Randolph Caldecott MedalRadiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel BasquiatJavaka SteptoeThis picture-book biography follows Jean-Michel Basquiat from his Brooklyn childhood toward his early career as an artist. Encouraged by his Puerto Rican mother and Haitian American father, he drew from an early age. As a teenager in Lower Manhattan, he made graffiti art and poems, signing his work SAMO©, before his work was recognized in galleries. Javaka Steptoe presents Basquiat’s story with collage and paintings on wood.All readersLexile Text Measure 1050LATOS Book Level 4.7View book detailsRandolph Caldecott Medal and Honor Books 2017
The 2017 edition includes 4 Caldecott Honor Books and 1 Randolph Caldecott Medal recipient. It records one year of the Caldecott program for distinguished American picture-book illustration. The award centers on artistic technique and how the pictures convey story, theme, character, setting, mood, or information.
2017 Randolph Caldecott Medal and Honor BooksSee the original list
Selections5
Published byAssociation for Library Service to Children (ALA)
SectionsAll readers
All readers
5 selections
Randolph Caldecott MedalRadiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel BasquiatJavaka SteptoeThis picture-book biography follows Jean-Michel Basquiat from his Brooklyn childhood toward his early career as an artist. Encouraged by his Puerto Rican mother and Haitian American father, he drew from an early age. As a teenager in Lower Manhattan, he made graffiti art and poems, signing his work SAMO©, before his work was recognized in galleries. Javaka Steptoe presents Basquiat’s story with collage and paintings on wood.All readersLexile Text Measure 1050LATOS Book Level 4.7View book details
Caldecott Honor BookLeave Me Alone!Vera BrosgolA grandmother wants enough quiet to complete her knitting, but her noisy home does not provide it. She sets off in search of peace, traveling as far as the moon. Along the way, she confronts bears, goats, and aliens, all while trying to return to her knitting. The story centers on her determined and increasingly far-reaching quest for time alone.All readersLexile Text Measure 490LATOS Book Level 2.9View book details
Caldecott Honor BookFreedom in Congo SquareCarole Boston WeatherfordSet in nineteenth-century New Orleans, this poetic nonfiction picture book portrays enslaved people counting down the days to Sunday at Congo Square, a legal gathering place for enslaved and free Black people. From Monday through Saturday, the verses describe demanding work in fields and homes, despair, defiance, and attempts to flee. On Sunday, the gathering brings music, dancing, chanting, and singing. An introduction and afterword add historical detail about Congo Square and the people who gathered there.All readersLexile Text Measure AD600LATOS Book Level 5.4View book details
Caldecott Honor BookDu Iz Tak?Carson EllisA tiny plant shoot emerges from the ground and draws the attention of curious insects. Told in an invented insect language, the story follows the bugs as they watch the plant develop, marvel at it, and carry on their activities around it. Detailed paintings show the changing seasons as the plant grows, bringing curiosity and unexpected danger to the insects’ small world.All readersView book details
Caldecott Honor BookThey All Saw a CatBrendan WenzelA cat walks through the world and is encountered by different animals. Each animal’s point of view offers a different possible appearance for the same cat, making perspective central to the book’s premise. Written and illustrated by Brendan Wenzel, this 2016 picture book stays focused on the cat as it moves among other creatures and on the varied ways it is seen.All readersLexile Text Measure AD310LATOS Book Level 1.9View book details