This week marks the end of the month, and the end of the
month here at Peachtree always includes a night when the book-smart,
analytical, and generally intelligent (geeky) members of the Peachtree
Publishers team (Peaches) leave our purple halls, gather at the nearby
taqueria, and talk about books. This month, the books on the table (literally
and figuratively) were the 2016 Caldecott Honor Books.
If you don’t already know the titles, the Honor Books were
Trombone Shorty illustrated by
BrianCollier and written by
Troy Andrews;
Waiting illustrated and written by
Kevin Henkes;
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer,
Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement illustrated by
Ekua Holmes and written by
Carole Boston Weatherford; and finally
The Last Stop on Market Street illustrated
by
Christian Robinson and written by
Matt de la Peňa. We all took some
time to flip through these lovely books one more time, being careful to keep
them away from the guacamole and salsa, and then the talk started and didn’t
stop for an hour and a half.
For some of the younger Peaches at the table, we started off
by remembering what the criteria for the Caldecott medal are. Our beloved Awards Coordinator (among other titles), Courtney, briefly explained some of the factors
and requirements to provide some context for our discussion (and if
you’re curious, check out the official criteria and terms
here). There was a brief lull as our taco
orders were taken, but then we dug into the books themselves.
Trombone Shorty didn’t
take much time to discuss as there was little debate—we all loved it, and we
were all ready to take a trip to New Orleans. The vivid colors and images of a picture book were a great backdrop for the fun and inspiring true story of Troy Andrews. Awards and critiques aside, we all enjoyed learning about the childhood and influences of the talented musician and author.
On the other hand, every time we thought we'd laid it to rest, our conversation about
Waiting bubbled up again. When Vicky, one of our editors, confessed that she'd thought long and hard about the possibility of a deeper philosophical
meaning behind the little book, the gears immediately started churning in
everyone else’s heads as we tried to think of something posh and intelligent to
say. Unfortunately, we had no “eureka” moment, got back to our tacos, and
declared that we liked the gentle and friendly illustrations that contrasted with the
bright and loud books surrounding it. Our parting thought was a curiosity to
see how a child would react to the five little windowsill friends.
The art in
Voice of Freedom received favorite status from a few of us, and we spent some time
flipping through to find our favorite spreads to share with each other. In
particular, we discussed how the book combined a classic approach with the
separation of art and text on many of the pages, and yet the art itself was so
fresh and vibrant and really not traditional at all. Although we spent a fair
amount of time on the art in voice, we also loved that the text did not shy
away from sharing the realities and suffering of the era.
The Last Stop on Market Street, which also won the Newbery
Medal, didn’t spur as much talk
because its various awards had already sparked conversations over the last several
weeks, and we’d all become very familiar with it. When looking at the art of
all four books, however, we did particularly enjoy the textures that were in
each illustration.
We were pleased with the diversified range of authors and
books that were represented among the honored titles, and, as always, it was
fun to see a few new names in the mix.
What did you think about this year's Caldecott Honorees? Let us know in the comments.
Labels: Awards, Geeky Peaches