1952 - Finders Keepers

The fifteenth book to be awarded the Caldecott Medal was Finders Keepers by William Lipkind and Nicolas Mordvinoff, published in 1951 by Harcourt, now a part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

In Finders Keepers, we meet Nap and Winkle, two dog friends digging in the yard.  When they come upon a bone, they argue over who it belongs to.  Nap claims it is his because he saw it first, but Winkle claims ownership because he touched it first.  In order to end their disagreement, the canine friends approach a farmer, a goat, a barber, and a big dog for advice.  What comes next is one of the strangest, unpleasant children's books I've ever read.

Who were Will and Nicolas?

For a couple of reasons, this has been the most difficult blog post I've had to write so far.  The first problem I've run in to is the lack of information I was able to find on the writer, William Lipkind, and illustrator Nicolas Mordvinoff.  As you can tell, I was unable to find a photograph of either man.  As for William Lipkind, he was born on December 17, 1904 in New York City.  He graduated from Columbia University in 1937 and worked as an anthropologist before becoming a writer and illustrator.  Lipkind passed away on October 2, 1974.

Nicolas Mordvinoff was born on September 27, 1911 in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Seven years later, his family moved to France.  While studying at the University of Paris, Mordvinoff sold cartoons and illustrations to French publications.  In 1934, he moved to the South Pacific where he spent many years painting, developing his own style.  While in Tahiti, Mordvinoff met author William Stone who convinced Mordvinoff to illustrate his book Thunder Island.  

In 1946, Mordvinoff moved to the United States.  According to one blog post I found, Lipkind and Mordvinoff met through Lipkind's wife, who worked at the New York Public Library.  The two men discussed writing a picture book together while sharing a drink one night.  Mordvinoff saw a red cat on a windowsill and suggested they write about that.  Lipkind felt the book needed more to it and later that evening, Mordvinoff saw a redheaded boy on the street and from that came their first collaboration, Two Reds, in 1950.

The following year they collaborated again on Finders Keepers and then The Christmas Bunny in 1953 and The Little Tiny Rooster in 1960.

Nicolas Mordvinoff died on May 5, 1973 in Hapmton, New Jersey.

The Illustrations

The other problem I ran into writing this post is that I just didn't like the book. It started out with the fun premise of two dogs trying to decide who got the bone they dug up, things got a little strange when they went to ask for advice and everyone they met was kind of a jerk before the book takes, what I consider, a dark turn.

The illustrations in Finders Keepers are done in four colors: red, black, a golden-beige, and white.  I enjoyed the way Nap and Winkle are drawn, they're not any particular breed, but a couple of friendly looking mutts you would see on any farm.

After digging up a bone in the yard, Nap and Winkle start to argue over who gets the treasure.  Nap saw it first, but Winkle touched it first. When they see a farmer driving up the road with a load of hay they decide to ask him.

Seriously, what were the farmer and his horse smoking?

The farmer tells the two dogs that if they help move his cart out of the rut it is in, he'll see what he can do to help.  So, the two dogs help push the wagon out and when they are done they ask the farmer again who gets the bone. 

The farmer's response?

"Bone? Who cares about a bone? Here's something better than a bone."

The farmer then tossed the dogs a forkful of hay.

That was kind of a jerk response and the dogs didn't know what they were supposed to do.  But that's okay, because at that moment a goat walked down the road.   They ask the goat who he thinks the bone belongs to.  The goat tells them he will take care of it after he eats some hay.

The most horrifying illustration I've seen thus far.

The goat then proceeds to eat all the hay the farmer gave the dogs and responds:

"Bone? Who cares about a bone? I'll give you some good advice instead.  Don't go chasing after a goat unless your teeth are sharper than his horns."

And he skips away.

Jerk.

Nap and Winkle continue down the road and come upon an apprentice barber and decide to ask him what he thinks about bone ownership.

I'm sure this will go well.

After the dogs ask their question, the barber tells them he will trim their hair and then help them.

And because a barber is the same thing as a dog groomer, they came out looking great.

After he finished butchering their style, Nap and Winkle asked him about the bone.  The barber's response?

"Bone? Who cares about a bone? Hair that is neat is better than meat."

And then he left.

But don't worry, Nap and Winkle were not left alone for long because a big dog came down the road.

Two dogs with a bone asking a strange big dog for advice as to what to do with said bone...I'm sure this will end in a silly fun way.  Right?

 The big dog convinces them to show him their bone and he very generously offers to take care of it for them. Yup.  Not surprisingly the big dog takes their bone.

So, that leaves poor Nap and Winkle to watch helplessly as their ignorance is rewarded with theft, right?

No.

They jumped the dog and attacked him.

Seriously, this book ends with a DOG FIGHT!

Of course, Nap and Winkle win and end up sharing the bone.

I understand that this is meant to be a funny story and, well, I guess I don't have the same sense of humor people in the early '50s had.  But I didn't find anything funny or endearing about this story or the animals.  Yes, the big dog at the end was the biggest jerk in a book full of jerks, but ending the story with a dog fight just felt violent, not funny.

The best thing I can say about this book is that I did like the illustrations of Nap and Winkle in the beginning and the use of the four color palette was interesting but nothing else about this book makes me want to share it with any child I know.

1952 Caldecott Honor Books

Mr. T. W. Anthony Woo - The Story of a Cat and a Dog and a Mouse - Library Binding by Marie Hall Ets
Skipper John's Cook by Marcia Brown
All falling down illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham, written by Gene Zion
Bear Party (Picture Puffin books) by William Pene du Bois
Feather Mountain by Elizabeth Olds

1951 - The Egg Tree

The fourteenth book to be awarded the Caldecott Medal was The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous, published in 1950 by Scribner.

The Egg Tree tells the story of a brother and sister, Carl and Katy, spending Easter with their grandmother and cousins on a farm in Pennsylvania's Dutch Country.  On Easter morning, Katy and Carl took part in their first Easter Egg hunt, but while all the other children seemed to be successful, Katy wasn't able to find any eggs.  Feeling disappointed, Katy wanders up to the attic where she finds a beautiful surprise that leads to a new family tradition.

Who was Katherine Milhous?

I wasn't able to find a picture of Katherine Milhous, so here is her autograph.

Katherine was born into a family of Quakers on November 27, 1894 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Her parents, Katherine and Osborn Milhous made their living as printers.  When Milhous was young, her family moved to Pitman, New Jersey, but she later returned to Philadelphia to attend the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, now the school is known as The University of the Arts and the museum is the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Milhous helped to pay for her school by illustrating magazines and in 1934, she won the Cresson Traveling Scholarship, which allowed her to study overseas. Returning home to Philadelphia, she shared a studio for the next forty years with fellow artist and friend, Frances Litchen.

From 1935-1940, Milhous worked as a supervisor for the Philadelphia Federal Art Project, a branch of the Works Progress Administration.  During this time, she created posters that promoted Pennsylvania using the Pennsylvania Dutch designs Milhous admired.

One of Milhous' WPA posters

During an exhibition at a Federal Art Project gallery, Alice Dalgliesh, the head of the Children's Book division of Charles Scribner's & Sons, saw some of Milhous' artwork and hired her as a staff designer.

During her time with Charles Scribner's & Sons, Milhous teamed up with Dalgliesh to co-write and illustrate several books.  She also illustrated books for other authors, including Mabel Leigh Hunt and Lorraine Sherwood.  Milhouse wrote and illustrated eleven books of her own.

Katherine Milhouse died in Pennsylvania on December 5, 1977.

The Illustrations

As I've been writing this blog, the first thing I do is read the book, then I do my research on the illustrator.  I like going into these books with an open mind and no background knowledge.  I don't read the book flaps or the author bio in the back and, in the case of The Egg Tree, I did not read the author's acknowledgements in the beginning of this book.  But I did recognize the Pennsylvania Dutch influence right away.

I have spent the majority of my life living in south central Pennsylvania, I am very familiar with Lancaster and the Amish community.  I noticed the Hex sign on the side of the barn and the use of tulips in the artwork, tulips were used to represent faith, hope, and charity in German folk art.

The feel of the artwork and colors used, not to mention the inclusion of horse and buggies, were all familiar to me.

The Egg Tree takes place on Easter morning when young Katy wakes up as the rooster crows.  She is excited to get started on her first egg hunt with her brother Carl and their cousins Susy, Luke, Johnny, and Appolonia.

The egg hunt took place all over the farm, in the barn, the garden, and then into their grandmother's house.  Katy and Carl were so disappointed to see all their cousins, even little Appolonia, find eggs.  Finally, Carl found some eggs hidden in the branches of the magnolia tree.  They all moved into the house to hunt for eggs in the kitchen.

Feeling let down by the Easter Rabbit, Katy decided to check one last place: the attic.  Hidden in a hat box, nestled inside an old beaver hat, were five beautifully painted eggs.

When Katy took the eggs downstairs, her grandmother was surprised and pleased to see the eggs she had painted herself when she had been a young girl.  She explained to the grandchildren that the eggs were hollow, dyed and hand-painted.  Grandmom allowed each child to pick an egg to keep, but the children couldn't decide what to do with these eggs they couldn't eat.

Grandmom slipped out of the kitchen and returned with a small tree.  She then took thread, ran it around each egg, and hung them on the branches.  The children were thrilled with their egg tree.

The children all decided they wanted to paint their own eggs, so Grandmom showed them how to hollow out the eggs, dye them, and then either paint or carve the image into the shell.  With so many new eggs, the boy cousins went to the woods and brought back a small birch tree to hang all their eggs on.

They were all so excited about their beautiful egg tree, they held a party to share it with their neighbors and friends.

The following year, the children started weeks ahead of time painting eggs and putting up an even larger egg tree.  Word spread and people came from all over to see the egg tree, bringing gifts and baskets, and wooden eggs.

The Egg Tree is a sweet story told with beautiful, colorful artwork that will especially appeal to those with an interest in the Pennsylvania Dutch and Amish communities.  It tells of a simpler way off life and give families a great idea for an Easter craft they could create together, to start their own annual tradition.

The book even includes directions on the back of the book on how to hollow eggs and decorate them.

1951 Caldecott Honor Books

Dick Whittington and His Cat by Marcia Brown
The Two Reds, illustrated by Nicholas Mordvinoff, written by William Lipkind
If I Ran the Zoo (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss
The Most Wonderful Doll in the World, illustrated by Helen Stone, written by Phyllis McGinley
T-Bone, the Baby Sitter by Clare Turlay Newberry

1950 - Song of the Swallows

The thirteenth book to be awarded the Caldecott Medal was Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi, published in 1949 by Scribner.

Song of the Swallows takes place in Capistrano and follows a young boy, Juan, who befriended "old Julian", the bell ringer and gardener of a local Mission church.  On his way to and from school Juan would stop and visit with Julian who, in turn, taught Juan the history of the Mission, showed the boy his plants and flowers and told him about the birds.  Juan's favorite birds were the swallows, also known by their Spanish name los golondrinas.  The swallows flew to Capistrano every spring on Saint Joseph's Day and stayed through summer before flying south for the cold months.  

Who was Leo Politi?

Photo from the March 11, 1950 L.A. Daily News

Born November 21, 1908 in Fresno, California, Atiglio Leoni Politi was the youngest of two, he had an older sister Marie Therese.  When he was five, Leo's family moved to Italy where he would grow up in his mother's hometown of Broni.

When his father, Lodovico, left the family to take a job as a cobbler,  his sister was sent to live with an aunt who operated a roadside inn and Leo was sent to a boarding home run by an elderly woman and her daughter.  Leo loved living in Broni and he was always drawing, sketching daily life in the village.

In 1920, the Politi family reunited and moved to London where Leo was exposed to new and more culture than he had ever known in Broni.  He enjoyed going to see films and wandering museums to study art.  A year later, the family moved back to Broni and not long after that, Leo began studying art on a six-year scholarship at the Superior Institute of Fine Arts near Milan.

In 1931, Politi returned to California.  During his travels, he sketched often and made up stories about the things he saw.  He was greatly influenced by the Mayan culture and developed a palette of core colors that he used in his artwork during the 1930s and 1940s.  

Artist Buckley Mac-Gurrin, an art critic for the magazine Script wrote in a cover story of Politi in 1940 that “Leo became proficient in the use of many media – oil, watercolor, wood-carving, wood engraving, lithography, book illustration; he had a very fine artistic education. His training was modern as opposed to academic; it tended to develop originality rather than subservient to the art forms of bygone eras. His own artistic philosophy drew him toward the genuine and the earthy; toward people whose contact with the soil was still fresh, intimate, satisfying.”

Politi set up shop on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles where he sketched tourists and sold paintings.  He had a special affection for Mexican-Americans and he especially enjoyed painting children.  His career in America grew as he painted and drew Mexican children for books and magazines.  

Politi painted the mural "The Blessing of the Animals" on Olvera Street, depicting the Catholic tradition in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi's love of animals.  

In 1938, Politi published his first children's book, Little Pancho, the story of a defiant little Mexican boy on an adventure.  The book was based on a boy Politi saw on Olvera Street who never smiled.  His book caught the attention of Script magazine and he went on to become the magazine's art editor. 

He would publish a total of twenty children's books including 1947 Caldecott Honor book Pedro: The Angel of Olvera Street and 1949 Caldecott Honor book Juanita.  Politi also illustrated books for other authors, including Ruth Sawyer, Margarita Lopez and Esther Brown, and Helen Garrett.

Leo Politi married Helen Fontes in 1933 and they had a son, Paul.  Politi died on March 25, 1996.

In 1980, the Fresno Public Library named a wing after him and in 1991, Leo Politi Elementary School in Koreatown in Los Angeles was named for him.  

The Illustrations

Leo Politi once described his technique that was greatly influenced by his attraction to Mayan culture: "(I) developed an ochre yellow, burnt sienna and a number of brown tints symbolic of the warmth and earthy qualities of the life and vegetation of the tropical Central American jungle."

These influences really come through in the artwork of Song of the Swallows.  The pictures alternate between brightly colored images, like the one above, and more earthy tones of burnt sienna, browns, and roses.

The friendship between Juan, the young boy, and Julian, the bell ringer and gardener, is sweet and endearing.  Old Julian obviously loves his work and takes great pride in it.  With patience and pleasure, Julian teaches Juan about plants, flowers, and birds.  

Juan is a sensitive boy with a love of nature and animals, particularly the swallows.  Every spring, the swallows returned to Capistrano and at the end of summer, much to Juan's sadness, the swallows leave.

When Julian explains that the swallows will always return "where there are flowers and fresh water streams, and people who welcome and love them", Juan decides to spend his summer vacation making a garden at his own home. 

As fall and winter settled in, Juan noticed how quiet the Mission's gardens were without the swallows there to sing.  As he passed on his way to and from school, Juan would hum a song:

As Saint Joseph's Day, March 19, arrived, Juan and his friends gathered to greet the swallows.

Much to Juan's excitement, two swallows flew to his garden and built a nest where he could see them from his window.

Song of the Swallows is not a quick read, it is a rather long story for a picture book and probably won't hold the attention of younger children. It is beautifully illustrated with the people and colors showing Politi's love of the Mexican culture and the techniques he perfected using his core colors. However, I'm not entirely sure if it stands the test of time.  It does feel dated in a nostalgic way.  This is a book I see a grandparent sharing with their grandchild because it is something they enjoyed as a child, not because it is something they see on a shelf and pick up on a whim.

1950 Caldecott Honor Books

America's Ethan Allen, illustrated by Lyn Ward, written by Stewart Holbrook

The Wild Birthday Cake, illustrated by Hildegard Woodward, written by Lavinia R. Davis

The Happy Day illustrated by Marc Simon, written by Ruth Krauss
Bartholomew and the Oobleck: (Caldecott Honor Book) (Classic Seuss) by Dr. Seuss
Henry Fisherman, by Marcia Brown