The golden bow tie that Paul O. Zelinsky created from gold Caldecott stickers.

To mark the upcoming 75th anniversary of the Caldecott Medal, School Library Journal is speaking with past recipients of the prestigious award. Here, illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky, winner of the 1998 Caldecott for Rapunzel (Dutton, 1997) and three-time honor recipient for Hansel and Gretel (Dodd, 1984), Rumpelstiltskin (1986) and Anne Isaac’s Swamp Angel (1994, both Dutton), talks about his working process, the awards ceremony, and “the call.”

Tell us how Rapunzel came to be.

As soon as Rumpelstiltskin was published, people were telling me how much they liked my book Rapunzel. I would say, “Thank you very much, but I think you mean Rumpelstiltskin.” Eventually I decided that if I actually did a Rapunzel, I wouldn’t have to keep correcting people.

I also wanted to follow Hansel and Gretel and Rumpelstiltskin with a third tale from the brothers Grimm. Why Rapunzel? I thought the story was compelling and mysterious, and I was interested in learning to paint hair.

What was it like receiving the phone call telling you that Rapunzel had won?

I had been called to jury duty, and if the judge hadn’t released me, the Committee’s call would have reached my answering machine.

I was curious to know which books would get awards, but confident that one of them wouldn’t be Rapunzel. After all, Hansel and Gretel had been a Caldecott Honor and so had Rumpelstiltskin, and that was clearly enough.

My wife Deborah had hopes for Rapunzel that I didn’t. I was taken completely by surprise. Words can’t describe how little I expected the call from the committee.

When I picked up the phone and a man’s voice asked to speak to Paul Zelinsky, I suspected it was some long-distance phone company trying to get me to switch carriers. It was John Stewig calling from New Orleans with the Caldecott committee, telling me that Rapunzel had won. Then in the background, the committee cheered.

I got very dizzy and confused, but I gathered myself together. When I hung up, I phoned Deborah’s school (she was teaching second grade in our local public school), to give her the news. When she saw a school aide come into her classroom holding a note, she began to cry.

Do you recall any other highlights from the ALA conference that year, aside from the awards ceremony?

My wife lost her wallet in a taxi. We had breakfast with a classmate I hadn’t seen since high school. My daughters were 14 and 10.

The conference and banquet were at the Washington, DC, Hilton Hotel. In a private back room they served very big, strong drinks before the beginning of the dinner. There was a passageway from that room to the stage area of the ballroom, which had been walked by all sorts of presidents and amazing historical figures whose photos lined its walls.

What do you remember about the ceremony? 

Karen Hesse was the Newbery winner, and Russell Freedman received the Wilder Award. There were a lot of speeches. I made sure to use the rest room beforehand, having had one painful ALA experience many years before.

The Caldecott Committee members came wearing silly hats representing either long blond hair or the cap my Rapunzel prince character wore. They were carrying huge plastic scissors to cut the hair.

I came to the dinner in a garment I had bought at a garage sale in college for $5. It was a tuxedo from the 1930s, which fit perfectly. I was wearing a cummerbund I’d made from gold Caldecott stickers. By sticking the medals to each other, front to back, with a little bit of overlap linking one to the next, I made a nicely sturdy-feeling swath of gold. I also made a golden bow tie out of the stickers.

When I was at the podium and delivering my speech, the cummerbund started to come unstuck. My body heat was loosening the glue. I kept surreptitiously pushing the medals back together as I gave the talk.

How did winning the Caldecott impact your career?

I felt like I was already in a pretty privileged situation before the Caldecott, with three honor books. But I think this still made a difference in terms of attention, speaking requests, and so on. I don’t believe it really affected what books I took on, or was asked to do, or how I worked on them. The medal also increased the number of people and organizations coming to me with charitable requests.

Where do you keep your medal?

It came in a beautiful wood box, lined in blue velvet, which I keep on my dresser.

Do you think there is more public awareness of the award today?

I remember one librarian whose great mission was to eliminate these awards. Her principle was that they encourage a personality cult based on winning, which is alien to the actual purpose of children’s—or any—literature.

She had a good point. I visited one school where I was introduced as someone who was famous and had won a prestigious medal, and if the students only work hard enough, they could also be famous and win medals. But the Caldecott leads children to read books, and eliminating it would hardly make the world a better place.

I sourly regret that the Today Show has stopped bringing in the Caldecott and Newbery winners on the air the morning after the awards are announced. But awareness of the Caldecott and Newbery is huge. I don’t know whether any other award, literary or otherwise, does as much to support the sales and lifespan of a book.

Do you have a favorite young illustrator that we should be watching as a future Caldecott contender?

Questions about favorites almost always stump me—see, for example, the Favorite Color page on my website. A lot of amazing illustration is being done these days, and naming young illustrators would make me feel that I was skipping over the large number of not-so-young ones who deserve the Caldecott even more. That said, a couple of names, very unfairly leaving out a talented multitude, might be You Byun or Julian Hector.

Any other special Caldecott memories?

The Caldecott Medal spawned a whirlwind of a year for me, and I loved it.

Book display at Brook Forest Elementary School.

Librarians, authors and illustrators are gearing up for Picture Book Month in November, which will build on the success of last year’s inaugural event. The brainchild of author and storyteller Dianne de Las Casas, Picture Book Month encourages the recognition of picture books through blogs, tweets and other activities.

What’s on the schedule? For starters, de Las Casas has arranged for authors and illustrators to post daily on the Picture Book Month site. Caldecott Medalists Chris Raschka and Paul O. Zelinsky, along with authors Doreen Cronin and Jon Scieszka, are among the 30 “Picture Book Month Champions” weighing in. A Picture Book Month calendar recommends daily themes that educators can focus on—from food to monsters to pigs—and suggests that every Monday be devoted to nonfiction picture books.

Organizations including the Children’s Book Council and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) have signed on for the event. “AASL is pleased to partner with Picture Book Month and to help highlight the value of connecting people of all ages, but especially the young, with this unique and remarkable format,” said AASL president Susan Ballard.

Mock Caldecott display at Minges Brook Elementary School.

How are school librarians getting involved? Mary Ann Scheuer, librarian at Emerson School in the  Berkeley (CA) Unified School District, will emphasize titles for older readers, like Jacqueline Woodson’s picture books, for her fourth and fifth graders. “My students are completely drawn into her stories, appreciating the language, character development and emotions,” Scheuer told School Library Journal. In addition, she says, picture books can challenge older students to focus on skills like inference that are critical to the Common Core Standards. “When we read Woodson’s Visiting Day (Scholastic, 2002) illustrated by James Ransome, they inferred that Maya’s father was in prison, a fact the text does not explicitly state,” she observes.

Displays, an author visit, and student-run mock Caldecotts are all part of the plan for John Schumacher, librarian at Brook Forest Elementary School in Oak Brook, IL. Schumacher will post the calendar around his school and have classes set picture book reading goals that they will track using Biblionasium, a social networking site for kids that promotes independent reading.

He’ll also host Tad Hills, bestselling author/illustrator of Rocket Writes a Story (Schwartz & Wade, 2012) and will collaborate on the mock Caldecott with Colby Sharp, a fourth grade teacher at Minges Brook Elementary School in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Laurel Snyder, author of such picture books as Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher (Tricycle, 2010), will visiting the Main Street Academy in College Park, GA, and will Skype with students from the Community School of Davidson in North Carolina.

Looking for more ways to get involved? Find some inspirations on the event website.

BAR-EL, Dan. Illustrated by David Huyck. That One Spooky Night. Kids Can Press, 2012. ISBN 9781554537518. JLG Level: GE : Graphic Novels Elementary (Grades 2-6)

Big yellow eyes are featured on the front cover of this Halloween graphic novel, presented in three short stories. Youngsters go trick-or-treating with real witches and vampires. Mermaids and sea monsters lead two brothers on an underwater adventure. It all happened that one spooky night. Or did it?

GOODRICH, Carter. Zorro Gets an Outfit. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2012. ISBN 9781442435353. JLG Level: K : Kindergarten (Grades PreK-K)

Maybe you want a Halloween tale, but your students prefer tamer titles. Enter a dog named Zorro. Zorro and his friend Mister Bud have an average kind of life. They eat. They sleep. They go for a walk. They eat dog biscuits. Today is different. Zorro gets an outfit―a fitted mask with attached cloak. “Zorro was embarrassed. He didn’t want to go for a walk.” All the other dogs make fun of him until a new dog comes running through the park―in his own get-up. No longer outsiders, Zorro and Mister Bud run and play with the new guy. Spending time with his new friend makes him realize that maybe wearing a costume isn’t such a strange idea after all.

JENKINS, Emily. Illustrated by Harry Bliss. Invisible Inkling: Dangerous Pumpkins. Balzer + Bray, 2012. ISBN 9780061802232. JLG Level: HE : Humor Elementary (grades 2-6)

Sometimes a book’s fear factor is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder. Jenkins delivers just the right mix of laughter and terror in the second book about Hank and the invisible bandapat. Hank is having a hard time in school. His friends are far and few between. His big sister thinks he is a bother. And most importantly, he lies all the time in order to protect Inkling, his bandapat. When Inkling gets Hank into trouble after trouble, a Halloween ghost delivers a surprise that does more than scare everyone.

MCELLIGOTT, Matthew. Even Aliens Needs Snacks. Walker & Company, 2012. ISBN 9780802723994. JLG Level: P+ : Primary (Grades K-1)

“My mom says I’m a good cook…[My sister] says that no one in the whole universe would eat the things I cook.”  A young boy who wants to become a chef has a strange experience one night. His first customer is from out of town― way out of town. Arriving by spaceship, the alien seems to like his mushroom iced tea. Every night the boy creates new dishes for hungry aliens. Filled with great illustrations and a good dose of humor, McElligott’s new tale is a great read aloud for your primary readers.

JONES, Diane Wynne. Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky. Earwig and the Witch. Greenwillow Books, 2012. ISBN 9780062075116. JLG Level: I : Independent Readers (Grades 2-4)

For your independent readers, Diane Wynne Jones has a new “orphan” book. Earwig leaves the orphanage to become a foster child at the house of a witch. Not willing to be bullied, she devises a foolproof plan and learns some magic along the way. Graduating fans of Clementine and Lucy Rose will love her. Zelinsky’s illustrations evoke Quentin Blake and enhance the hilarious tone.

REYNOLDS, Aaron. Illustrations by Peter Brown. Creepy Carrots.  Simon & Schuster, 2012. ISBN 9781442402973. JLG Level: P : Primary (Grades K-1)

Sometimes a guilty conscience may make you see things. So after you steal carrots, you may see the orange vegetables following you after school. You may see them watching you from under the bed or in the closet. You may see them hiding in the tool shed and bathroom. Guilt can also drive you to action. Building a fence with a moat seems to be the best solution for keeping the creepy carrots at bay in this cautionary tale. Use of orange as a highlight against a dark and scary background adds to the “creep” factor. Your young readers will delight in being scared and laugh out loud at the surprising conclusion.

SPECK, Katie. Illustrated by Paul Ratz de Tagyos. Maybelle and the Haunted Cupcake. Henry Holt and Company, 2012. ISBN 9780805094688. JLG Level: I : Independent Readers (Grades 2-4)

Maybelle the cockroach and Henry the flea team up in this comic story. No bugs are allowed at Mrs. Peabody’s residence at Number 10 Grand Street, but Bernice the ant is oblivious to any danger. When the miniature cupcakes are too much for Maybelle to resist, Mrs. Peabody is sure that the moving cupcakes are haunted. Will Bernice get the cupcake? Can her new friends save her from the cat and extinction? How does Maybelle like being the Queen? Find out in this mini-mystery for your independent readers.

For ideas about how to use these books and links to supportive sites, check out the Junior Library Guild blog, Shelf Life.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.