Childrens Picture Books

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Childrens Picture Books Written and Illustrated
By David Wiesner
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Three of the picture books David Wiesner both
wrote and illustrated became instant classics
when they won the prestigious Caldecott Medal
Tuesday (1992), The Three Pigs (2002), and
Folsam (2007). Two of his other titles, Sector
7 (2000) and Free Fall (1989), are Caldecott
Honor Books. Specializing in wildly fanciful
images with few words, his books appeal to a wide
range of audiences and ages. David Wiesner
studied at the Rhode Island School of Design
where Tom Sgouros and David Macaulay not only
taught him the fundamentals of drawing and
painting but fostered his imaginative spirit.
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Flying frogs, fallen trees, clouds... all
wonderful backdrops for wonderful wordless books
illustrated by David Wiesner. A child's
imagination can connect with his books with no
problem at all He does a storyboard of
thumbnails, then he pencil draws a drawing to the
page size, he then uses photographs and clay
objects for lighting, etc., the last thing is the
picture is done on tracing paper and then
transferred to watercolor paper. Very unique.  I
 looked at his other books as well and the
animals all seem "real" by using the technique he
has used.
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Flotsam Author and Illustrator David Wiesner
On a ordinary day at the beach, a budding young
scientist makes a jaw-dropping discovery. A
barnacle-encrusted underwater camera has washed
up on the shore, holding on its reel of film
images that no human eye has seen. Moving cities,
an octopus in a lounge chair, a clockwork fish.
And yet, there is one more secret, the camera has
journeyed not only through the depths of the
ocean but through the past, hiding in its last
photo a visual timeline of children from around
the world.
Caldecott Medal Winner 2007
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The Three Pigs Author and Illustrator David
Wiesner
Once upon a time three pigs built three houses,
out of straw, sticks, and bricks. Along came a
wolf, who huffed and puffed... So, you think you
know the rest? Think again. When the wolf
approaches the first house, for example, and
blows it in, he somehow manages to blow the pig
right out of the story frame. The text continues
on schedule--"...and ate the pig up"--but the
expression on the wolf's face as he looks in vain
for his ham dinner is priceless. One by one, the
pigs exit the fairy tale's border and set off on
an adventure of their own. Folding a page of
their own story into a paper airplane, the pigs
fly off to visit other storybooks, rescuing
about-to-be-slain dragons and luring the cat and
the fiddle out of their nursery rhyme.
2002 Caldecott Medal Honor Book
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Tuesday Author and Illustrator David Wiesner
This story starts before the title page as
frogs, can be seen peacefully at first on their
lily pads and then slowly they rise into the
air. After the title page, we join a pond turtle
as he looks up in amazement and we see the
words "Tuesday evening, around eight." The
frogs start flying solemnly at first and then
with increasing pleasure as they fly through the
town, entering houses, startling dogs and one man
enjoying a midnight snack. The time is the only
text given as the night continues. As the sun
starts to rise,  the frogs fly lower and lower
until their lily pads fall to earth and the frogs
leap back into their pond, leaving the people in
the town to wonder at the lily pads left behind.
The last page gives the time as "Next Tuesday,
seven fifty-eight p.m." and we see shadows of
flying pigs on a barn door.
Caldecott Medal Winner 1992
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Sector 7 Author and Illustrator David Wiesner
A class visiting the Empire State Building finds
complete cloud cover and no visibility. One boy
makes friends with a cloud (identifiable in the
mists by the red mittens, hat, and scarf and
swipes from the boy), and goes AWOL on a
wonderful adventure. The cloud whisks him away to
the "Sector 7" floating cloud factory, a bizarre
sky station that looks like a Victorian design
for a submarine. Hiding behind his new
cumulonimbus friend, the boy enters an area
resembling Grand Central Station (complete with
"Arrivals" and "Departures" boards) and watches
as clouds are given their weather assignments.
When the clouds complain to the boy that their
assigned shapes are boring, he, a talented
artist, creates new blueprints for them. The
stuffy grownups are furious when clouds start
emerging in the shape of fantastic fish they
shout at the clouds, tear up the new designs, and
escort the boy back to his school group. But the
revolt of the clouds is unstoppable now, and in
the last few pages the skies over Manhattan
suddenly get a lot more interesting
2000 Caldecott Medal Honor Book
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June 29, 1999 Author and Illustrator David
Wiesner
On June 29, 1999, curious things start to happen
all over America. A hiker in Montana finds giant
turnips in the Rocky Mountains. "Cucumbers circle
Kalamazoo. Lima beans loom over Levittown.
Artichokes advance on Anchorage." TV news
channels announce that arugula has covered
Ashtabula, which puzzles Holly, because arugula
is not part of her experiment. In fact, she is
forced to conclude that none of the enlarged
specimen sightings are a result of her initial
seedling launch. Where did the giant vegetables
come from then? Wiesner waits until the last
pages to deliver the punch line. Throughout the
book, his visual humor interplays perfectly with
the sophisticated though minimal text. A Mount
Rushmore-like scene reveals the faces of Reagan,
Bush, Nixon, and Carter carved out of giant
potatoes with the caption "Potatoland is wisely
abandoned."
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Hurricane Author and Illustrator David Wiesner
The morning after a hurricane, two brothers find
an uprooted tree which becomes a magical place,
transporting them on adventures limited only by
their imaginations.
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Free Fall Author and Illustrator David Wiesner
A young boy dreams of daring adventures in the
company of imaginary creatures inspired by the
things surrounding his bed. When he falls asleep
with a book in his arms, a young boy dreams an
amazing dream-about dragons, about castles, and
about an unchartered, faraway land. And you can
come along.
1989 Caldecott Medal Honor Book
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David Wiesner is one of the most original and
imaginative childrens book illustrators working
today. David Wiesner has illustrated more than
twenty award-winning books for young readers.
Here is a list of those books. Night of the
Gargoyles by Eve Bunting illustrated by David
Wiesner. 1994Tongues of Jade by Laurence Yep
illustrated by David Wiesner. 1991The Sorcerer's
Apprentice by Marianna Mayer. 1989Rainbow People
by Laurence Yep illustrated by David Wiesner.
1989Firebrat by Nancy Willard illustrations by
David Wiesner. 1988Loathsome Dragon retold by
David Wiesner and Kim Kahng with illustrations
by David Wiesner. 1987Kite Flier by Dennis
Haseley illustrations by David Wiesner.
1986E.T., the Storybook of the Green Planet by
William Kotzwinkle based on a story by Steven
Spielberg illustrated by David Wiesner.
1985Wand the Return to Mesmeria by Allan W.
Eckert illustrated by David Wiesner. 1985Dark
Green Tunnel by Allan W. Eckert illustrated by
David Wiesner. 1984Miranty and the Alchemist by
Vera Chapman illustrated by David Wiesner.
1983Neptune Rising Songs and Tales of the
Undersea Folk by Jane Yolen illustrated by David
Wiesner. 1982Owly by Mike Thaler pictures by
David Wiesner. 1982Boy who Spoke Chimp by Jane
Yolen illustrated by David Wiesner. 1981Man
from the Sky by Avi illustrated by David
Wiesner. 1981One Bad Thing about Birthdays by
David R. Collins illustrated by David Wiesner.
1981Ugly Princess by Nancy Luenn illustrated by
David Wiesner. 1981Honest Andrew by Gloria
Skurzynski illustrated by David Wiesner. 1980
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Three of the picture books David Wiesner both
wrote and illustrated became instant classics
when they won the prestigious Caldecott Medal
Tuesday (1992), The Three Pigs (2002), and
Folsam (2007). Two of his other titles, Sector
7 (2000) and Free Fall (1989), are Caldecott
Honor Books. Specializing in wildly fanciful
images with few words, his books appeal to a wide
range of audiences and ages.
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Eve Peabody Senior Library Technician Hanscom
Base Library