The Global Ocean

Hot Dog by Doug Salati
Picture books can foster a deeper appreciation for the “Earth’s beating heart,” our global ocean. From ocean shores to the depths of the sea, these five Caldecott award books transport readers to this extraordinary environment.

Flight

Hot Air Marjorie Priceman
Four Caldecott Award books celebrate the exhilaration of flight, with two journeys inspired by history and two by imagination.

Get Out the Vote!

So You Want to Be President?
A close and fascinating look at the illustrations in three Caldecott books about political figures ... and how those books have been updated over the years.

Nursery Rhymes

Marguerite de Angeli Book of Nursery and Mother Goose Rhymes
While no nursery rhyme books have won Caldecott Awards in the last 60 years, from 1938 to 1964 there were a number of fine books bestowed with awards.

Freshwater Pearls

In the Small, Small Pond
This column dives into four Caldecott picture books that feature freshwater resources, precious and limited assets that sustain terrestrial life.

Artificial Intelligence: Food for Thought

Berry Song
Following up on Gail Nordstrom and Heidi Hammond’s Caldecott Lines of Connection article, “Food for Thought,” Gail decided to give artificial intelligence a challenge to write an article on the same topic. Here’s how it went down.

Food for Thought

Thank You, Omu!
Sean Sherman, “In an epiphany, I tasted how food weaves people together, connects families through generations, is a life force of identity and social structure.” These formidable themes are central to recent Caldecott Award books.

Scary Stories

Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
According to multiple sources, being scared and overcoming our fear is good for us, and this is especially true when reading or listening to scary stories.

Bible Stories

Animals of the Bible
This month, we look at Bible stories which have been awarded recognition by the Caldecott committees, beginning in 1938.

Books about Baking Up Family Time

Jack­ie: We decid­ed to hon­or the nation’s new­found love of bak­ing with a col­umn on pic­ture books focused on bak­ing. We still don’t have libraries (a great ben­e­fit of this con­fine­ment is the reminder of how spe­cial and nec­es­sary are libraries in our lives) so we are lim­it­ed to books we can find read aloud on Youtube.… more

Skinny Dip with Toni Buzzeo

Skinny Dipping
What’s your favorite holiday tradition? Although only my father is Italian, I grew up with a strong connection to my Italian heritage. And really, when does one’s heritage shine more brightly than the holidays? So, every Christmas Eve finds me with my family in our Maine farmhouse kitchen making homemade ravioli. My husband Ken rolls out the dough that has been resting on the counter under a bowl for several hours while my son Topher and I wrestle the circles of dough he provides us into folded cushions of deliciousness that we drop into a boiling pot of salted water.… more