Tomfoolery! Randolph Caldecott and the Rambunctious Coming of Age of Children's Books. Michelle Markel. Illustrated by Brian Floca. 2023. [November] 44 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: Come on in. A whole world lives and breathes inside these pages.
Premise/plot: A nonfiction picture book biography of illustrator Randolph Caldecott. While young readers may not have heard of Randolph Caldecott, there is a good chance they've heard the words "Caldecott."
The book focuses in on how Caldecott revolutionized the world of children's books, of children's publishing, changing what books printed and published for children actually literally look like.
My thoughts: I took a graduate course in the history of children's books. This book was a mini-refresher; it was a good reminder of how things were.
I think this one could be enjoyed by elementary age readers. But I also think it has the potential for older readers including adults.
I enjoyed the narrative text. I wanted to absolutely love the illustrations--since Randolph Caldecott was an illustrator himself. But I "merely" liked them. Not a big deal--personally. It isn't unusual for me to prefer text over illustrations OR illustrations over text.
So far this one has received FIVE starred reviews. This matters. Perhaps a little more than it should, it matters. It definitely raises expectations. It makes readers second guess themselves at times. Why didn't I absolutely think it was the best thing ever?
© 2023 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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