Caldecott Awarded Books

	The Hello, Goodbye Window Juster, N., & Raschka, C. (2005). The Hello, Goodbye Window. New York: Michael di Capua Books/Hyperion Books for Children. This is a great children’s book for those kids who love spending time with their grandparents. The young character comes to visit the grandparents and they have a special place they share in the house that involves a window. At the window they can see out to the garden or see inside the kitchen, and the young character likes to make faces at the grandparents as well. To the young character it a different way to see the world. Do you have a special place in your grandparents’ home?
	Henry’s Freedom Box Levine, E. (2007). Henry's Freedom Box. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. This story is about a young slave boy, Henry, who was born into slavery and continues living as a slave. He marries and has three children who end up being sold to another owner. Henry is heartbroken and misses his family dearly. Now that Henry is alone he begins to plan his escape to freedom. He and his helpful friends come up with a plan to ship him in a box to Philadelphia where he could be a freeman. His journey is long and tiring but he makes it to freedom.
	Smoky Night Diaz, D., & Bunting, E. (1994). Smoky Night. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harrcourt. The story was based on the race riots of Los Angeles, and the characters offer an insight as to how they felt when their apartment caught on fire. The story has a character named, Daniel, who lived in one of the apartments that caught on fire. As he and his mother rushed out of the burning building he realizes that his cat, Jasmine, is missing and he becomes worried for her. The apartment residents are then taken to a shelter where everyone can rest and be safe. Daniel finds relief when a fireman brings in two cats and one of them is Daniel’s and the other belongs to a woman Mrs. Kim. Both of these characters had different views of each other but when their cats bond over milk they realize race and color aren’t important enough to keep people strangers.
	Make Way My Ducklings McCloskey, R. (1999). Make Way For Ducklings. New York, NY: The Viking Press. This enchanting story is about Mr. and Mrs. Mallard Duck who are seeking a place to live and raise their little ducklings. On their journey to find many places that Mr. Mallard thinks is perfect, but mother Mallard is insisting that they aren’t safe enough. They end up finding a safe pond in a Garden park, but the idea of raising little ducklings isn’t safe since bicycles are speeding by without stopping. The Mallards find a cozy spot in a channel with a small island where they have their little ducklings. As the ducklings get bigger the Mallards decide to move back to the Garden Park. As the ducklings and Mrs. Mallard make their way through the city they make friends who help them get to the safety of the park.
	John Henry Lester, J., & Pinkney, J. (1994). John Henry. New York, NY: Puffin Group. The story of John Henry is a classic folktale about a boy who magically turns into a grown man in less than a day. This magical man does great wonders such as repair his family’s home, and straightens out the town’s bully. As time passes John Henry decides to head out on his own and make something of himself. One of his journey’s takes him to the Chesapeake, Ohio where he helps the people there by using his sledgehammers to beat a mountain into a paved road. He continues on his way and runs into a railroad track being built, and decides to help out. He’s challenged by a machinist and he bets that he could defeat the rail machine. As they compete against one another, John Henry uses his magical hammers and pounds away through the mountain and beats the machine.
	Grandfather’s Journey Say, A. (1993). Grandfather's journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. The story is about a young Japanese man who decides to leave Japan and travel the world. He dresses in European fashion and begins his journey on his steamship across the Pacific Ocean. On his travels across North America he meets new people and sees new places. He decides to live in California because of its scenery and sights. He leaves and returns back with his wife and they have a daughter together. As his daughter gets older he realizes that he misses his home country, so he takes his family back home where his daughter marries and has her own child, a son. The young grandson and grandfather talk about California and what it was like living there. Grandfather becomes homesick for California but sadly he never makes the trip back to California. The son is a full grown adult and he decides to visit and live in California reminiscing about his grandfather.
	Madeline’s Rescue Bemelmans, L. (1953). Madeline's rescue. New York: Viking Press. This story is about a young girl named Madeline who marches to her own beat. As Miss Clavel and the other 11 girls take their daily walk Madeline accidentally slips and falls into the river. A dog saves Madeline’s life and is brought into their home in Paris to stay with them. As the days go by the dog, Genevieve, who is smart, helpful, and cherishes the children is thrown out of the home due to the Trustees who don’t want a dog living there. Miss Clavel, Madeline and the other children want their Genevieve back, so they being searching for her everywhere. At last Genevieve comes home to Miss Clavel and the children, and begins to settle in for the night. During the night, Miss Clavel is awaked by news that their dear Genevieve gave birth to the right amount of puppies for each child to have. It’s an endearing tale of love and friendship.
	The Man Who Walked Between the Towers Gerstein, M., & Tuosto, F. (2003). The man who walked between the towers. Brookfield, CT: Roaring Brook Press.  This tale is about a man named, Philippe Petit who dared to walk on a tight rope that stretched across the two Twin Towers in New York city on August 7,1974. Philippe had done something similar back in his home country of Paris where he walked across the steeples of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Philippe knew it could be dangerous walking so high up, but when he was tight roping he felt free as bird feels when they fly. Philippe accomplished his task across the Twin Towers, and even though those two towers are not there people remember what Philippe Petit did and the memories will remain.
	Owl Moon Yolen, J., & Schoenherr, J. (1987). Owl Moon. Philomel Books. Owl Moon is a lovely poetic tale of a daughter and father who go owling in the middle of the night. As they travel through the snowy landscape with a giant moon in the sky they hear the stirrings of wildlife. They a fox, raccoon, a field mouse, and deer who are watching them pass through the snow to get the trees at the end of their farmland. Through the leafless trees they begin to hear hooting from an owl and they finally look up to see the barn owl take flight. The author uses great poetic imaginary which describes the great details of the journey the two take, and how they find their owl hooting is magical hoot.

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters Steptoe, J., Steptoe, J., & Stevens, J. (1987). Mufaro's beautiful daughters: An African tale. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. This is an African tale about two daughters who have a chance to marry a king from another village. This tale is very much like Cinderella, but it doesn’t have a fairy godmother with a magic wand. Instead we have a kind sister, Nyasha, and a mean sister, Manyara, who must journey to the village where the King will decide which to marry. Along the journey each sister goes through unknown tasks set by the King to prove their worthiness. As Nyasha comes into the city, she is met by a hysterical Manyara who believes the king to be a monster, but with courage Nyasha goes into the great hall and finds a friend who turns out to be the King in disguise. The King tells Nyasha that through her journey and all those that she met where him, and she is the right sister to marry for her kind heart is what made him fall in love with her.