Black and White: A Caldecott Award Winner

by David Macaulay

Overview

Winner of the 1991 Caldecott Medal 

Four stories are told simultaneously, with each double-page spread divided into quadrants. The stories do not necessarily take place at the same moment in time, but are they really one story?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395521519
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/30/1990
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	561,454
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.38(d)
Lexile:	610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

David Macaulay is an award-winning author and illustrator whose books have sold millions of copies in the United States alone, and his work has been translated into a dozen languages. Macaulay has garnered numerous awards including the Caldecott Medal and Honor Awards, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Christopher Award, an American Institute of Architects Medal, and the Washington Post–Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award. In 2006, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, given “to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations.” Superb design, magnificent illustrations, and clearly presented information distinguish all of his books. David Macaulay lives with his family in Vermont.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"This work engages another side of the mind. It's a story; it's a puzzle; it's a game . . . Macaulay refuses to be confined by the conventions of the picture book." Booklist, ALA, Starred Review

Editorial Reviews

"This work engages another side of the mind. It's a story; it's a puzzle; it's a game . . . Macaulay refuses to be confined by the conventions of the picture book." Booklist, ALA, Starred Review —

From the Publisher

"The magic of Black and White comes not from each [of the four stories], but from the mysterious interactions between them that creates a fifth story," said PW of this Caldecott Medal-winner. Ages 5-8. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

At first glance, this is a collection of four unrelated stories, each occupying a quarter of every two-page spread, and each a slight enough tale to seem barely worth a book--a boy on a train, parents in a funny mood, a convict's escape and a late commuter train. The magic of Black and White comes not from each story, however, but from the mysterious interactions between them that creates a fifth story. Several motifs linking the tales are immediately apparent, such as trains--real and toy--and newspapers. A second or third reading reveals suggestions of the title theme: Holstein cows, prison uniform stripes. Eventually, the stories begin to merge into a surrealistic tale spanning several levels of reality, e.g.: Are characters in one story traveling on the toy train in another? Answers are never provided--this is not a mystery or puzzle book. Instead, Black and White challenges the reader to use text and pictures in unexpected ways. Although the novelty will wear off quickly for adults, no other writer for adults or children explores this unusual territory the way Macaulay does. All ages. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly