Caldecott Monday: Time of Wonder
Oct. 31st, 2016 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerRobert McCloskey won the Caldecott Medal twice: first in 1942 for Make Way for Ducklings, and again in 1958 for Time of Wonder.
What fascinates me about this is that these two books are so different. Make Way for Ducklings is adorable, full of cute pencil drawings of personality-filled ducklings walking through the streets of Boston.
Time of Wonder, on the other hand, is EPIC. It's vast full-color panoramas of Penobscot Bay, with white sails drifting across the blue sea between the green and gray islands. It's standing on a rocky point at the end of the island to watch the sunrise seep through the foggy sky. It's a hurricane scene so chaotic it's practically expressionist: the only glints of order in the chaos are the glow of the house windows and the outline of an unfortunate fishing boat trying to hurry in from sea.
(It's also told in second person, like a choose your own adventure story, although without the branching storylines, although that would be kind of entertaining. "A hurricane is approaching. If you head back to the island, turn to page 36. If you decide to continue sailing, turn to page 18...")
These are two such different styles of illustration, the minutely detailed pencil ducklings and the grand swathes of color and landscape. I'm so impressed that McCloskey mastered them both.
What fascinates me about this is that these two books are so different. Make Way for Ducklings is adorable, full of cute pencil drawings of personality-filled ducklings walking through the streets of Boston.
Time of Wonder, on the other hand, is EPIC. It's vast full-color panoramas of Penobscot Bay, with white sails drifting across the blue sea between the green and gray islands. It's standing on a rocky point at the end of the island to watch the sunrise seep through the foggy sky. It's a hurricane scene so chaotic it's practically expressionist: the only glints of order in the chaos are the glow of the house windows and the outline of an unfortunate fishing boat trying to hurry in from sea.
(It's also told in second person, like a choose your own adventure story, although without the branching storylines, although that would be kind of entertaining. "A hurricane is approaching. If you head back to the island, turn to page 36. If you decide to continue sailing, turn to page 18...")
These are two such different styles of illustration, the minutely detailed pencil ducklings and the grand swathes of color and landscape. I'm so impressed that McCloskey mastered them both.
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Date: 2016-11-02 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-02 03:07 pm (UTC)