Black and White (Caldecott Medal Book) [Hardcover]

The book starts with a warning. "This book appears to contain a number of stories that do not necessarily occur at the same time." Then you get hints. It might contain more than one story, or it might be four stories, or then again, four parts of one story. "Careful inspection of both words and pictures is recommended." You will be a story detective, not unlike someone trying to solve a crime after the fact.

Each page is divided into four stories, each of which generally takes up one-fourth of the page. They are located in the same position relative to one another so you can keep the story thread you are following straight. Each has a title.

"Seeing Things" is about a boy taking his first train trip alone. After a long, mysterious delay, he arrives at a large station to be greeted by his parents. His mother sympathizes with his difficult journey.

"Problem Parents" relates how perfectly normal, hard-working parents return from commuting to work one night wearing costumes made out of newspapers. Soon, they have their children costumed this way too.

"A Waiting Game" shows a crowd of adults waiting for the commuter train on an outdoor platform. Pretty soon they get bored, and the fun begins.

"Udder Chaos" starts with a cow licking a man in a convict suit, and shows how cattle provide camouflage for themselves and everything around them.

An occasional element from one of the stories crosses over, and shows up in another story. From these tiny steps, you can begin to unravel the tangled plot.

The book earned the Caldecott Medal for the best illustrated children's book in 1991. I think this is outstandingly illustrated, even for a Caldecott winner. The images carry the story much more than the occasional words do. Without the fascinating visual display of the book's concept, there would be no story here that you could unravel.

Upon rereading, you and your child will grasp additional meaning in the images and words. This will give you a lot to talk and think about. As such, you will welcome this over all of the books where you read the same story in the same way, over ... and ... over ... and ... over ... again.

One of the most difficult things for a child to learn is how subjective perception is. I think this book is terrific for making that point, and helping to create an appreciation for clear communication. I suggest that every family with children purchase and regularly read this book.

After you have enjoyed this book many times, I suggest that you think about where else a partial story is presented. For example, you and your child might go to a train station or airport and watch the people. You could make up stories about what you see. Then, I suggest that you go up and interview the people to hear what they think their story is.

Find the harmony, under the muddied surface of subjective, unfocused perception!