I have been working in the children’s book industry for many years, and I count it a rare treat when someone finds a way to add a magical new twist to the vast field. Pamela Zagarnski is one of those bright lights. Her illustrations are magical, and she has won the coveted Caldecott Medal twice.
What is a Caldecott Medal?
“The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year’s “most distinguished American picture book for children”. It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). ” – Wikipedia
“Pamela Zagarenski is the winner of two Caldecott Honors. The books she has illustrated have also been Booklist Editor’s Choices, Horn Book Fanfare and Bulletin Blue Ribbon books, winners of Bank Street’s Claudia Lewis Award, and translated into many languages.” Google ai
A 2013 Caldecott Honor Book
“In this magical bedtime story, the lyrical narrative echoes a Runaway Bunny – like cadence: “Does everything in the world go to sleep?” the little girl asks. In sincere and imaginative dialogue between a not-at-all sleepy child and understanding parents, the little girl decides “in a cocoon of sheets, a nest of blankets,” she is ready to sleep, warm and strong, just like a tiger. The Caldecott Honor artist Pamela Zagarenski’s rich, luminous mixed-media paintings effervesce with odd, charming details that nonsleepy children could examine for hours. A rare gem.
Sleep Like Tiger
Image Credit: Zagarenski
Sleep Like Tiger
Image Credit: Zagarenski
Sleep Like Tiger
Image Credit: Zagarenski
Sleep Like Tiger
Image Credit: Zagarenski
Sleep Like Tiger
Image Credit: Zagarenski
Red Sings from Treetops
Image Credit: Zagarenski
Red Sings from Treetops
Image Credit: Zagarenski
The Fabled Life of Aesop
Image Credit: Amazon
★ “Lovely art comes with unusual perspectives on familiar tales about lions, mice and trickster foxes.” —Kirkus, starred review
“Many children are familiar with Aesop’s fables but it is a fair bet that few know much about the storyteller himself…(a) beautiful volume.” —Wall Street Journal
“Honoring the path of a slave, this dramatic picture-book biography and concise anthology of Aesop’s most child-friendly fables tells how a child born into slavery in ancient Greece found a way to speak out against injustice by using the skill and wit of his storytelling—storytelling that has survived for 2,500 years. Stunningly illustrated by two-time Caldecott Honor winner Pamela Zagarenski.
“The Tortoise and the Hare. The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The Fox and the Crow. Each of Aesop’s stories has a lesson to tell, but Aesop’s life story is perhaps the most inspiring tale of them all.
“Gracefully revealing the genesis of his tales, this story of Aesop shows how fables not only liberated him from captivity but spread wisdom over a millennium. This is the only children’s book biography about him.
“Includes thirteen illustrated fables: The Lion and the Mouse, The Goose and the Golden Egg, The Fox and the Crow, Town Mouse and Country Mouse, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Statue, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The North Wind and the Sun, The Fox and the Grapes, The Dog and the Wolf, The Lion and the Boar.”
Sleep Like A Tiger