Friday, July 24, 2009

Caldecott Medal: So You Want to Be President?


This is a book that provides interesting facts about the presidents of the United States. It is full of stories and art about the lives, administrations, families, likes, dislikes and even pets of our national chief executives. In the back of the book there is a picture of all the presidents to date with a short biography for each. The book is very kid friendly and is very easy to read and understand. It includes interesting facts but it does not read like a textbook. That is what makes this book so enjoyable. Kids can read this book and learn about history without getting bored like they would with a textbook. There are cartoon drawings of the presidents and other illustrations that make this book humorous. From reading this book, I have learned that it is possible to present facts and history in a way that is fun, interesting, and appealing to children. This type of book could be used as a supplement to help teach about the presidents during Social Studies.
St. George, J. (2000). So you want to be president? New York: Philomel Books.

Caldecott vs. Newbery Award




The Caldecott and Newbery Awards are awarded annualy by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. The main difference is the Caldecott Award is for illustrations while the Newberry Award is for literature.

The Caldecott Award was created in 1938 and it is named after Ralph Caldecott who was an English illustrator during the nineteenth-century. This award is given to the artist of the most distinquished American picture book for children that was published that year. The Newbery Award was created in 1922 and it was named after John Newbery who was an eighteenth-century English bookseller. This award is given to the most distinquished childrens book published the previous year.

Both the Caldecott and Newbery Awards are highly sought after and are considred the most prestigious childrens book awards given. Neither of the awards are considered better than the other. They are given to books for different reasons and therfore are highly desired.

Reference:
http://specialedandme.wordpress.com/2007/10/14/the-difference-between-a-caldecott-award-and-a-newberry-award/
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literacyawds/literaryrelated.cfm