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The Legendary Miss Lena Horne by Carole Boston Weatherford Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

A Greyhound, a Groundhog by Emily Jenkins illustrated by Chris Appelhans


Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell

Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers illustrated by Floyd Cooper

We are off to a fantastic start for 2018.
What do you think of these starred titles?

Every one of them is terrific and creative. Hard to choose a favorite.

I love A Greyhound, a Groundhog! Wolf in the Snow looks wonderful too.

Wolf in the Snow
I really liked this wordless story, which was quite easy to follow just by "reading" the illustrations. Kindness beget kindness in this story. As for the ink and watercolor illustrations--the depictions of the wolves looked almost realistic, but the people looked very cartoonish, and reminded me somewhat of Quentin Blake's art style. Otherwise, the illustrations were excellent at depicting the cold, and the weariness of both wolf cub and girl.

The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
This was an inspiring story. The oil paint and cut paper collage illustrations were very good as well, but I don't know that they are Caldecott worthy.

Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History
This was another inspiring biography, with excellent illustrations rendered in oil and erasers. I especially liked the bust portrait on the title page. His paintings always have a kind of fuzzy, dreamy feel to them. Cooper has won awards for his illustrations for previous books; perhaps this will be another award-winner for him?

I just read the book the Legendary Miss Lena Horne. I first must say it was an inspiring story. I love Carole Weatherford's use of collage along with the oil paintings. It brought such a rich texture to the page.
I am a huge Emily Jenkins fan. I was already a fan of a Greyhound A Groundhog. I do love the use of the white background, it brings the readers eyes into the detail of the illustrations. However, I am not convinced it is a caldecott contender.

A Greyhound, A Groundhog
I enjoyed this book as well. The spare illustrations draw one's attention to the energy of the greyhound and groundhog running around and around. I also liked the comical watercolors, but they didn't scream "Caldecott" to me, either.

A Greyhound, A Groundhog
I loved the visuals. Beautiful watercolors. And they have a nice flow. I like how they get a little frantic when the rhymes start becoming tongue twisters.

Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History
I think the oil pastel illustrations are mostly effective. But they create a fuzzy texture that sometimes make the images look out of focus. Especially on the pages with more brown than other colors. I also think the page showing Douglass grabbing the whip from Covey does not match the text. I think I would need to explain what is happening in the picture to a child since the text doesn't mention a whip, and the image kind of looks like snakes.

The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
I liked this one a lot. I think the story is great and the images match it well. I especially liked any images that showed Lena Horne mid-song or expressing annoyance/anger.

The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
The images do a great job telling this story. I like that it wasn't totally wordless, including barks, howls, and huffing noises. The sketchy angular style really fits with the frightening situation. The images really make you feel how exhausted and scared the girl is.

Beverly wrote: "Wolf in the Snow
I really liked this wordless story, which was quite easy to follow just by "reading" the illustrations. Kindness beget kindness in this story. As for the ink and wa..."

I totally agree. I am glad I was able to get a copy from my local library to read.

I also read A Greyhound, a Groundhog. I haven't had a chance to read it aloud to a group yet, but I think it will be fun. Kids tend to love books with word play like this.

Wolf in the Snow is one of my top picks for 2017, thus far! In a unique five pages before the title page of Matthew Cordell’s Wolf in the Snow, meet a family, their dog & a pack of wolves. With snow beginning to fall as the girl leaves for school, a feeling of danger fills the air. As pages progress, blue tones in the sky deepen to indicate impending dangers of nightfall. Watch as the little girl & a wolf pup become lost in the snowstorm. The OOs in the book heighten senses of sight & hearing to bring a happy ending. It is such a soft and soothing story - a real tribute to the respect and bonding between wildlife and humans.

I thought the illustrations in A Greyhound, A Groundhog were really special!