Older Caldecott Winners You Don't Want To Miss

You don't see a book like this one everyday. History told like tall tale, illustrations that are detailed enough to stare at the whole time you're listening to (or reading it yourself) the equally engaging life of Abraham Lincoln, told simply enough that a six year old can understand, and yet details are still there. I also recommend other D'Aulaire biographies, each equally well illustrated and written.

I pity anyone who wasn't familiar with this book as a child. It's a heartwarming family story, about Mr. and Mrs. Mallard who need to find a home to build their nest before their wing feathers fall out, and not just any home, but one that will be safe enough for the ducklings that they plan to raise. And raise them they do, eight of them — from Jack to Quack and everything in between — on an island on the Charles River near Boston.

Though a well-built house may possibly stay the same over many years, its surroundings most certainly do not. What started out as a happy little house way out in the country became a little house in a bustling city, where it couldn't see the sun anymore because the skyscrapers were so close to it. Yes, houses have feelings too, evidently (and it's quite believable with the charming illustrations by the author). When the descendants of the family who build the little house find it again, they move it back to its original setting... if not quite its original location.

A little boy has a fun day playing in the snow, and even tries to keep a snowball in his coat pocket inside! A strikingly beautiful 1963 Caldecott Medal winner.

Karen Kennedy says:

All about the Ox-Cart Man and how he and his family work together busily every moment of the day for practically everything they have!

A simply told story of a father taking his child out owling for the first time, on a night with a bright owl moon when you can't speak and have to be brave, to see if they can spot an owl out in the woods. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't — you never know! Told relaxingly from the child's perspective.