American picture book literature

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Michelle Obama reads from The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss before (2009).

The American picture book literature is part of American children's literature and to children in infant and pre-school age as well as beginning readers addressed.

The first picture books emerged in the United States at the turn of the 20th century from children's folklore . Picture book literature experienced significant upswings in the 1930s and 1960s. In the 1930s it was advances in industrial book production that accommodated the production of picture books; in the 1960s, the baby boom created an unprecedented need. The 1970s, with their increased interest in early education, were also favorable for the spread of picture book literature.

The American Library Association has honored outstanding new publications on the picture book market with its Caldecott Medal every year since 1938 .

History of American picture book literature

Oral transmission and children's folklore

In the United States, as everywhere else in the world, printed children's literature was preceded by a rich tradition of oral transmission and children's folklore . The holdings of this tradition include a. Lullabies and children's songs , playground songs , children's, hummingbirds , skipping , gossip and counting rhymes , children's puzzles , joke questions , fables , sagas , legends , fairy tales and ballads . Large parts of this tradition have been preserved and enjoy great popularity in the USA up to the present day. For example, the nursery rhymes , which are mostly summarized under the title " Mother Goose ", come mostly from Great Britain , but occasionally originated in the United States.

Beginnings

A pioneer of the picture book was the writer and painter Blanche McManus (1870–1929), who in the last years of the 19th century a. a. published the volumes The True Mother Goose (1895), The Voyage of the Mayflower and How the Dutch came to Manhattan (both 1897). The nursery rhyme book The Real Mother Goose (1916), illustrated by Blanche F. Wright and which was later repeatedly reprinted, achieved great popularity . The book achieved a peak circulation in 1989 with 3.6 million copies. After the end of the First World War , some popular reading books appeared, including Arthur Scott Bailey's Bedtime Tales ( Sleepy-Time Tales , Tuck-Me-In Tales , Slumber-Town Tales ) and Johnny Gruelle's stories about the Raggedy Ann doll . Olaf Baker published his Indian story Where the Buffaloes Begin in 1915 , for which he was posthumously awarded a Caldecott Honor in 1982. An example of the fantastic early children's literature is Margery Williams ' (1881–1944) picture book The Velveteen Rabbit (1922), the hero of which is a stuffed rabbit who is brought to life by the love of a little boy.

1930-1945

Although children's books have always been illustrated, advances in industrial book production in the 1930s led to an increase in the number of picture books. The genre became so prevalent during this time that the American Library Association awarded outstanding work from 1938 to a special picture book award , the Caldecott Medal . One of the best-known picture book authors of the time before the Second World War is the writer and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans (1898–1962), who came from Austria and Germany but emigrated to the USA and began publishing his Madeline books in 1939 . The episodes of this picture book series, which are about a little girl in Paris, have been filmed several times and are so popular in the USA that new volumes have been published even after Bemelmans' death. Also very successful was the picture book The Little Engine That Could , published by an unknown author under the pseudonym Watty Piper , which has been characterized by some critics as a metaphor for the American Dream with its optimistic message . Other well-known American picture book authors of the 1930s and early 1940s are Thomas Handforth (1897–1948), Dorothy P. Lathrop (1891–1980), Maud (1890–1971) and Miska Petersham (1888–1960), Margery Williams Bianco (1881–1980) 1944), Munro Leaf (1905-1976), Clare Turlay Newberry (1903-1970), Robert McCloskey (1914-2003), Virginia Lee Burton (1909-1968); Lee Kingman , Elizabeth Orton Jones (1910-2005), Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952), and Wanda Gág (1893-1946).

The New York publishing house Simon & Schuster began in 1942 to bring out a series of inexpensive small picture books by authors who were mostly little known under the name “Little Golden Books”. The eighth volume in the series, The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey , was a sensational success and has sold almost 15 million copies to date. The other volumes in the series that have been published to this day also often reached millions of copies.

Dorothy Kunhardt (1901-1979) brought Pat the Bunny in 1940 for the first time a Touch and Feel Book , a Anfass- and Fühlbuch for small children, in addition to images and text also haptic contained elements such as fur and sandpaper and in the year of first publication in 7 .5 million copies have been sold. Another bestseller of the time was Feodor Rojankovsky's illustrated collection of reading stories, The Tall Book of Nursery Tales (1944).

Ted Geisel (1904–1991) alias “Dr. Seuss "

One of the most popular American children's book authors to this day is the cartoonist and writer Theodor Seuss Geisel , who has been writing his imaginative and bizarre works since 1937 under the pseudonym Dr. Seuss published. Many of them - like Horton Hatches the Egg (1940), The Cat in the Hat (1957), Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories , The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (both 1958), Happy Birthday to You! (1959), One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish , Dr. Seuss's ABC and Green Eggs and Ham (all three in 1960) - immediately sold millions. The German-speaking audience loved the stories, which are written in rhymes and whose wit is difficult to translate, mainly through film adaptations such as Die 5000 Finger des Dr. T. , The Grinch , A hangover makes a fuss and Horton hears a Who! known. In the USA they also owe their popularity to the fact that, despite their high literary standards, even novice readers can master them. The book The Cat in the Hat z. B. owes its creation to the author's experiment in creating an attractive literary work that is based entirely on a repertoire of 223 simplest words (so-called sight words ).

The work of “Dr. Seuss ”had a strong influence on some younger authors such as PD Eastman (1909–1986; Go, Dog, Go!, 1961), Peggy Parish (1927–1988; Amelia Bedelia series 1963–1988) and Roy McKie ( The Riddle Book , 1978).

1945-1960

Opal Wheeler received a Caldecott Honor in 1946 for her collection of sacred songs Sing in Praise: A Collection of the Best Loved Hymns .

The most popular genre in picture book literature of the post-war and 1950s was animal stories. Among the authors who were awarded a Caldecott Medal at this time , Nicholas Mordvinoff (1911-1973), whose fable Finders Keepers (1951) was about two fighting dogs. Lynd Ward's (1905–1985) award-winning book The Biggest Bear (1952) tells the story of a family of hunters, and John Langstaff's (1920–2005) Frog Went A-Courtin (1955) was the illustrated version of an English folk song in which a frog was playing Favor a mouse advertises. Millions of copies had Kathryn Jackson Books Saggy Baggy Elephant (1947) and Tawny Scrawny Lion (1952), PD Eastman (1909-1986) Bird orphans history Are You My Mother? and Robert Lopshire's Put Me in the Zoo (both 1960). Other animal picture books were written by Bill Martin Jun. (1916–2004), Al Graham , Louise Seaman Bechtel (1894–1985), Esther Brann (1899–1998), William Lipkind (1904–1977), Lavinia R. Davis , Fritz Eichenberg (1901 –1990), Abe Birnbaum (* 1899), Miriam Schlein (approx. 1926–2004), Eve Titus and Don Freeman (1908–1978).

Other picture book bestsellers of the time were Gertrude Cramptons (* 1905) works Tootle (1945) and Scuffy the Tugboat (1946), Oliver Butterworths (1915–1990) The Enormous Egg (1956), Mike McClintock's A Fly Went By (1958) and Joan Walsh Anglund's Love Is a Special Way of Feeling (1960). From an artistic point of view, however, the works of Marcia Brown (* 1918), who often retold fairy tales in her picture books, stood out. Brown was the first author whose work was awarded the Caldecott Medal three times . Other award-winning picture book authors of the late 1940s and 1950s were Marjorie Flack (1897–1958), Georges Schreiber (1904–1977), Kurt Wiese (1887–1974), Phyllis McGinley (1905–1978), Elizabeth Olds (1896–1991) , Gene Zion (1913–1975), Ruth (1899–1999) and Latrobe Caroll (1894–1996), Ruth Krauss (1901–1993), Antonio Frasconi (* 1919), Benjamin Elkin , Clara Ingram Judson (1879–1960) , Sesyle Joslin , Janice May Udry (* 1928), Marie Hall Ets (1895-1984) and Barbara Cooney (1917-2000).

In particular, many of the picture books awarded a Caldecott Medal or Caldecott Honor by the ALA had a theme from nature, such as: B. Alvin Tresselts (* 1916) White Snow, Bright Snow (1947) and Alice E. Goudey's Houses from the Sea (1959). Another nature picture book was A Tree is Nice (1956) by Marc Simont .

A bestseller in the immediate post-war period was Charles Tazewell's (1900–1972) Christmas picture book The Littlest Angel (1946), which was written in 1939 and tells the story of a little angel who is distinguished by God above all other angels. Other books had ethnic themes, including Song of the Swallows (1949), whose artist Leo Politi (1908–1996) , who came from an Italian family, was awarded a Caldecott Medal for this work . The picture book tells everyday events around the Spanish-Californian mission church of San Juan Capistrano . Nicolas Sidjakov's (* 1924) picture book Baboushka and the Three Kings (1960), which retells a Russian legend , won a Caldecott Medal . The Eloise picture book series by Kay Thompson (1908–1998), published since 1955, became a bestseller , introducing a new type of self-confident big city child into little girl literature.

1960s

In the 1960s, picture books for toddlers first appeared in large numbers. The works of Richard Scarry (1919–1994) and Jan Pfloog came out in millions . Eve Witte's feeling book The Touch Me Book (1961) was also a bestseller . Other successful toddler books of this time were Gyo Fujikawa's (1908–1998) volume Babies (1963) and Don Freeman's teddy bear story Corderoy (1968), which was so popular that numerous subsequent volumes were created later.

Beni Montresor (1926–2001), author of May I Bring a Friend?

One of the most famous American picture book authors and illustrators of the 1960s is Maurice Sendak (1928–2012), whose Caldecott Medal book Where the Wild Things Are (1963) was a bestseller and which in the course of his career went on to win such high-ranking children's book prizes as Hans Christian Andersen Prize for Illustration, the National Book Award , the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize . The works of Beni Montresor ( May I Bring a Friend?, 1964), Nonny Hogrogian (* 1932; Always Room for One More , 1965), Evaline Ness (1911–1986; Sam, Bangs, and Moonshine ; 1966 ) were artistically ambitious ), Mary Stolz (1920–2006), Juliet Kepes (1919–1979), Sorche Nic Leodhas (1898–1969), Julian Scheer , Harve Zemach , Janina Domanska (approx. 1913–2008), William Sleator (1945–2011) and Uri Shulevitz (* 1935).

Some picture book series of the 1960s were so successful in the USA that they were later developed into television animation series. These include Stan (1923–2005) and Jan Berenstains (1923–2012) The Berenstain Bears books, Else H. Minariks (* 1920) Little Bear’s books and Norman Bridwell (* 1928) Clifford the Big Red Dog books. Other successful picture book authors and illustrations of the time were Eloise Wilkin (1904–1987), Mary Alice Fontenot (1910–2003), Shel Silverstein (1930–1999), Warren Chappell (1904–1991), Hilary Knight (* 1926), Michael Brown (* approx. 1920), Jack Kent (1920–1985), Edna Mitchell Preston and Bernard Waber (* 1924).

The didactic picture book Never Talk to Strangers (1967) by Irma Joyce , which tried to urge preschool children to be careful with strangers , also reached a circulation of almost 2 million .

Nature issues were also still relevant for toddlers and preschoolers in the 1960s, as the example of the Caldecott Medal picture book The Snowy Day (1962) by Ezra Jack Keats (1916–1983) shows.

1970s

The interest in reading and educational materials for toddlers and preschoolers that emerged in the 1960s continued into the 1970s. In 1969 the educational network National Educational Television (replaced by PBS in 1970 ) began producing and broadcasting the pre-school television program Sesame Street . Books related to this series - such as Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum (1974), Grover's Hide & Seek (1976), and Big Bird's Color Game (1980) - reached millions of copies well into the 1980s.

Also extremely popular were the baby photo picture books by Judy and Phoebe Dunn ( The Little Duck , 1976 and others), the didactic toddler books by Katherine Howard ( My First Picture Dictionary , 1978; Do You Know Colors?, 1979; I Can Count to 100 & Can You?, 1979) and the work of Harry McNaught ( 500 Words to Grow On , 1973; Animal Babies , 1977; The Truck Book , 1978). Other successful toddler books come from Leonard Baskin (1922-2000; Hosie's Alphabet , 1972), Frank Asch (* 1946; Popcorn - A Frank Asch Bear Story , 1979), Donald Crews (* 1938; Truck , 1980) and Aurelius Battaglia .

One of the most important Christian-themed children's books of the 1960s was Ed and Barbara Emberley's Caldecott Honor book One Wide River to Cross (1966), which retold the story of Noah's Ark .

Several picture books told African stories, such as The Village of Round and Square Houses (1964) by Ann Grifalconi (1929-2020), Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky (1968) by Elphinstone Dayrell and Blair Lent (* 1930) and A Story a Story (1970) by Gail E. Haley (* 1939). In Brinton Turkle's (* 1915) book Thy Friend, Obadiah (1969) is about the experiences of a Quaker boy's in Massachusetts . The picture books Jambo Means Hello: A Swahili Alphabet Book (1974; by Muriel Feelings , * 1938) and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears (1975; by Verna Aardema , 1911-2000) report on Africa .

The most commercially successful picture book author of the 1970s was the illustrator Mercer Mayer (* 1943), little known in German-speaking countries . His night angst book There is a Nightmare in My Closet , published in 1968, was very popular in the USA. Mayer's Little Critter series followed in 1975 and another series, Little Monsters , in 1977 , both of which played with the creeps in a friendly way and whose individual volumes had appeared 27 times in the bestseller lists by 1994.

Other picture books that reached millions in circulation in the 1970s were The Night Before Christmas (1975, by Clement Clarke Moore , 1779–1863, and Douglas Gorsline , 1913–1985) and the two dinosaur books Dinosaurs (1977, by Peter Zallinger ) and Danny and the Dinosaur (1978, by Syd Hoff ). The work of Robert Kraus (1925–2001), Lois Utz (1932–1986), Robbie Branscum (1937–1997), Steven Kellogg (* 1941), and Marc Brown (* 1946), who in 1976 with the Publication of his Arthur Stories began, which became so popular that PBS aired a book-based animated television series ( Aardvark Arthur and Friends ) from 1996 onwards .

The prestigious Caldecott Medal was awarded to a. the Rumpelstiltskin adaptation Duffy and the Devil (1973; by Harve and Margot Zemach , 1931–1989), The Amazing Bone (1976; by William Steig , 1907–2003), the Old Testament cartoon without words Noah's Ark (1977; by Peter Spier , * 1927) and A House is a House for Me (1978; by Mary Ann Hoberman ). Other artistically interesting works come from Cheli Durán Ryan , Carol Fenner (1929–2002), Susan Jeffers (* ca. 1940), Tomie dePaola (* 1934; Strega Nona series), MB Goffstein , Mary Ann Hoberman (* 1930), Ilse Plume (* 1968), Joseph Low (1911–2007), Molly Bang (* 1943), Suse MacDonald (* 1940) and Rachel Isadora (* 1953).

Rebecca Caudill's (1899–1985) picture book A Pocketful of Cricket (1972) tells of a boy's friendship with a cricket. Beverly Brodsky McDermott's picture book The Golem: A Jewish Legend , which was about the persecution of Jews in Prague in the 16th century, was awarded the Caldecott Honor in 1976 . Byrd Baylor's picture book The Way to Start a Day (1978) offered children a colorful sheet of pictures with impressions of how people all over the world greet the morning sun. A number of other picture books deal with the culture of the Indians and Eskimos of Alaska , such as the award-winning works Annie and the Old One (197; by Miska Miles , 1899–1986), Julie of the Wolves (1972; by Jean Craighead George, * 1919), Arrow to the Sun (1974; by Gerald McDermott , * 1941) and The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses (1978; by Paul Goble , * 1930)

A bestseller of the 1970s was Judith Viorst's (* 1931) picture book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972), which describes the days of a little boy who got up wrong foot first in the morning. The Fantastik is Donald Barthelmes (1931-1989) with the National Book Award winning picture book The Slightly Irregular Fire Engine or The Hithering, Thithering Djinn (1971).

1980s

The books for small children by Sandra Boynton (* 1953), such as the animal band Moo Baa La La La and the bedtime book The Going to Bed Book (both 1982) were extremely successful commercially . Since 1980 Eric Hills has published his books on the dog spot (since 1980); the spot volumes were lift-the-flap books, cardboard books with hinged flaps under which there are additional illustrations, a type of picture book that is very popular and very widespread in the USA to this day. Other bestselling toddler books of the time came from Audean Johnson , Joan Phillips , Lars Wik , Steve Shevett and Jane Dyer . The Wee Sing songbooks, which the publisher Price Stern Sloan (now part of the Penguin Group) published in the late 1980s, reached millions of copies .

The poet Nancy Willard (* 1936) published in 1981 the picture book A Visit to William Blake's Inn , which describes in verse a series of events in a historic inn and the only piece in American literary history, both the Caldecott Medal and the Newbery Medal winning . An even better known Caldecott Medal recipient is Chris Van Allsburg (* 1949), whose 1982 book Jumanji was made into a film with Robin Williams in 1995 . Van Allsburg's Christmas story, Polarexpress , published in 1985 , and his Jumanji- based book Zathura , published in 2002, were also filmed .

Jan Brett (* 1949), author of The Mitten

Four other well-known picture book illustrators appeared for the first time in the 1980s: The artist couple Audrey and Don Wood , who developed a very characteristic, colorful illustration style full of funny details, published the bestseller The Napping House in 1984 about complications that occur as a child lies down with the grandmother for a nap. Audrey and Don Wood's picture book King Bidgood's in the Bathtub , published in 1985 , received a Caldecott Honor . Paul O. Zelinsky (* 1953) wrote and illustrated award-winning picture books such as Hansel and Gretel (1984), Rumpelstilzkin (1986), The Wheels on the Bus (1990), Swamp Angel (1995) and Rapunzel (1997). The illustrations in the works of the artist Jan Brett are extremely elaborate . B. The Mitten: An Ukrainian Folktale (1989), Town Mouse, Country Mouse (1994) and The Umbrella (2004).

Other interesting picture books of the time come from James Cross Giblin (* 1933), Winifred Barnum (* 1946), Ann Jonas (* 1932), Nancy Tafuri , Rika Lesser (* 1953), Aliki Brandenberg (* 1929), Helen Lester (* 1936), James Marshall (1942–1992) and Jon Scieszka (* 1954). The works of Judi and Ron Barrett , Laura Numeroff , Deborah Hautzig , Esphyr Slobodkina (1908–2002), Robert Munsch (* 1945), the Max & Martha series by Danielle Steel and the Magic Charm series by Elizabeth Koda were commercially successful -Callan .

Trina Schart Hyman (1939-2004) and Margaret Hodges (1911-2005) published their picture book Saint George and the Dragon in 1984 , which retold the legend of Saint George and won the Caldecott Medal . The bestsellers were the nativity story The Christmas Story (1986) by Ruth J. Morehead , which was illustrated for toddlers, and Kenneth N. Taylor's book, My First Bible In Pictures (1989). The picture book Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins (1989) by Eric A. Kimmel (* 1946) tells a Jewish legend .

John Steptoe (1950–1989) published his picture book Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale in 1987, which tells an African fairy tale about two dissimilar sisters. The picture book Mirandy and Brother Wind (1988; by Patricia C. McKissack , * 1944) reports on African American life . Some notable and award-winning picture books told stories from foreign lands, such as The Talking Eggs: A Folktale from the American South (1989; South America) by Robert D. San Soucis (* 1946), The Boy of the Three-Year Nap (1988; Japan ) by Diane Snyder , The Emperor and the Kite (1988; China) by Jane Yolen (* 1939) and Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (1989; China) by Ed Young (* 1931).

Alice (* 1918) and Martin Provensens (1916–1987) Caldecott picture book The Glorious Flight (1987) reports on Louis Blériot's pioneering flight over the English Channel in 1909.

Karen Ackerman (* 1951) and Stephen Gammell (* 1943) published their Caldecott picture book Song and Dance Man about a musical grandfather in 1988 . The picture book A Chair for My Mother (1982) by Vera B. Williams (* 1927) tells the story of a hard-working waitress whose little daughter saves money so that she can buy a comfortable armchair for her mother to rest on. In Leslea Newman (born 1955) unconventional picture book Heather Has Two Mommies (1989) is about a girl who grows up the lesbian with two mothers.

1990s

The most successful toddler book on the American book market of the 1990s was My First ABC Board Book , first published by Dorling Kindersley in 1997 , which was soon followed by similar books such as My First ABC Board Book and My First Animal Book (both 1998). Other bestsellers were Matthew Van Fleet's Fühlbuch Kuschelgelbe Enten (1995), the farm lift-the-flap book Open the Barn Door by Christopher Santoro and two songbooks from the “Little Golden Books” series published in 1992: Super Songs with Silly Sounds and Kids Songs with Crazy Sounds . A million circulation reached 1992 The Cheerios Play Book by Lee Wade , the toddlers and preschool children to mathematical and preparatory games with Cheerios , a very widespread among American families breakfast cereal product , tries to encourage.

In 1990 the illustrator Lois Ehlert (* 1934), whose artistic trademark are brightly colored collages created with cleverly simple means, published her book Color Zoo , which was awarded a Caldecott Honor . Denise Fleming's (* 1950) book In the Small, Small Pond (1993) about life in a pond and Jennifer Ward's (* 1963) book Somewhere In the Ocean (2000) about young animals in the sea are designed in a similarly colorful manner .

Award-winning American picture book authors and illustrators of the 1990s are Emily Arnold McCully (* 1939; Mirette on the High Wire , 1992), Chris Raschka (* 1959; Yo! Yes?, 1993; The Hello, Goodbye Window , 2005), Eric Rohmann (* 1957; Time Flies , 1994; My Friend Rabbit , 2002), Peggy Rathmann (* 1953; Officer Buckle and Gloria , 1995), Leo (* 1933) and Diane Dillon (* 1933; To Every Thing There Is a Season , 1998), Mary Azarian (* 1940; Snowflake Bentley , 1998), Judith St. George and David Small (* 1945; So You Want to Be President?, 2000).

The works of the artist Peter Sís (* 1949) offer a fascinating world of images of their own , in which the author's transcultural experience is often reflected; During a work stay in the USA in 1984, Sís decided not to return to his homeland, Czechoslovakia . He was awarded a Caldecott Honor for his book Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei (1996) . Also in 1996, David Pelletier caused a sensation because he published The Graphic Alphabet for the first time, a picture book that professionally exploited the current possibilities of computer graphics . Other artistically interesting picture books come from Anne Isaacs (* 1949), Janet Stevens (* 1953), Lloyd Moss , Stephen T. Johnson , David Shannon (* 1960), Sarah Stewart , Jerry Pinkney (* 1939), Doreen Cronin and Ian Falconer (* 1959).

Jamie Lee Curtis (born 1958), author of Today I Feel Silly

In 1994, Audrey Penn published her book The Kissing Hand (1994), which is about the everyday separation of a raccoon child from its mother, and which has since become a favorite read in many American families with day care children and newcomers to school. In the 1990s, actress Jamie Lee Curtis also began publishing a number of ambitious picture books. Her most popular works include the adoption story Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born (1996), the feelings book Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day (1998), the book on self-control , It's Hard to Be Five (2004), and the children's worries book Is There Really a Human Race? (2006). Other well-known and successful picture book authors of the 1990s are Janell Cannon (* 1957; Stellaluna , 1993), Irene Dische (* 1952; Esterházy , 1994), Jan Wahl (* 1933), Vivian Walsh (* 1960), Elise Primavera (* 1955 ), Devin Scillian (* 1963), Seymour Simon (1931), Timothy D. Bellavia (* 1971) and Debra Frasier (1953).

One of the most original picture book artists of recent times is Joan Steiner , who published her first look-alike book in 1999 (more to follow), a photographed book with views of rooms, buildings and landscapes that were artificially created in model format from funny, misappropriated everyday objects . The I Spy books by Jean Marzollo , which have been published since 1992, reach an even larger audience with still lifes made up of countless small objects, of which the viewer is supposed to search for and find specific individual ones.

David Wisniewski (1953–2002) presented with his Caldecott picture book Golem 1996 a renewed adaptation of the Jewish legend about the Prague Rabbi Judah Löw and his Golem . Another contribution to Jewish-American children's literature is the picture book Something from Nothing (1992) by Phoebe Gilman (1940–2002) about a baby blanket that can be put in a jacket, then a vest, a tie and finally a covered one for its growing owner Button is re-tailored. The same Jewish folk tale is also used in the picture book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat (1999), with which Simms Taback (1932-2011) won a Caldecott Medal . In addition to other successful works that have no direct reference to Jewish culture (such as There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly , 1997), Taback also wrote and illustrated the picture book Kibitzers and Fools (2005), which is rich in Jewish wit .

Afro-American themes became more prominent in American children's literature in the 1990s than ever before. Award-winning picture books of the time were Faith Ringgolds (* 1930) Tar Beach (1991) about a little black girl who dreams of flying, Sherley Anne Williams ' (1944–1999) Working Cotton (1992) about migrating cotton workers, Julius Lesters (* 1939 ) John Henry (1994) about a mythical American folk hero and Walter Dean Myers ' (* 1937) Harlem (1997) about the fate of the residents of the New York borough. Andrea Davis Pinkney (* 1963) published her widely acclaimed picture book biography about Duke Ellington in 1999 . In 1997, Carolivia Herron's (* 1947) picture book Nappy Hair about a little black girl who wants to know what is good about having curly hair sparked discussions within the black community .

With a Caldecott Medal was Allen Says (* 1937) storybook Grandfather's Journey (1993) awarded on the conflicts of a Japanese-American immigrants. Say wrote and illustrated many other books that focus on Japanese or Japanese Americans, such as The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice (1994), Emma's Rug (1996), and Tea With Milk (1999).

A well-read Chinese-American author is Amy Tan (* 1952), who published her picture book Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat in 1994 about the adventures of a Siamese cat in China during the imperial era; PBS adapted the episodes in 2001 as an animated television series. Minfong Ho's (* 1951) picture book Hush! Tells a story from Thailand . A Thai Lullaby (1996). In modern India, the plot of Ned Shanks (1956-2000) picture book The Sanyasin's First Day (1998) is set about a wandering holy man . Elisa Bartone's picture book Peppe the Lamplighter (1993) reports on the experiences of Italian immigrants in New York in the early 20th century. The picture book The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark (2000) by Carmen Agra Deedy (* 1960), which dealt with the resistance of the inhabitants of Denmark against the persecution of the Jews in World War II, received a lot of attention .

Patricia Polaccos (* 1944) picture book Thank You, Mr. Falker (1998) is about a 5-year-old student who tries to overcome her dyslexia . Many readers also found the baseball picture book story Zachary's Ball (2000) by Matt Tavares (* 1975)

21st century

Among the most commercially successful toddler books of the early 21st century are Good Night, Sweet Butterflies (2003) by Dawn Bentley and Heather Cahoon, and I Already Know I Love You (2004) by Billy Crystal (* 1948) and Elizabeth Sayles . Other well-read works are Flowers and Showers: A Spring Counting Book (2006) by Rebecca Fjelland Davis (* 1956) and The Bunnies Are Not In Their Beds (2007) by Marisabina Russo . Kevin Henkes (* 1960) won a Caldecott Medal with his cat story Kitten's First Full Moon (2004).

Nobel laureate Toni Morrison (1931), one of the most important representatives of African-American literature , published her first children's book, Die Kinderkiste , a picture book essay on parental (in) understanding of child freedom in 1999 together with her son Slade . This was followed in 2002, with illustrations by Pascal Lemaitre , The Book of Evil and in 2003/04 three small volumes of fables in the style of Aesop .

Even Morrison fans occasionally complain that their picture books - especially the first two mentioned - are more suitable for adult readers than for children. There is no doubt that books that have won the Caldecott Medal in the early 21st century , such as The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (2003) by Mordicai Gerstein and the work of the extremely talented writer and illustrator David , are suitable for young readers Wiesner (* 1956; Tuesday , 1991; The Three Pigs , 2001; Strandgut , 2006), who won the most prestigious American picture book award several times. A Caldecott Honor was awarded to Barbara Kerley ( The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins , 2001), Peter McCarty (* 1966; Hondo & Fabian , 2002), Margaret Chodos-Irvine ( Ella Sarah Gets Dressed , 2003), Mo Willems (* 1968; Don 't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus , 2003; Knuffle Bunny, 2004), Steve Jenkins (* 1952) and Robin Page (* 1943; What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, 2003), Barbara Lehman (* 1963; The Red Book , 2004), Marjorie Priceman (* 1958; Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride , 2005), David McLimans ( Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet , 2006) and Laura Vaccaro Seeger ( First the Egg , 2007) honored.

Also interesting are the works of Tedd Arnold (* 1949; Parts , 2000), Crescent Dragonwagon (* 1952; And Then It Rained… And Then the Sun Came , 2002), Nancy Collisson (* 1959; Mr. Buffy series, since 2002), Michelle Ferguson-Cohen ( Daddy, You're My Hero!, 2003), Andrea U'Ren (* 1968; Mary Smith , 2003), Jo Kittinger (* 1955; Moving Day , 2004) and Roger Bradfield (* 1924; Pickle-Chiffon Pie , 2004), Jarrett J. Krosoczka (* 1977; Punk Farm , 2005), Adam Rex (* 1973; Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich , 2006) and Cynthia von Buhler ( The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside , 2006).

Current picture book bestsellers include two works by Madonna : The English Roses (illustrated by Jeffrey Fulvimari ; 2003) and Mr. Peabody's Apples (illustrated by Loren Long ; 2003). The Christmas stories santaKid (2004) by James Patterson and Michael Garland and Snowmen at Christmas (2005) by Caralyn and Mark Buehner as well as Doreen Cronin's and Betsy Lewin's story about singing cows, Dooby Dooby Moo (2006), are equally commercially successful .

The poet Aileen Fisher (1906–2002) published her picture book The Story Goes On (2005) about the life cycle in nature in 2005. A bestseller was Robert Sabuda's book Winter's Tale (2005), a pop-up book for young children, which instead of conventional illustrations contains unfoldable winter landscapes made of paper populated by animals.

Jon J. Muth attempts a child-friendly introduction to the world of Zen Buddhism with his Caldecott Honor picture book Zen Shorts (2005).

Jacqueline Woodson (* 1963), author of the picture book Show Way

The Caldecott Honor picture books Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (2006) by Carole Boston Weatherford (* 1936) and Henry's Freedom Box (2007) by Ellen Levine (* 1939) and Kadir Nelson report on the Underground Railroad . The picture book Rosa by Nikki Giovanni (* 1943) tells an important story from the American civil rights movement. The picture book Show Way (2005) by Jacqueline Woodson tells the story of African American women across history.

One of the most original children's history books of recent years is Lane Smith's (* 1959) picture book John, Paul, George, and Ben (2006) with invented but characteristic episodes from the childhood of four of the most famous heroes of the American founding days: John Hancock , Paul Revere , George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson .

A recent bestseller is Maria Shrivers (* 1955) and Sandra Speidel's picture book What's Wrong With Timmy? (2001) about a mentally disabled boy. Two other books by this team of authors and illustrators try to explain Alzheimer's disease ( What's Happening to Grandpa?, 2004) and death ( What's Heaven?, 1999) to children .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Who Was Mother Goose? ; Collection of Mother Goose rhymes
  2. ↑ The Real Mother Goose , illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright (Project Gutenberg)
  3. ↑ Will James ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Freddy the Pig @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.willjames.org
  4. ^ The Little Engine That Could ; Thomas Handforth ; Dorothy P. Lathrop ; Maud and Miska Petersham ( February 18, 2002 memento on the Internet Archive ); ; ; Virginia L. Burton ; Lee Kingman ( Memento of the original from May 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Elizabeth O. Jones ; Wanda Gág @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org
  5. ↑ Pat the Bunny
  6. ^ Peggy Parish
  7. ^ Lynd Ward ; John Langstaff ; Bill Martin Jun . ; Lavinia R. Davis ; Don Freeman ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sullivangoss.com
  8. ↑ Georges Schreiber  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Phyllis McGinley ; Elizabeth Olds ; Gene Zion ( Memento April 8, 2005 on the Internet Archive ); Barbara Cooney@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.artfacts.net  
  9. ↑ Kay Thompson
  10. ↑ ; Juliet Kepes ; Sorche Nic Leodhas ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Janina Domanska @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org
  11. ↑ Stan and Jan Berenstain ; Else H. Minarik ; Norman Bridwell ( February 17, 2005 memento on the Internet Archive ); Eloise Wilkin ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Mary A. Fontenot ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Hilary Knight ; Edna M. Preston @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rob.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.pelicanpub.com
  12. ↑ Never Talk to Strangers ( Memento of the original from March 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kidsource.com
  13. ↑ Frank Asch
  14. ↑ Syd Hoff ; Robert Kraus (pdf; 8 kB); Steven Kellogg ( Memento of the original from May 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.stevenkellogg.com
  15. ^ Margot Zemach ; Susan Jeffers ( Memento December 3, 2013 on the Internet Archive ); Tomie dePaola ; Mary Ann Hoberman ; Use Plume ; Molly Bang ; Suse MacDonald ; Rachel Isadora
  16. ↑ Sandra Boynton ; Eric Hill ; Jane Dyer ( Memento December 10, 2008 on the Internet Archive ); Wee Sing
  17. ↑ Nancy Willard ( Memento of the original of July 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yourkidslibrary.com
  18. ↑ Audrey Wood ( Memento of the original from February 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Paul O. Zelinsky ; Jan Brett  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www2.scholastic.com
  19. ↑ James C. Giblin ; Nancy Tafuri ; Aliki Brandenberg ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Jon Scieszka ; Laura Numeroff ; Deborah Hautzig ; Esphyr Slobodkina ( Memento of May 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ); Robert Munsch @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pabook.libraries.psu.edu
  20. ↑ Trina S. Hyman ; Eric A. Kimmel
  21. ↑ Matthew Van Fleet ; Christopher Santoro  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.harpercollinschildrens.com  
  22. ^ Lois Ehlert ( Memento from June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ); Denise Fleming ; Jennifer Wards
  23. ↑ Emily A. McCully ; Chris Raschka ( Memento from May 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ); Eric Rohmann ( Memento June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ); Peggy Rathmann ; Leo and Diane Dillon ; Mary Azarian ; Judith St. George ; David Small ( Memento from January 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ↑ Peter Sís ( Memento of the original from February 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Anne Isaacs ( Memento of the original dated February 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Janet Stevens ; Stephen T. Johnson ( Memento November 20, 2005 on the Internet Archive ); David Shannon ; Sarah Stewart ( Memento dated May 30, 2008 on the Internet Archive ); Jerry Pinkney ; Dorin Cronin @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.petersis.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.anneisaacs.com
  25. ↑ Audrey Penn ; Jamie Lee Curtis ; Janell Cannon ; Jan Wahl ; Vivian Walsh ; Elise Primavera ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Devin Scillian ; Seymour Simon ; Timothy D. Bellavia ( Memento July 14, 2008 on the Internet Archive ); Debra Frasier @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.auntieclaus.com
  26. ↑ Joan Steiner ; Jean Marzollo
  27. ^ Simms Tobacco
  28. ↑ Elizabeth Sayles ( Memento of the original from February 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Rebecca F. Davis ; Marisabina Russo - Children's Book Author and Illustrator ( Memento of the original from June 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Kevin Henkes @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / home.earthlink.net @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.marisabinarusso.com
  29. ↑ Mordicai Gerstein ; Barbara Kerley ; Peter McCarty ; Margaret Chodos-Irvine ; Mo Willems ; Steve Jenkins Books ; Robin Page ; Barbara Lehman ; Marjorie Priceman ( memento June 22, 2008 on the Internet Archive ); David McLimans ; Laura Vaccaro Seeger ( Memento of the original dated February 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.studiolvs.com
  30. ^ Tedd Arnold ( memento of March 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) in the Internet Archive; Crescent Dragonwagon ; Andra U'Ren ( Memento from May 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ); Jo Kittinger ( memento June 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ); Roger Bradfield ( July 31, 2004 memento on the Internet Archive ); Jarrett J. Krosoczka ; Adam Rex ; Cynthia von Buhler
  31. ↑ The English Roses ; Jeffrey Fulvimari ; Loren Long ; Michael Garland ; Caralyn Buehner ; Doreen Cronin ; Betsy Lewin
  32. ↑ Aileen Fisher ; Robert Sabuda