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Vashti Harrison and Farrin Jacobs. Photo: Elyse Marshall. Vashti Harrison cares. She cares about what she says and how she says it. She cares about words on the page — what they communicate and where they are placed. She cares about color and texture and how they help tell a...
Some of the most indelible imagery in Big, this year’s Caldecott Medal–winning title by Vashti Harrison, is of breaking free of constraints, as a protagonist who feels trapped “make[s] more space for herself,” emerging into a stunning double gatefold. Big was a BIG deal this year, with additional accolades including...
“Did you know you’re the first Black woman to win the Caldecott Medal?” The morning of the American Library Association Youth Media Awards, my agent, Carrie Hannigan, called to ask me this. We had spoken the night before to celebrate, so this call felt more like a briefing. She was...
No, this isn't the Robin Smith Picture Book Prize announcement that we promised on Monday (that's coming on Friday). We wanted to follow up on our YMA announcement post to scream from the rooftops the fact that Vashti Harrison, illustrator of Caldecott Medal winner Big, is the first Black woman to win...
“In childhood, big is good. Big is impressive, aspirational. But somewhere along the way, the world begins to tell us something different: That big is bad. That being big is undesirable.” — from Vashti Harrison's author’s note Words have an extraordinary influence on our perspective on the world, others, and most...
In September, the National Book Award released its longlist of ten books being considered for the 2023 Young People’s Literature (YPL) Award. The YPL Award typically doesn’t attract the attention of us Calling Caldecott folks, because historically it tends to skew more toward older fiction. This year, the YPL’s longlist represented a broad...
In the picture book Big (Little, Brown, 5–8 years), a young Black girl feels comfortable in her own skin — until classmates’ taunts and two adults’ admonishments make her question her size. Author/illustrator Vashti Harrison’s sensitive, compassionate story ends on an empowering note, with the girl finally able to hand...