Caldecott Award Winners


Caldecott Award Winner

 

Below, type your name and the Caldecott Winner of your choice. Only one student per text. After you have finished reading the book, add the full bibliography (include illustrator's name) and write a summary (at least 150 words) of the book, focusing on both the textual story and the illustrated story.

Rubric: Out of 25

Lack of bibliography – minus 3

Didn't include illustrator's name - minus 2

Summary under the required length – minus 1 to minus 6

Under developed discussion of the text - minus 1 to minus 7

Under developed discussion of the illustrations - minus 1 to minus 7


Amanda Schafer- The Three Pigs, by David Wiesner

 

The Three Pigs is the typical story with the big bad wolf but with a twist. The little pigs actually escape from the story before they are eaten by the wolf. They literally jump out of the story book and into others such as Hey Diddle, Diddle and a story about a dragon. The pigs eventually escape to the brick ouse made by the third piggy and invite all their friends into the house for refuge from the villians in their stories. I thought that the illustrations in the book were amazing. I figured it would have been a hard task in order to portray the pigs actually jumping out of the story, but the way that the illustrations pop at you, you feel as though you were in the story yourself. The illustrator also did an interesting thing to be in unison with the text. The pigs are actually able to manipulate the text from inside the story. They change the ending by rearranging the letters to say "and they all lived happily ever after." I thought the imagination of the illustrator was so multi-dimentional, it really helped to bring what would have been just another little pigs story into the rhelm of true children's literature and a treasure in the Caldecott society.


Jennifer Hunt- One Fine Day

Hogrogian, Nonny. One Fine Day. 1971. New York City: Aladdin , 1986.

 

One Fine Day is the story of a fox who speant a long day traveling, and upon reaching the other side was very thirsty. The fox decided to drink the milk that an old women had set down on the ground. The women soon discovered that her milk was gone and cut off the fox's tail. The fox began to cry and beg for his tail to be sewed back on. The old women said she would if she got her milk back, so the fox spent the entire day bargaining with various people and animals to get his tail back so his friends would not laugh at him. After much work, the fox eventually got his tail back.

The illustrations in the story are quite good. They are simple and colorful, and express the story just as well as the words. The illustrations are aimed towards the age group that this book is for, which is around 4-8 years old.


 

Lauren Blatter- Fables by Arnold Lobel (Harper)

 

Lobel, Arnold. Fables. New York: HarperCollins, 1980.

 

Fables by Arnold Lobel shares twenty short fables about an array of animal characters from a mouse to a baboon. Each fable ends with a moral to the story for example, “even the taking of small risks will add excited to life,” and “satisfaction will come to those who please themselves.” The best part about this book however is the illustrations. Lobel took each story and with such detail created images for children who did not understand what they were reading to help them understand the fables. His style is soothing and children everywhere can enjoy looking at the illustrations and laughing at how silly some of the animals are. Lobel makes it a point to put in details that will catch a young child’s eye and he also is very precise when using color and texture to create his work. My favorite fable has to be “The Camel Dances” because the moral of the story is very true, but I also love camels and dancing.


 

Melissa Mattson - Black and White by David Macaulay (Houghton)

 

Macaulay, David. Black and White. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1990.

 

Black and White tells four different stories simultaneously, at least at first glance. The first story is entitled Seeing Things. It’s about a boy traveling home on a train. The story tells of the trials and tribulations of the train along the way. The second story is called Problem Parents. In the story two children explain everything that’s wrong with their parents, The third story, A Waiting Game, is a very simple story about a group of people waiting for a delayed train, The final story is called Udder Chaos, It tells the best and worst things about Holstein cows. In order to understand, or in some instances become confused, the reader must read the stories at the same time and also look at the pictures. If you don’t the full story won’t become clear, This book deserves the Caldecott because the story cannot be told without the pictures. In most illustrated books the story can be told without the pictures; in this one however the pictures are a part of the story.


 

Laura Feezor-Rapunzel (Zelinsky)

Zelinsky, Paul O. Rapunzel. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 1997.

Paul Zelinsky’s Rapunzel is an adaptation of the old fairy tale, comprised of its French and Italian sources along with the Grimms version. In Rapunzel, a young couple attempts for many years to become pregnant until finally their efforts are rewarded. However, their joy is spoiled by the wife’s desperate craving for the rapunzel leaves that are grown by the sorceress next door. The husband, fearing for her life, searches for a way to enter the doorless garden until he eventually climbs down their window overlooking the enclosure. During his trips, he is caught by the sorceress who makes him promise her their first born child, who she names Rapunzel. The sorceress loved the child, attending to her every need and in an effort to keep the child forever young and devoted only to her, she takes Rapunzel to a tower that has no exit. Whenever the witch wanted to visit, she would call “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down you hair!” A prince in the woods heard Rapunzel’s singing and learned how to gain access to the tower. They fell in love, married, and soon after Rapunzel became pregnant. Upon learning of her beloved daughter’s betrayal, the sorceress cut off her hair and led her deep in the woods to live with her two children. When the prince tried to return to the tower, he was tricked by the sorceress and fell to the ground. Blind, he wandered the woods, grieving for his wife until one day he heard her voice and rushed to her. Her tears cured his blindness and the family returned to his kingdom where naturally, they lived happily ever after. Zelinsky illustrated the book in Italian Renaissance style with German influences. He actually based several of the illustrations on Renaissance paintings such as The Jewish Bride and Expulsion from Paradise. He also took special care to portray the sorceress as “a complicated person. She wasn’t an ugly old witch who just unaccountably punishes a girl. I saw her as a mother figure who couldn’t let go.” (quoted. in CLR 182)

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http://www.aparthistory-design.com/masaccio_expulsion-1427.jpg


 

Danielle Ernst- Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Azarian)

 

Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. Snowflake Bentley. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

 

Snowflake Bentley is a biography about a farmer/scientist named Wilson Bentley. It starts off by describing Willie and his love for snow. Willie spent all his winters looking at snowflakes, first through a microscope. He tried to draw them, but he was never able to complete a picture before the snowflake was gone. Willie was then able to photograph the snowflakes and share his love of them with all his friends and family after his parents spent their savings on a camera for him. As an adult he “held evening slide shows on the lawns of his friends” (22); he always wanted to share his love of snow with everyone. “The Snowflake Man,” as everyone called him, was finally able to publish his photographs when some of his colleagues pitched in to combine the images into a book. At the end of the story, Willie walked home in a blizzard to take more pictures, caught pneumonia and died soon after. A monument was built and a museum was set up for him in his home town. The illustrations were done by Mary Azarian, a woman that lives about an hour away from where Wilson Bentley lived. The colors in these wood-cuts are extremely vivid and eye-catching. They are an excellent addition to the story since they represent each new stage of development for Willie.


 

Crystal Frawley - Smoky Night by Eve Bunting (Diaz)

 

Bunting, Eve. Smoky Night. Orlando: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1994.

 

 

Smoky Night is a story about a little boy and his mother. They are in their apartment building while riots are going on outside. The boy asks his mother a lot of questions about the rioting going on in the streets below him and she assures him that everything will be okay. He also finds comfort in his orange cat, Jasmine. Eventually the boy's mother gets him to go to sleep, but makes him sleep with his normal clothes on. In the middle of the night, they have to be evacuated out of their apartment because the whole thing is on fire due to the rioting. Jasmine, the cat, is lost in the process and the boy is very worried. He asks a firefighter to please look for her as they leave. Everyone from the apartment goes to a shelter at a church. Just as things start to seem pretty dim the firefighter that the boy had talked to appears with Jasmine and another cat. The other cat belonging to a woman whom the boy and his mother do not get along with. The boy is ecstatic. Everyone notices that the two cats are getting along, and it is decided that they should be able to get along too. The illustrations by David Diaz are a combination of two things; paintings done with acrylics AND photography. Everything is very colorful and eye catching.


Leslie Scott

 

Saint George and the Dragon

Adapted by Margaret Hodges (from Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene)

Illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman

Little, Brown, and Company. Boston Toronto c. 1984

 

The book that I chose was Saint George and the Dragon. This book took place back in the time of princes, princesses, kings, queens, fairies, and dragons. I love books with this scenario because I think they are so intriguing. This book in particular was about a knight, who was sent by a fairy queen, to slay a dragon who was threatening a city. The princess of the city bought the knight back to her village, where the people had been tormented for a good amount of time. When the dragon saw the knight, he immediately approached for battle. The battle went on for three consecutive days, but then finally the knight was victorious. The whole town celebrated and the knight was showered with gifts from the king. He gave all the gifts to the poor and then the king arranged that his daughter and the knight be married. The knight owed the fairy queen six years of service, but the two were still married. When he was needed by the fairy queen, he would go to battle, but he would always return.

The illustrations in this book were very impressive. Every page had something different and stimulating to look at. There were vibrant colors on some pages and darkness on others to really give the reader a sense of the mood. Even at my age, I really enjoyed the pictures.


Chelsey Campbell

 

Wisniewski, David. Golem. New York: Clarion Books, 1996.

Illustrations also by David Wisniewski.

 

The book that I chose to read for this assignment is Golem, written and illustrated by David Wisniewski. This interesting book was the 1997 Caldecott Medal winner. The story is about a medieval Jewish legend about the Golem, a clay person that can only be created by a righteous man, called a tzaddik. He recites chants from the Cabala, called zirufim, which animate the large creature. The Golem is a protector of the Jewish people, but as soon as his job is finished, he is returned to the clay that he came from.

 

In the 16th century, the Jews living in Prague were being persecuted for their faith, and were accused of such heinous practices as mixing Christian children's blood in with the Passover bread. Of course, none of these were true, but the rumors caused a rash of violence to break out against the Jews. Seeing their plight Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the chief rabbi of Prague, decided to create a Golem to protect the Jews in the Prague ghetto from their oppressors. One night, he--along with his son-in-law and his best student--went out to the river banks and used the clay there to make the Golem, then recited the chants to bring it to life. The creature then was instructed to be a servant in the synagogue by day, the protector of the Jews by night. Within a short time, the Golem had captured many of the people who had been persecuting the Jews, and the emperor of Prague was so afraid of the Golem that he offered protection to the Jews if Rabbi Loew would get rid of the Golem. With his goal now accomplished, it was time for the creature to be put back to sleep. The clay man was destroyed, and his clay remains were carried to the synagogue. He was placed in a room and the door was locked forever. Legend has it, however, that if the Jews are ever in need of his help, the Golem can be reawakened to protect them once again.

 

I think that this book won the Caldecott Medal because of its innovative style. The illustrations are paper cut-outs that were photographed. They are bright and colorful, detailed, and accurately portray the fanciful nature of this story. It almost seems like a pop-up book that is only 2-D. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and loved the pictures even more!


Patrick Lynn - The Polar Express (Houghton)


Lydel Matthews - Allsburg, Chris. Jumanji. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1981.

 

“Jumanji,” written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg, is about the adventures of a brother, Peter, and his slightly older sister, Judy. One day, the siblings run off to the park across the street because their toys at home become terribly boring; they find a mysterious jungle board game under a tree and decide to take it back with them. The instructions read in capital letters a warning: “ONCE A GAME OF JUMANJI IS STARTED IT WILL NOT BE OVER UNTIL ONE PLAYER REACHES THE GOLDEN CITY.” The children's moves cause a lion and monkeys to appear, then monsoon rains hit in the living room, their guide gets lost, a tsetse fly bites Peter on the nose and immediately puts him to sleep, a rhinoceros stampede destroys all the furniture, a python slithers on the mantel, and molten lava pours out of the fireplace. Judy wins the game and yells “JUMANJI” and everything returns to normal. The parents come home to find Judy and Peter working on a puzzle, but the siblings get distracted by two boys walking through the park with the game in hand. The new victims are the sons of their parent's guests, which supposedly never read instructions.


Kara Adler - Officer Buckle and Gloria (Rathmann)

Rathmann, Peggy. Officer Bucke and Gloria. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995.

 

Officer Buckle was always thinking of new and resourceful safety tips, such as, Safety Tip #77; “Never stand on a swivel chair.” But, the people in Napville continued to have accidents and mishaps because they wouldn’t listen to his great safety tips. They wouldn’t listen, that is, until the Napville Police Department gave Officer Buckle a police dog named Gloria. All of a sudden, the town of Napville perked up and started paying attention to his safety tips. He never knew that it was Gloria’s performances on stage behind his back that captured his audience’s approval and attention. When Officer Buckle watched a news special on TV showing one of his presentations, he realized he had been upstaged by his pooch, and he vowed never to teach safety tips again. Gloria attempted to teach on her own, but was lonely and fell asleep. A student of Napville School wrote to Officer Buckle explained that Gloria missed him. With this in mind, Officer Buckle thought of the best safety tip of all…Safety Tip #101 “Always stick with your buddy.” Peggy Rathmann is the illustrator and author of Officer Buckle and Gloria. She received a writing class assignment to create a story where the illustrations reflected something different than words in the text. The illustrations add complexity to a simple book because they create another storyline in the images of Gloria doing entertaining tricks during the presentations. The vivid colors and clever details in the artwork add interest and expand the gentle humor of the story.


Andrea Sanchez

Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. Harper Collins, 1963.

Where the Wild Things Are is a book about a young boy in a wolf suit named Max, who gets angry at his mother and is sent to his room without supper. That night a forest and an ocean appear in Max's room and he sails to "the place where the wild things are." Here he is made king of all the wild things, and spends time playing and romping around with these creatures. Eventually, Max grows tired of this, and realizes he doesn't want to be angry anymore, and wants to be home where he is loved. After narrowly escaping the place where the wild things are Max sails back to his room where, "his supper was still waiting for him...and it was still hot." This story's illustrations were done with water colors on paper; the illustrations are detailed and take up most of the pages. In the middle of the story there are six pages with only illustrations on them that demonstrate the passage of time and Max playing with the wild things. This book won because the illustrations are truly remarkable and captivating- not only for children, but for adults too. They are also unique, I have never seen anything like them come before or after. This is shown by the mere fact that Where the Wild Things Are is still a favorite and well known among children, despite the fact that it was written in 1963.


Adam Amir - So You Want to be a President? (David Small)


Jeff Biezunski- The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (Gerstein)


Jodi Schneider

Yorinks, Arthur. Hey, Al. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1986.

The story of "Hey Al" teaches the moral to be careful what you wish for. Al is a janitor who lives with his dog Eddie in a run down home. Eddie complains and wishes for a nicer place to live, when a big bird appears and tells Al and Eddie he can take them to a better place where they will not have to work and can really enjoy themselves. Eddie and Al go with the bird to "an island in the sky" with lots of animals that seems perfect. However, after a while in this "paradise" Eddie and Al begin to realize they are turning into birds. Al is able to fly away before he is completely transformed but Eddie struggles to fly. Luckily, Eddie is able to return home to Al where the story ends as they both realize "paradise lost is sometimes Heaven found." I enjoyed the illustrations in this story because they were very detailed. One of the most detailed aspects of the book was the hair on Al's legs. I feel like the details and use of color in the illustrations made "Hey Al" an enjoyable book.


Alejandra Klorig- Sam, Bangs and Moonshine by Evaline Ness

1967 Medal Winner:

Sam, Bangs and Moonshine is a book about a little girl named Samantha (but always called Sam)

who lived on a small island. She had the reckless habit of always lying. She believed in things called MOONSHINE. Moonshine could be almost anything from a pet tiger to the fact that her dead mother was a mermaid. She did have a pet cat though named Bangs who was wise and old. He father was a fisherman and one day as he was leaving for all day he told her to talk real not moonshine that day for a change. She tried but when her friend Thomas showed up she told him that her baby kangaroo was visiting her mermaid mother who lived in a cave behind Blue Rock. Thomas believed everything that she said and everyday he asked her if he could see her baby kangaroo and everyday she sent him off searching for it in a different place. She was sitting on her porch thinking that she would go to the moon when Bangs told warned her that the tide might cover Blue Rock early today and then walked after Thomas. She sat for awhile and then the sky turned murky and dark and then it started to rain very hard. Sam went inside and got very worried about Bangs and Thomas. Her dad burst into the house and Sam told him what had happened. He rushed to Blue Rock and saved Thomas and took him home, when he got home he told Sam that he did not find Bangs. He told her that she should think about the difference between real and moonshine. She was very upset and thought with out moonshine she wouldn't have a mother or a pet tiger or anything just her Dad and Bangs and not not even bangs. As she was trying to sleep she heard a scratching and it was Bangs. The next day she woke up and there was a baby kangaroo hopping across her floor. At least she thought it was but her dad told her it was a gerbil her father found on an African banana boat. She was excited but then she decided to give the gerbil to Thomas so she ran over to his house and surprised him with it. He asked her what the name of the gerbil was and she said Moonshine.

The illustrations are very textured and it looks like she painted a lot with her forearm. The people look like they are drawn with ink. The illustrations are not very colorful but it doesn't detract from the book, but instead enhances it. Some parts of the drawings are detailed like faces. Some look like they might be silk screen printed with ink drawn over it.


 

Patrick Lynn - The Polar Express

Van Allsburg, Chris. The Polar Express. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1985.

 

Laying in his bed one Christmas eve, a young boy remained silent, listening for the faint sound of Santa's sleigh. Although his friend told him that Santa didn't exist, he still believed and never gave up hope. He listened and listened, but only heard the sounds of a stream engine pulling into the station adjacent to his house. He leaned up in his bed and peared out the window to see what exactly pulled into the station. He spotted a large, black steam train "wrapped in an apron of steam." A conductor stood between the cars checking the large pocket watch which he retreived from his vest pocket. The conductor called the "all aboard," as the young boy tiptoed down his stairs and out of the front door. He asked the conductor, "Where?" The conductor replies, "Why, to the North Pole of course, this is the Polar Express." The boy boards the train which was filled with many other young boys and girls, dressed in their night garmets. They enjoyed candies and hot chocolate as they passed through cold, dark forests and high mountains never losing their speed. Finally, in the distance, a city appeared with lights bright and numerous. The conductor yells, "There is the North Pole." The begin to enter the North Pole with its toy factories and streets filled with elves. Gathering in the middle of the city, the elves were so dense that the train stopped short of the large open circle. Santa's sleigh, with its reindeer and all, waited patiently for Santa to board. The children ask the conductor what the elves were waiting and gathering for. The conductor explains that they are waiting for Santa to appear and choose one of the boys and girls to give the first gift of Christmas to. Santa chooses our young boy, sets him on his lap, and asks what he would like for Christmas. Thinking long and hard, he decided on a bell from Santa's sleigh for his gift. An elf cuts a bell off the sleigh, tosses it to Santa, and Santa in turn gives it to the young boy. Placing the bell in his pocket, he watches as Santa departs, but not before making one circle aroung the North Pole. All the young boys and girls board the train once again. Excited, they ask our boy to show them the present, the bell which Santa had given him. As he reached into his pocket, all he found was the hole in his shirt where the bell had slipped away. Saddened, the boy eventually deboards the train back at his home, walks to his bed, and goes to sleep. The next morning, the boy and his sister open all their presents accept for one tiny box with his name on it. Opening the box, he discovers the bell which he had dropped with a note reading, Found this on the seat of my slegh. Fix the hole in your pocket. Mr. C." Shaking the bell, the boy and his sister heard the most beautiful sound ever heard by their young ears. However, their parents believe the bell is broken because they cannot hear the sound. As the young boy's sister and all his friends grow up, the bell quiets and eventually falls silent. The boy continues to hear the bell "as it does for all who truly believe."

 

The illustrations in the book are very well done. They enhance the written word, portraying the text in a more artistic form. The drawings are not as much going for perfect detail, but more for the fantasy setting found in the readers heads. You could almost enjoy the story without text at all. The illustrations are that well done and thought out.


LaQuitta Destin - Why Mosquitoes Buzz in Peoples Ears (Dial)

 

"Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" is a West African folktale about a Mosquito who continually asks Africans if they are still mad at them for what they did years ago. As the story unfolds, Mosquito tells Iguana a lie, which starts a series of disastrous events. Since, Mosquito was whispering in Iquana's ear, he couldn't hear Snake when he told him "Hello". Snake continued to slither into Rabbit's hole, and accidentally scared her. As this cycle continues, Owl's baby ends up dead; the animals all gather together to find out who this mysterious person is who killed them. Owl now is unable to "Hoot" and awaken the sun, and King Lion has to find out what happened and how to find justice for whoever killed Owl's baby. Mosquito flew away because all the animals are mad at him. To this day he still suffers from a guilty conscious and still asks “Zeee! Is everyone still angry at me?” and she receives her answer.

 

The books illustrations are very elaborate. By just flipping the pages and not reading the text, one can interpret everything that happens in the book. The illustrations are very tribe-like, and depicts the culture of West Africa. The colors used are very vibrant and bright, which are the some of the same colors that are used in the country.

 


 

Daniel Goldin

 

Mosel, Arlene. "The Funny Little WOman". Illustrated by: Lent, Blair. 1972.

 

"The Funny Little Woman" is the story of a tiny Japenese woman who loves to cook rice dumplings and laugh in her funny little laugh, all day. SHe probably has succumb to mercury poisoning from eating to much fish.

 

So one day she is making a rice dumpling and her dumpling falls down the hill. She decides to chase after the rice dumpling, being the lunatic that she is. SHe chases it down into a hole where she begins to question the talking statue of it's whereabouts. They tell her the dumpling just rolled by, but that she should go no further becuase the Oni will find her. She chuckles at this and continues on. Eventually the Oni do find her. SHe is taken to the Onis' home where she became their rice cooking slave. SHe used a magic paddle to make enormous portions of rice to satisfy the Onis' hunger.

 

Eventually the old woman becomes tired of this life and decides to escape. SHe sneaks away with the magic paddle and begins crossing the river that seperates the Onis' home from the rest of the world. She makes it about half way crazy when all the Oni see her and begin drinking the water from the river. The woman starts sinking into the mud. A very funny sight this must have been, for the Oni couldn't hold in their laughter. As they burst into laughter, all the liquid in their stomachs came back out and refilled the river. The woman then successfully escaped. WHen she got home, she was able to make more rice becuase of the magic paddle. She then decided to sell her rice dumplings and became one of the richest woman in Japan.

 

The illustrations in this book are quite extravagant. The pictures alone tell much more of a story than the text. The vibrant colors of the illustations and all the detail found in the image are what propelled this book to recieve the Caldecott Award.


 

Adam Amir

St. George, Judith. So You Want to be President?. 2000. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. Illustrated by: David Small

 

So You Want to be a President? is a charming book highlighting the United States’ forty-one presidents, their commonalities and often irrelevant facts.

Judith St. George, its author, compares some of the upsides to presidency like having a bowling alley, movie theater and swimming pool inside the giant white house. Contrastingly, she also notes that presidents have to always get dressed up and be polite.

Stressing some of the “advantages” of getting office, she notes that it may help to have a common name because six presidents were named James, four Johns and four Williams. Furthermore, she shows that having political members in your family tree can aid. John Quincy Adams was John Adams’ son and Teddy Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt were fifth cousins.

Although, not all presidents were there by chance she shows -- some were very qualified. Thomas Jefferson was brilliant, “an expert on agriculture, law, politics, music, geography, surveying, philosophy and botany,” while founding a University and writing the Declaration of Independence.

All using whimsical language and funny illustrations this book shows kids the ins and often silly outs of the presidency, while weaving some history into a fun 50 pages.


 

Jeff Biezunski

 

Gerstein, Mordicai. The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. 2003. Brookfield, Connecticut: Roaring Book Press.

 

"The Man Who Walked Between the Towers" is the inspiring story of Philippe Petit’s tight rope walk across the Twin Towers. Petit was a street performer who loved to juggle and such, but loved tight rope walking more than anything. When he was on his rope he felt free. So it is no surprise that when he realized that the towers would be a perfect place to stretch a rope across he immediately had to do it. Petit and a friend snuck into the unfinished towers disguised as construction men and took some supplies to the top unfinished floors. There they hid till night when they got the rest of their supplies. Petit’s friends shot the rope on an arrow across and it missed! The determined Philippe crawled over the edge and retrieved the arrow. After a night long struggle, Petit was finally ready to walk as day broke. For an hour, he walked, danced, knelt, and even rested on the 7/8 inch thick rope while holding his 28-foot balancing pole. On the rope he felt free even after a crowd of people and police began to gather. When Petit was satisfied with his performance he walked to the police on the roof and into their handcuffs. The judge sentenced him to perform in the park for the city’s children. Petit happily obliged. The oil illustrations of this book are quit beautiful and appeal very well to children. The artist does not focus on reality as much as he does beauty. The artist uses many different bright and beautiful colors and makes every page look vibrant. The drawings are also lifelike in a cartoonish sense. The essence of each page is very well captured by each picture and the pictures could tell the story without words.