1940 - Abraham Lincoln

The third book to be awarded the Caldecott Medal was also the first book with color illustrations: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, published by Doubleday.  It tells the story of our sixteenth President from birth through the American Civil War.  It is full of lessons about the importance of hard work, education, and a sense of humor.  There are stories of Lincoln's determination and kindness and what we would consider to be exciting adventures, but what Abe thought of as just necessary work.

Who were Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire?

Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire circa 1961

Ingri Mortensen and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire met in 1921 at art school in Munich, Germany. They married in Norway, moved to Paris, and dreamed of going to America.  Using the payment they received after a small bus accident, Edgar moved to New York and worked as a book illustrator until he could afford to send for Ingri.  After arriving in New York, Ingri started painting portraits and holding dinner parties.  At one of these parties, the head librarian of the New York Public Library's juvenile department asked the couple why they didn't illustrate children's books.

Their first children's book was The Magic Rug, published by Doubleday in 1931.  They then went on to write and illustrate three books based on the Scandinavian folklore from Ingri's childhood.  Drawing from the history of their adopted country, they decided to do a series of books based on American heroes.  

Columbus, 1955; Buffalo Bill, 1952; Benjamin Franklin, 1950;
George Washington, 1936; Pocahontas, 1946

But it was their 1939 biography of Abraham Lincoln that won them the Caldecott Medal.

For their illustrations, the d'Aulaires used stone lithography.  It would take four slabs of Bavarian limestone to create a single four-color illustration.  The limestone slabs could weigh up to two hundred pounds a piece and this format gave the illustrations a hand-drawn look.

The practice of stone lithography gained popularity in the 1800s but is still practiced by some artists to this day.

According to the website How Stuff Works:

The basic idea used in stone lithography is extremely simple:

1. The artist draws/paints on the stone with a greasy substance. For example, a litho crayon is a soft waxy/greasy crayon. There are also litho paints and pencils. The stone picks up this greasy substance and holds it
2. The stone is moistened with water. The parts of the stone not protected by the greasy paint soak up the water.
3. Oil-based ink is rolled onto the stone. The greasy parts of the stone pick up the ink, while the wet parts do not.
4. A piece of paper is pressed onto the stone, and the ink transfers from the stone to the paper.

 Abraham Lincoln has a combination of black and white and color illustrations.

Young Abe

Abe's classroom

What I love about these illustrations is how detailed they are.  The longer you study them, the more you see.  Don't just flip through this book, take time to study each picture and you'll see fun little images.

Some of the silliness in the full page illustrations.

Abraham Lincoln is a long story.  This is not a quick book to grab and read before bed, this is a thorough story filled with anecdotes and history.  Which means the d'Aulaires used small black and white images to fill the spaces around paragraphs to keep the reader entertained.

Abe's family home; Mrs. Lincoln baking gingerbread men;
Mary Todd and Abe Lincoln; President Lincoln and a monkey

And many pages are framed with illustrations:

Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire is truly a beautifully illustrated biography.  It is full of stories that will serve to bring our 16th President to life in the eyes of children.

It does end before Lincoln is assassinated and it does not mention the deaths of his sons Tad and Willie, but it does tell of his mother's passing and the death of Ann Rutledge, Lincoln's first love.  It also broaches the subject of slavery with all the political correctness of a book written in 1939.  I don't believe there is anything particularly offensive about what is written, but the wording wouldn't fly in a book published in 2014.

Long before I knew about this book or even learned the names Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire, I recognized their artwork.  Like most kids, I went through a phase of being fascinated by Greek mythology and the d'Aulairs are well known for D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths:

In total, the couple wrote and illustrated 27 childrens' books, many of which are still available. Click on a cover below to learn more about the title.



And, of course, Abraham Lincoln, is also still available:

1940's Caldecott Honor Books

Cock-A-Doodle Doo by Berta & Elmer Hader

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

The Ageless Story by Lauren Ford

1939 - Mei Li

The second book to be awarded the Caldecott Medal was Mei Li by Thomas Handforth.  Published in 1938 by Doubleday, Mei Li is the story of a young girl in China who disobeys her parents and sneaks into town with her brother on the day before New Year's Day to take part in the New Year Fair. After a day of fun, Mei Li must rush home with her brother and uncle in hopes of getting there in time to greet the Kitchen God at midnight.

Who was Thomas Handforth?

Thomas Handforth was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1897.  After only one year at the University of Washington, he dropped out to study art in New York and Paris.  He then spent a decade traveling through North Africa and Mexico where he enjoyed drawing common people in motion, like dancers, wrestlers, and children.  One person who enjoyed collecting his work was Louise Seaman Bechtel, the head of the new children's division for publisher Macmillan.  Handforth was hired to illustrate Elizabeth Coatsworth's book Toutou in Bondage in 1929 and then Susan Smith's Tranquilina's Paradise in 1930.  Neither book was very successful.  

Handforth received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1931 to travel to Asia and continue his artwork.  Upon arriving in Beijing, he fell in love with the city and instead of staying for his planned two weeks, he stayed for six years.  He was a shy man who was more comfortable working with children than adults and he often used them as models.  It was during this time he met a four year old girl who, along with her pet duckling and little white dog, would go and find adults to model for Handforth and told them how to pose.  Her name was Pu Mei Li and when he decided to write a storybook using all his models as characters he chose Pu Mei Li to be the star of the story.

The real Pu Mei Li holding a copy of the book.

The Illustrations 

The illustrations in Mei Li are all black and white.  The main characters are Mei Li and her older brother San Yu.

Look at those sweet faces!

Handford expresses a lot of Mei Li's emotions through her candle-top pigtail (I never knew that's what it was called!).  He doesn't show it in the illustrations, but tells it in the story:

Animals also play an important part in the story. Mei Li has a little white dog named Igo and her brother has a thrush.  Throughout the fair, they see a lot of different animals:

Mei Li takes with her 3 lucky pennies and 3 marbles.  She gives one penny to a hungry beggar girl, uses the second penny to buy fireworks that she was too afraid to set off, so her brother did, and she gave the third penny to her brother to throw at a bell.  Whoever hits the bell will "have money for all the year."  She gave her blue marble to her brother to convince him to take her to the fair with him, her red marble to a young priest to tell her fortune (he tells her she will rule over a kingdom), and her green marble was put into a crown that she and some other girls at the fair fashioned for her.

The illustrations show some wonderful images of a Chinese Fair, including Mei Li and her brother riding to the fair on a sled:

Boys dressed as a lion:

And New Year lanterns that looked like fish:

As the day draws to an end, Mei Li's uncle finds her and San Yu and they hurry home to greet the Kitchen God at midnight.  When the Kitchen God appears, he fulfills Mei Li's fortune by telling her "This house is your kingdom and palace. Within its walls all living things are your loyal, loving subjects."

I really enjoyed Mei Li.  My first impression was that it shared a new culture and showed how another country celebrates the New Year.  I thought Mei Li was a sweet character with personality and spunk.

What troubled me was that as I was researching Thomas Handford I learned there are a lot of people who feel Mei Li is a sexist book that claims a girl can only rule a household.

That thought never once crossed my mind.  I thought Mei Li was actually a strong female character.  She went against the social norms, going to the Fair when a girl of her station wasn't allowed.  And as she and her brother explored, he would tell her all the things girls couldn't do and she would respond with all that girls could do.  When San Yu tells her "Girls are always afraid.  What can a girl do at the New Year Fair?"  Mei Li responded, "Lots of things." and points to the girls in the circus.

When San Yu tells her girls can't be actors, Mei Li goes up to a trained bear and gets him to do a trick.  She goes on to ride circus ponies and bravely protects her brother's thrush from danger.

As for the book's message being "a woman can only rule a household", I call malarkey!  That thought never once crossed my mind.  You have to remember Mei Li is just a little girl and it is very obvious that her entire family loves her dearly.  The message I took away from the Kitchen God's words is that she was the well-loved center of the family, not a slave to the household.

Unfortunately, it appears the MEI LI is no longer in print.  It can still be purchased used online or you can check your local used bookstore.  And, of course, you can check your local library.

For more information on Thomas Handford and the real Mei Li, please check out the article Thomas Handford, China, and the Real Mei Li.

1939's Caldecott Honor Books

Andy and the Lion (Picture Puffins) by James Daugherty

Barkis by Clare Turlay Newberry

The Forest Pool by Laura Adams Armer

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (illustrated edition) by Wanda Gag

Wee Gillis (New York Review Children's Collection) illustrated by Robert Lawson, written by Munro Leaf