Cultural Influences on the First Caldecott Medal Picture Books, 1938 - 1945 — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Cultural Influences on the First Caldecott Medal Picture Books, 1938 - 1945

Name: Jacqueline Easley
Department: Education
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the American Library Association's prestigious Caldecott Award. This award has been given to the American illustrator for the best illustrated children's book in a given year since 1938. Many of the original Caldecott Medal books, published during World War II, are still frequently read in elementary classrooms. The purpose of my research is to explore this question: How did the culture of World War II America influence the text and illustrations of its Caldecott Medal books? A study of the era in which these books were created will provide educators with an understanding of these books' social and political contexts, resulting in a deeper understanding of the books themselves. Through my literary analysis of these books, I investigate the extent to which these books and the spectrum of children's books represented by the Caldecott winners reflected society's view of the world. This qualitative study is particularly revealing, since I analyze both the text and the illustrations in an effort to investigate societal influences for this research study.

Poster file