. If this is literally the best illustrated book that was printed last year, then I am an elephant's ass (see pic below). Just because this is illustrator Erin Stead's first attempt and it happens to utilize a technique (woodblock and pencil) that you don't run across everyday doesn't mean it's wonderful. The art is slightly better than good. Then there's the writing. Whooptie friggin do. Zookeeper, animals, and a bus. Yay - so original. Maybe 2012 will be a better year for kids.
Buy / Borrow / DONATE / Destroy
2 comments:
As it turns out, 2012 was, in fact, not a better year for kids. Hey, there's always 2013, right?!
I don't think illustrations always have to "pop." In fact, when I was a child, some of my favorite books were those that had black and white line drawings with tiny details. I could look at them for hours, as they invited me to look more closely.
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