Caldecott Winners

Cooper, E. (2017). Big cat, little cat. New York: Roaring Brook

The big cat lives in the city with his family. When a little cat comes to live with him, he teaches him everything that he need to know about being a cat. The two become very close. As the big cat grows older, he slows down and then one day, he goes away and doesn't come back. But soon another little cat comes and the now big cat shows him everything that his big cat showed him.

I was fine with this book until the white cat dies. I have serious cat codependency problem; I have three and would have more if it wouldn't result in divorce. So the death of the cat actually made me teary eyed. But I liked how the black cat becomes the big cat and shows the new kitten the ropes, just as he was long ago.

I struggle to see why this is a Caldecott honor book. While I can appreciate the simple illustrations and the use of monochromatic colors, it just doesn't seem like some of the other winners. Am I missing something or is the simplicity the reason it was honored?



Cordell. M. (2017). Wolf in the snow. New York: Feilwel and Friends.

A little girl leaves school as it starts snowing. She tries to make it home. At the same time a wolf pup loses his family in the snow. The girl finds the pup and follows the howls of the wolves to return the pup to his family. The snow gets worse as she tries to make it home. The wolves follow her and when she collapses, they howl so that her dog and family can find her.

I love that this book is wordless. Well, almost wordless as the words howl and bark are the only words used. This forces you to use the pictures for every inference. The little girl's snowsuit reminds me of Maggie on the Simpsons. She's just kind of a triangle with eyes. But the way the illustrator uses her eyes is so important. You can tell everything about her from those eyes.

While the story is told well through the illustrations, I again seem to be missing why this is a Caldecott. Nothing really jumps out at me as exceptional. It's just a sweet story where a kindness is repaid.

Am I expecting too much from a Caldecott? I know its not going to be a Monet, but I want to see the illustrations and think "Wow!" I'm just not getting it from these two.