1950 Caldecott Honor: The Happy Day
By Ruth Krauss Pictures by Marc Simont
Illustrator Marc Simont was born on November 23rd in Paris, France. His childhood was spent in France, Spain, and the United States. Sickly, he taught himself to write by tracing the text of the Spanish picture book, El Ginesello. His schoolwork was also hindered by his travels and he never finished high school. He studied art at the Academie Julien, the Academie Ranson, and New York's National Academy of Design. Even at that, he considered his father, an illustrator for L'Illustration magazine, his most influential art teacher. Simont worked as a portrait painter, designed visual aids, and worked for magazines and advertising firms before becoming a children's book illustrator in 1939. His work had a characteristic loose line and saturated watercolor; his lively interpretations earning a Caldecott Honor in 1950 for The Happy Day by Ruth Kraus. He received the Caldecott Medal in 1957 for A Tree is Nice and again in 2002 for The Stray Dog. Happy Birthday, Marc, and many more returns!
Book Summary
Delightful forest creatures awake from their winter slumber to discover the arrival of a beautiful hint of spring!
So where does the title The Happy Day come from? That is again one of the special surprises of this book!
Illustrations
The soft and friendly illustrations are done in black in white, with one BIG exception! What is the exception? Well it’s a special surprise at the end! I wouldn’t want to ruin your surprise! The illustrations seem to be done with pencil and perhaps charcoal. This is of course a guess by someone who is not exactly an educated artist! I found the pictures to be fun and easy! My read this book to my kids and they both enjoyed it. Funny how sometimes we think a book done in black and white will be less interesting, but I have always found that the opposite is true both for myself and for the kids.
I also find it amazing that an artist can draw snow on a white page! Not only is this amazing to me but in this book I found it very interesting to see snow covered mountain tops, one white pages!
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? Milton Memorial Library
More? Here you go!
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/articles/2004/mar04_simontmarcus.asp
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