White Snow Bright Snow, written by Alvin Tesselt and illustrated by Roger Duvoisin, received the 1948 Caldecott Medal Book. Before the snow begins to fall, the reader meets the postman, the farmer, the policemen, and the wife of the policemen. We watch how they prepare for the inclement weather, survive through the storm, and finally enjoy the outdoors as Spring begins to arrive.Caldecott Criteria:
1. “Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed.” – These simple illustrations utilize grey tones with accents in reds and yellows to accentuate the white of the snowy scenes. While not detailed, these pictures help the reader feel at home in the town.
2. “Excellence of pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept.” – Each picture captures the words in the story well.
3. “Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept.”- Roger Duvoiosin’s folk art style helps this story set in a small town seem real.
4. “Delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures.” – The plot, theme, characters, setting, and information are very clear. The mood changes throughout could have been more obvious.
5. “Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.” – My children and I all enjoyed reading this book during one of our own blustery snow days.
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