1944 Honor: Mighty Hunter
By Bertha and Elmer Hader
This is the second time this couple earned the Caldecott Honor. They previously won in 1940 with Cock-A-Doodle-Doo. On that post I shared the bio of Bertha and Elmer prior to marriage. Today I share info of them after they were married.
Biography of Illustrators (bio from Wikipedia)
When Elmer and Berta met in San Francisco, they had both been part of a broad network of artists and intellectuals in the area. They became good friends, and, rather than return to San Francisco, Elmer went directly to New York when he was demobilized, where Berta was working for McCall's. The two quickly married, then lived briefly in Greenwich Village. Seeking a more rustic setting, they left the city to rent the Lyle Cottage in Grand-View-on-Hudson, a small town in rural Rockland County on the west bank of the Hudson River. This would become the area they would spend the rest of their lives in, eventually building their home on a 1,5 hectare plot a mere 500 meters from the Lyle Cottage. This home, which took more than twenty years to build and was largely done by Hader and his friends, became an art project in its own right. Elmer went so far as to extract the stones used to build the house from the earth himself. The Haders had a boy in the early 1920s, Hamilton (named after the author Hamilton Williamson), who died from meningitis not long before he turned three. The death of their son, according to their friend J. J. Marquis, turned both of them into agnostics, though they recovered enough to avoid becoming embittered or cynical.
The two used their talents and Berta's connections to prepare children's sections for Good Housekeeping, McCall's, Pictorial Review, Asia, Century, and The Christian Science Monitor. They did pictures and cut-outs, often featuring children dressed in national costumes. In Berta and Elmer Hader's Picture Book of Mother Goose, the couple collated pen-and-ink and color drawings they had done for Monitor and Good Housekeeping to great acclaim. When the US Postal Service dis-allowed the sending of magazines with cut-out segments in 1926, the Haders switched gears, gaining a contract with MacMillan for a series of children's books. They began writing the stories for some of the books in this period. Demand for their product soared, and they worked incessantly from 1927–1931, illustrating, in some cases writing, producing, and helping to sell thirty-four titles. They stayed busy for the rest of their lives, producing another seventy or so books before they retired in 1964. One book in particular, Billy Butter (1936), so impressed writer John Steinbeck that he requested Elmer Hader do the cover to The Grapes of Wrath (1939), Steinbeck's most important work. Hader eventually did covers for two other Steinbeck works, East of Eden (1952) and The Winter of Our Discontent (1961).
Book Summary
Little Brave Heart, a young Indian boy, goes on an adventure. One morning Little Brave Heart decides to skip school and hunt for fun. He starts with his eyes set on a small field mouse. But the field mouse stops him and convinces Little Brave Heart to set his goal bigger. This is repeated until finally Little Brave Heart sets his sight on a bear. The Bear teaches him a lesson about hunting and convinces Little Brave Heart to return to school.
Illustrations:
I personally enjoyed this playful book. The illustrations were very complimentary to the story line. What I thought was interesting is that each of the animals Little Brave Heart would run into would be sitting just outside of the main illustration space. Each page had a picture with a white border along the side and bottom of the page. It was as if the animals were just out of reach for this young hunter.
The illustrations were realistic yet playful. This book itself had animals talking to Little Brave Heart. The pictures would show an accurate animal, size and color but then the animal would talk to Little Brave Heart. Little Brave Heart would also talk to them. You could see the exchange in the eyes. They were playful and hunting.
I especially took note of how perspective came into play. At the end of Little Brave Hearts Hunting Journey he comes to a bear. The bear is on the right hand side of the page, in the top corner, large and fierce. Little Brave heart is in the bottom left hand side, just outside of the illustration standing in the white border. He looks small and alarmed. Just a beautiful way to show this concept!
Art Medium: Not sure
Final Thoughts:
1. Would this be a book I would pick up again? Yes
2. Would I recommend it to others to search out and take a look at? Yes
3. Would I spend my hard earned money on the book? Yes
4. Where did I get the book? Pierce County borrowed this book from the University of Portland Library
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