The Big Snow by Bertha and Elmer Hader (1949)

The Big Snow by Kathrine Milhous (1949 Caldecott Medal Winner)

Just like The Egg Tree, this book is rather lengthy compared to today's picture books, but don't hold that against this tale. The story follows all the different creatures of the forest as they decide what to do for the winter. You get excellent illustrations and a fictional look into the minds of these animals. How will the winter impact their choice of homes. We get to see animals that migrate and nonmigratory animals.

After the choices are made, we get to see how a big snow negatively impacts these animals. How are the food sources diminished because of the falling snow? How will the animals survive?

The answer turns this tale from a fiction to an autobiography of sorts. An older couple cleans up the sidewalk in front of their house and then provides food for all of the animals. I'm guessing that this is something that the Haders did most winters. Although the couple doesn't participate in the celebration, they do imagine the joy the animals feel from the offering.

This book definitely won't work for very young children, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it be very effective at the 3rd or 4th grade level. If it were a bit longer and used some bigger words, this book might possibly be eligible for a Newberry Medal today.

The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (1951)

The Egg Tree by Kathrine Milhous (1951 Caldecott Medal Winner)

A lot has changed in Children's Literature since the Caldecott Medal was created. The Egg Tree is a great example of those changes. It is certainly an interesting story, but it is so long compared to most children's books. Let me give you a quick synopsis:

Grandmom has her six grandchildren over the night before Easter. All of the children go searching for eggs, which have been placed in the most unlikely of places, so when Katy can't find any, she decides to go searching in the attic. There she finds and old hat box with six hollowed-out eggs that Grandmom had made when she was little. After giving the winners (the children with the most eggs a very strange prize, (bunny-shaped cookies with eggs baked in the middle) Grandmom makes an Easter Egg tree with the six eggs. The children want to learn how to make their own eggs, so Grandmom teaches them. With all of the eggs they make a bigger tree, and show it off to anyone that wants to come and see it. (There are also directions for making an Egg Tree in the back of the book.)

Exhausting isn't it? Sadly this book is very focused. You can't use it for anything other than an Easter unit, and even then, it really doesn't apply unless you want to make an Egg Tree with your class. I'm sorry, but I have no interest in blowing out 15-25 eggs just for one project that will probably involve lots of broken eggs. sure it won a medal a long time ago, but it wouldn't win that award these days.