Commendation Medal

What elements of the illustrations make it worthy of a Caldecott award or honor? What distinguishes these illustrations? Consider the design and layout of the book, visual elements, use of space, media, perspective, and style. Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea, deserve to receive the honor of having Caldecott because of the skillful way the illustrator Brian Floca was able to add small visual details that further enhanced the quality of the story. Using pen-and-ink and water colors Brian Floca…

In The Giver, the main character Jonas changes. Over the course of the story, Jonas changes his personality, along with his whole outlook. At the beginning of the book Jonas was just like any other kid his age. He is completely unaware of the gruesome inhumane things that are happening in his community, “I’m feeling apprehensive,”...”I know there’s really nothing to worry about”(Lowry, 1993, p.12) This shows how Jonas knows that he is a normal person and he should have no reason to think…

Back in 2010 The Lion and the Mouse, by Jerry Pinkey, was awarded the Randolph Caldecott Award by the ALSC for being the most distinguished picture book of the year. When the ALSC decides what book will be the receiver of the Caldecott Award there are quite a few factors that go into their decision making process. Their website shows all of these factors, but the main ones to be focused on are that the publisher/artist must be an American citizen and that their illustrations be original. As far…

A World Can Never be Perfect Would a society that requires it citizens to be “burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot” (Vonnegut 1) be a Utopian society? The Giver, a novel written by Lois Lowry, introduces Jonas, a Twelve, who lives in an idyllic community where everything is planned out. Jonas, as the Receiver of Memory, experiences the memories the Giver transmits to him. He discovers how wrong his community has been. The community failed when Jonas found out what the community had…

“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared,” Lois Lowry wrote in the book The Giver (154). The characters in this book live in a futuristic community that has eliminated everything causing pain. For example, there are strict rules governing rudeness, so the community does not allow community members to ask any question that will make anyone feel different. The characters do not feel emotions, or love, so they never feel hurt or…

Lois Lowry’s novel, The Giver, is about a boy named Jonas in a Utopian society of sameness. In this community, there is no pain struggle, or diversity. Choices for all are made by a group of elder citizens. There is no color, no weather, and no change. The absence of difference leads Jonas to question whether the lack of pain is worth inability to feel anything at all. Through her characters, Lowry warns readers that to conform is to lose choices, individuality, and ultimately, free will. This…

In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry Jonas the main character lives in “perfect world”. He learn the memories but is not aloud to tell anybody but wants to tell people. The themes are things are not as perfect as you think and there is more in the world than you are open to. The first theme is shown by the government controlling the town and the town cannot make their own decisions. The second theme is shown because there are more towns that that the people do not know about. The first theme is…

Holes Stanley Yelnats lived in an undersized apartment and has very bad luck and is constantly in the wrong place at the wrong time. throughout the book he is accused of stuff because of his bad luck. Stanley Yelnats lived inside of an undersized apartment near texas. He was walking home from school and someone threw a pair of shoes at him he was convicted of stealing the shoes and he went to court and was sentenced to detention camp, at camp green lake. At camp green lake stanley was…

“The life where nothing was ever unexpected, or inconvenient. or unusual; the life without color, pain, or past”. In The Giver, Jonas, an Eleven, is living in a community with no comprehension of love and is eager to find what is behind the scenes of his inhumane life. Lois Lowry brings to her readers a character with an intense curiosity for truth and a sharp mind to help himself lead his way into reality. Jonas is a male in his youth who’s mind seeks to understand the unknown. Moments after…

Neil Gaiman, author of The Graveyard Book writes about a young boy named Nobody Owens or Bod who has a unique relationship with the dead. Throughout the novel Bod learns many things that the dead know about and don’t. With his guardian Silas, a mysterious figure who is neither living nor dead, Bod learns multiple things about life, the dead, and how powerful knowledge is. Knowledge is Power and power is what Bod seeks in order to protect himself, avenge his family, and put a stop to the Man Jack…