Randolph Caldecott’s Picture Books

Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Randolph-Caldecotts-Rollicking-Picture-Books.mp3 Author Rita Smith Air Date 3/26/2001 Randolph Caldecott’s Picture Books Transcript Many people are familiar with Randolph Caldecott’s name because the Caldecott Medal, given annually to the most distinguished American picture book, is named for him, but the 16 picture books he illustrated are worth getting to know, too. […]

Peter Sis’s Madlenka

Author John Cech Air Date 3/23/2001 Peter Sis’s Madlenka Transcript March is National Umbrella Month, a time, as Chase’s Calendar of Events tells us, that is “dedicated to the use of and conversation about” that most useful of implements. Though she isn’t talking about umbrellas, per se, the small heroine of Madlenka, the latest picture […]

Picture Book Presents

It’s that time of year again, when publishers are out to dazzle us with wonderful books for the children in our lives.

The Yellow Star

Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/The-Yellow-Star.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 12/1/2000 The Yellow Star Transcript Hans Christian Andersen’s first book of fairy tales was published today in 1835, and Andersen has since become a Danish national hero. But there is another Danish hero whom many of us haven’t heard about – the Dane’s beloved […]

Louise Fitzhugh

Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/Louise-Fitzhugh.mp3 Author John Cech Air Date 10/2/2000 Louise Fitzhugh Transcript It’s the birthday this week of Louise Fitzhugh, the author of one of the breakthrough books for children of the 1960s, Harriet the Spy. Harriet Welsch is an eleven-year-old budding writer, who makes her rounds every day after school, eavesdropping on […]

James Thurber’s “Many Moons”

Listen to the Recess! Clip https://recess.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/James-Thurbers-22Many-Moons22.mp3 Author Rita Smith Air Date 9/28/2006 James Thurber’s “Many Moons” Transcript In 1944, Many Moons, a book written by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin, won the Caldecott Award for the best American picture book for children. It was a story about a little princess who overindulged in […]