Black and White

I've been meaning to do a post like this for a few months now, ever since it was announced that this year's Caldecott Medal was given to illustrator Beth Krommes for her work on the book The House in the Night. Often when we think of picture books, we imagine books filled with vibrant colors that will attract kids' attention. But there are lots of great books done in black and white as well! Here are just a few:

The House in the Night, written by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Beth Krommes, is a cumulative rhyme (think of songs like "The Farmer in the Dell" and "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea" for other example of cumulative rhymes). As the story progresses, we follow a child through the house to her bedroom and watch her open a book and journey out into the night sky on the backs of the birds that emerge from it. This is a quiet, soothing bedtime story, and the black and white illustrations, which look like woodcuts, show the darkness of the night. However, some objects (the key, a lamp, the moon) glow with golden light, shining brightly against the blackness and creating a cozy space within this house.

Overall Grade: A

Another Caldecott Medal goes to author and illustrator Kevin Henkes for his book Kitten's First Full Moon. In this story, a kitten sees the full moon for the first time. Not understanding what it is, the kitten imagines that the moon is a giant bowl of milk and sets off to find it. The intrepid kitten unfortunately can never seem to catch up to the moon, and it is always out of reach. Will she ever find her bowl of milk? The illustrations in this story are done in gouache and colored pencil, which allows some absolutely brilliant shading that shows the dark of the night along with the light of the moon. Something about the big illustrations and the use of white space on the pages with words also makes this book feel very large, just like the world that Kitten finds herself exploring. This is a very sweet picture book that makes for a soothing read-aloud.

Overall Grade: A+

Chris Van Allsburg has done a lot of great picture books over the years, many of which are done in black and white. Among my favorites of his books is Zathura, the sequel to the award-winning book Jumanji. This this story, Walter is a young boy who is fed up with his younger brother Danny. But when the two of them find the game of Jumanji and a hidden second board, the two find themselves in a wild outer space adventure filled with such challenges as evil robots and lots of trouble with gravity. Will the two be able to finish the game? These black and white illustrations are highly textured when showing the inside of Walter and Danny's house, but the sky becomes an even, milky black when showing the vastness of outer space. Unlike the other books previously mentioned, the black and white illustrations are not necessarily soothing and the textured surfaces add excitement and interest to this adventure story.

Overall Grade: A