1948 Caldecott Winner: White Snow Bright Snow
By Alvin Tresselt Illustrated by Roger Duvoisin
Here is Roger Duvoisin at work in his studio.
I am finding that I enjoy seeing pictures of the artist working in his/her own space.
Roger Duvoisin was born August 28, 1904, in Geneva, Switzerland. The young Duvoisin showed an early interest in art, music, and books. After attending music and art schools in Switzerland and France, he painted murals, posters, and stage scenery and worked in a textile studio. His talent in textile designs brought him the opportunity to move to New York in 1927 to work for the Maillinson's Silk Company. Four years later, the company went out of business, but the president's son showed a manuscript of Duvoisin's to Charles Scribner, who published the book, A Little Boy Was Drawing (1932).
Duvoisin went on to create more than forty books and illustrate more than 140 books for children. He was perhaps best known as the illustrator of the "Happy Lion" series, written by his wife, Louise Fatio. Duvoisin created other popular animal characters in Veronica, Petunia, Donkey-Donkey, and Hector-Penguin. He continued to work as a commercial artist, including assignments for The New Yorker.
Duvoisin was the recipient of many awards and honors, among them the 1948 Caldecott Medal for White Snow, Bright Snow. Duvoisin's work was selected four times for the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year and seventeen times for the American Institute of Graphic Arts Fifty Best Books of the Year. For distinguished contributions to children's literature, he received the Society of Illustrators Award in 1961; the Rutgers Award in 1966; the Hans Christian Andersen Medal runner-up for 1968; the Silver Medallion of the University of Southern Mississippi in 1971; and the Kerlan Award of the University of Minnesota in 1976. Duvoisin died June 30, 1980, in Morristown, New Jersey.
Book Summary
“The postman
said it looked like snow.
The farmer said it smelled
like snow.
The policeman said it felt
like snow, and his wife said
her big toe hurt, and
that always meant snow.”
Did it make you smile, or even laugh? I laughed, I love the policeman’s wife! We all know someone with this personality and I love it! This is a delightful story of a late winter that melts into spring. We see the characters of the story adapt and change as the weather changes. Set in a small village/town in March we see how the community deals with a large amount of snow fall. I found It adorable and easy to follow along!
Side Note: This is the second Caldecott Award book for this author! He also was awarded the Honor in 1947 for Rain Drop Splash. This is his second Caldecott Award, and this time it is the winner. We will see him again in 1966 for Hide and See Fog (Caldecott Honor).
Illustrations
I am not sure what medium Mr. Suvoisin used for this book, but in other pieces of work he used paint and he worked often with textiles. This book does give the impression of paint but I am NOT an expert in this field, it is purely a guess. Okay, let me describe what I see. White and Grey are the colors used most often, that makes sense right a, story about snow? There are some accent colors as well, red and yellow for the most part but not to be forgotten are brown or rather it appears brown but it could be a combination of the yellow and red painted on top of each other.
The illustrations give just enough detail yet leave some to the imagination. Often times there are more than one scene on each page. We see snip shots of the story but both text and illustrations flow across the pages in a very logical manner.
Personal reaction: I enjoyed these pictures. It has that classic feel to them. I love the snow! The way in which they were created was magical. The snowflakes intertwine with the text and the pictures brining them together.
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? Already did!
4. Where did I get the book? I own it!
More Info:
http://eclipse.rutgers.edu/goose/zam/duvbio.aspx
An Out of Print Night Before Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iQ7oJVsgos
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