1938 History Facts

1938 History Facts

Okay, so the first year the Caldecott Medal was awarded was in 1938.  To understand literature, you must understand what is happening in the world at that time.  So to begin I will post some history facts for the year.  This helps me to put the book and illustrations into context.  I also find it interesting!  Yeah I told you I was a dork!! LOL

U.S. President: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Time Magazines “Man of the Year”:  Adolf Hitler

The top moneymaking movie of the year was Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
January:  The March of Dimes is established and the first ski tow in America begins to operate in Vermont.
February: Adolf Hitler abolishes the War Ministry and creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military.

March: Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia and The Hobbit was published in the United States.

June: Action Comics #1 is published, which is the first publication featuring the comic book character Superman.

July: The steam locomotive Mallard sets the world speed record for steam by reaching 126 mph.  Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world.

The last reunion of the Blue and Gray commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

August:  The Looney Tunes animated short Porky & Daffy is released.

September: The Munich Pact, which effectively turned over Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany, was signed by Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. Later, a Gallup poll showed that most Americans approved of this act of appeasement.

October: Winston Churchill, in a broadcast address to the United States, condemns the Munich Agreement as a defeat and calls upon America and western Europe to prepare for armed resistance against Hitler.

The minimum wage is established by law in the United States.

Orson Welles's radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds is broadcast, causing panic in various parts of the United States.

Great Depression: In an effort to try restore investor confidence, the New York Stock unveils a 15-point program aimed to upgrade protection for the investing public.

November:  Horse Racing: Seabiscuit defeats War Admiral by four lengths in their famous match race at Pamlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

I got all this information from Wikipedia.

Okay now that we have some background set up I will be collecting copies of the 1938 books to take a look at them. 

There are three total. 

The Caldecott Medal was awarded to:

Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop and text selected by Helen Dean Fish

The Caldecott Honor Medals were awarded to:

Four and Twenty Blackbirds, illustrated by Robert Lawson, author Helen Dean Fish

Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale, illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff, author Boris Artzybasheff

If you want to read along with me I would love it!  I am getting copies of these books from Pierce County Library.  I think they only have a few, so if you live in Pierce County we may be competing for the same book!  LOL  if you live else where check your local library and see if you can get copies!

I plan on posting on the weekends!  That will give me time to read the books and do some more research!  So until next weekend!