Take a trip to The Little Island!!!!!!

1947 Caldecott Winner: The Little Island

By Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard

Do these names sound familiar?  It may be due to the fact that in 1946 they received a Caldecott Honor Medal for Little Lost Lamb.  Please refer back to that post for the bio info on Leonard Weisgard. 

Today I am going to post some Bio Info on Margaret Wise Brown.  This is a very well known author in children’s books.  If you have young children or have read many books to young children then chances are you have read a book written by Margaret Wise Brown.

Here is a link to a web page where I got my information from:

http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 55 years ago, many of her books are still in print.

Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them, so many of her books rhyme or repeat a word pattern. She liked to place a hard word into a story or poem because she thought this made children think harder when they are reading.

She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper in a library in Westerly, Rhode Island where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.

She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.

Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. Those who knew her say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Her books remain some of the most popular books in the world.

Book Summary

A little island becomes the main character in this imaginative story about seasons and world connections.  We see how different animals over the course of a year use the island.  There is also a kitten that comes to visit the island and learns that even the island is part of the big earth, everything is connected.

Illustrations
He used a wide range of colors and media in his books, including gouache, poster paint, crayon, chalk, decoupage, stenciling and pen and ink.

http://www.leonardweisgard.com/biography.htm

So let’s think, gouache, we now know what that is right?  Watercolors!!!  I would like to think that we are learning something as we read all these books!  He he

Okay now the other mediums used poster paints, crayons, chalk, decoupage, pen and ink…….   Well we haven’t learned about these formally yet so we are going to need to use the knowledge we already have.  This in my case is at an Elementary School Level.  So when I look at the illustrations in the story book I do see what I think is gouache painting.  The colors are bold and clear cut, that means that perhaps there is some pen and ink work going on as well.  I just am not that talented yet to say what is what.  Perhaps someday.

So then let’s talk about my personal reaction to them.  They are delightful to look at.  The viewpoints change as the topic changes.   We get to see so many different aspects of this little island.  Above, below, big, small, the view point is always changing!  Sometimes we are at ground level looking at the vantage point of a small insect; the small plants fill the entire page.  Other times we are high above the island where the entire island with surrounding waters fills the page.  I enjoy the changes; it keeps it new and interesting.

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? It was a gift but I would spend my money.

4. Where did I get the book? I own it!  Would be willing to share it!