Randolph Caldecott's Picture Books

by Randolph Caldecott

The Caldecott Medal, established in 1937 by the American Library Association, is awarded each year to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. While many people are familiar with this prestigious award, relatively few are acquainted with the English illustrator after whom it was named. Randolph Caldecott was one of the most popular book illustrators of the late nineteenth century. His picture books were issued two at a time every Christmas, from 1878 until his death in 1886. He chose the subjects on his own, drawing from a mix of age-old nursery rhymes, pieces by eighteenth-century writers, and nonsense he made up himself.

With their humorous wordplay and exquisite illustrations, Caldecott's picture books continue to engage the imaginations of children and adults alike. This new edition reproduces nine of his most popular The House that Jack Built, The Diverting History of John Gilpin, Sing a Song for Sixpence, The Three Jovial Huntsmen, The Farmer's Boy, The Queen of Hearts, The Milkmaid, Hey Diddle Diddle, and Baby Bunting.

This book is the third in the series of Huntington Library Children's Classics, which include facsimiles of favorite children's books from the Huntington's rare book collections.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Young Adult, Books About Books, 19th Century

236 pages, Hardcover

First published November 13, 2007

About the author

Known chiefly for his book illustrations, Caldecott was a gifted artist respected by his contemporaries. The Caldecott Medal which is given out each year for the most distinguished children's picture book is named for him.

In 1877, Edmund Evans, who was a leading colour printer asked Caldecott for illustrations for two Christmas books. The results were The House that Jack Built and The Diverting History of John Gilpin, published in 1878.

It was Caldecott's health among other things which prompted his many winter trips to the Mediterranean and other warm climates. It was on such a tour in 1886 that he was taken ill again and died in St. Augustine, Florida, just before his 40th birthday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randolph...

Sometimes his name is transcribed as Ralph Caldecott, for example on the book "The Babes in the Wood & The Elegy of the Mad Dog."

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of historical works of children's picture books by Randolph Caldecott includes:
- The house that Jack built
- Diverting History of John Gilpin
- Sing a Song for Sixpence
- The Three Jovial Huntsmen
- The Farmer's Boy
- The Queen of Hearts
- The Milkmaid
- Hey Diddle Diddle, and Baby Bunting.

They are quick and easy stories and they are very different. I enjoyed seeing these stories that inspired Beatrix Potter. The art work is delightful and worth seeing these books simply to see this.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lovely book - a beautifully produced hardcover with substantial paper stock and an appealing earth-tone palette - reproduces eight of Randolph Caldecott's classic picture books, taken from the collection of the Huntington Library in San Marino, California. A late nineteenth-century English artist, Caldecott belonged - like his contemporaries Walter Crane and Kate Greenaway - to what is often called the "Golden Age" of children's book illustration. American readers will undoubtedly recognize his name, which the American Library Association chose for its annual Caldecott Medal - awarded to the best-illustrated children's book of the year.

The texts Caldecott chose for his picture books includes such classic nursery rhymes as The House That Jack Built, Sing a Song of Sixpence, The Queen of Hearts, and Hey Diddle Diddle, as well as songs like The Milkmaid, The Farmer's Boy, and The Three Jovial Huntsmen. William Cowper's poem, The Diverting History of John Gilpin, also makes an appearance. I'm not sure that today's children will find these books especially appealing, as stories, but the artwork is simply gorgeous! Alternating between color plates and simple drawings, they have a distinctly Victorian aesthetic, while also being sprightly and humorous.

I savored this book, delighting in the illustrations (particularly those for The Queen of Hearts), and am grateful to my friend Kathryn for recommending this one. Anyone with an interest in the history of children's literature, and its accompanying illustrations, would do well to familiarize themselves with Caldecott's work. This handy volume is a step in that direction!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original review, four stars (bumped up to five stars after greater appreciation of the artistry given the era):
I'm giving this collection four stars, not so much because I *liked* it hugely but because of its significance and Caldecott's influence on future generations of illustrators whose work I do *heart* tremendously. Indeed, it is said that Beatrix Potter's father purchased original Caldecott drawings as artistic inspirations for his daughter. I got this in the hopes of familiarizing myself with the man behind the big, silver embossed sticker on those notably illustrated children's books today.

I imagine most children today would look at Caldecott's work and find it very old-fashioned and perhaps even a tad boring. Yet, I can well imagine the delight of the children of Caldecott's era upon seeing these marvelous illustrations. And, indeed, there is a good deal of humor mixed-in with what would otherwise seem rather "grown-up" sorts of illustrations.

The stories themselves are, in my opinion, trifles--nursery rhymes and the like, "Sing a Song of Six Pense" and "The Milk Maid" etc.--the real stuff here is the illustrations, many pen-and-ink but also several full-color spreads that are delightful.

Finally, I was somewhat surprised to learn that Caldecott was British! I somehow supposed that the namesake of America's version of the Kate Greenaway illustrator's award would be an American, but I suppose it doesn't much matter now. (Speaking of Greenaway, there is some striking resemblance between their work!) Walter Crane is another "beloved illustrator" of Greenaway and Caldecott's era, so I will have to look for some of his work to round out my education.
-----------------------------------------------------
February 2014: I borrowed this again to review as I'm exploring the Caldecott Medal winners with the Children's Book Group here on GoodReads. I really enjoyed perusing the work again. His illustrations are immensely appealing. I was surprised with how many are in full color (may of the early Caldecott Medal winners and honor books are only black and white). (I assume this is how they were originally published as it says these were "reproduced from nineteenth-century copies in the Huntington collection" and not all the illustrations are color, just a few per story as highlights, I think.)

I was surprised to learn that Caldecott was not only one of the most popular illustrators of children's books in England in the late 1800s, but that he was probably more popular than other beloved illustrators of the era like Beatrix Potter and, yes, Kate Greenaway! Interesting that today Greenaway, and certainly Potter, remain popular but I doubt many people are familiar with Caldecott unless they research the Caldecott Medal.

Anyway, I would highly recommend the work to anyone interested in beautiful illustrations that are at once evocative of a bygone era yet timeless in their portrayal of classic nursery rhymes and tales.

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I know why the Caldecott Medal is named after him. I was enchanted by his drawings, and what is more, my children were too. My 2-year old son would sit on the couch carefully studying the pictures for at least 30 minutes at a time. His interest in the book actually sparked mine. We enjoyed reading this together over and over. Granted, the language is 150 years old, so be prepared to ad lib (or practice the verses on the sly to get the meter right). Whether you read them or not, I think this is well worth it just for the delicious artwork.

[Amber the Human · Rating 3 out of 5]

I began reading Sendak's "Caldecott & Co." and realized that I had never read the books that were written and illustrated by the people was talking about. So I put the book down and went looking. Caldecott's illustrations are fun and a bit cheeky. Check 'em out if you're interested in the history of children's books.

[Mckinley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many in one place: This is the house that Jack built, Diverting History of John Gilpin, Sing a Song for Sixpence, The Three Jovial Huntsmen, The Farmer's Boy, The Queen of Hearts, The Milkmaid, Hey Diddle Diddle, and Baby Bunting.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the old illustrations and I'm happy that the Huntington Library released a collection of some of his greatest stories. Yeah!

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Randolph Caldecott's picture books. Yes, the dude after whom the Caldecott Medal is named. :)

[Margo Harpster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this biography. The history of this man and what the Caldecott medal is all about, was greatly interesting to me. It helps me understand the nature of my artist friends and family.

[Yingyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

图画很精细。语言古老难懂

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book years ago in the library. I had to own it. It's so fun to get lost in old England with Randolph Caldecott's illustrations.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few months ago, I came across a used book shop called The Grumpy Book Peddlar, and of course I had to go in (put the word book in the name of a store, and I’m going in, the intrigue of whether the peddlar was grumpy was just a bonus.) I found a little nook full of classics and vintage books, including paperback reproductions of several of Randolph Caldecott’s children’s picture books, originally published in the 1880s. I knew he was the namesake of the Caldecott Award for childen’s picture books, but wasn’t very familiar with his work.
I found the illustrations delightful—beautiful to look at, with touches of wry humor. I posted reviews of those three books, and decided I needed more which is what led me to discover this beautifully produced (and sadly out of print) collection of facsimiles of nine of his picture books:
The House That Jack Built (1878)
The Diverting History of John Gilpin (1878)
Sing a Song for Sixpence (1880)
The Three Jovial Huntsmen (1880)
The Farmer’s Boy (1881)
The Queen of Hearts (1881)
The Milkmaid (1882)
Hey Diddle Diddle (1882)
Baby Bunting (1882)
From the back cover ad included in the collection, even in Caldecott’s time you could buy a collection of his picture books like this—four stories for five shillings. Individual books were available for one shilling or ten shillings and sixpence, which I’m guessing was a high quality edition.
I won’t do a review of every story, but focus on a few notable points. First, I’d read on-line when doing some research on Caldecott that the illustration used for the Caldecott medal was from “Three Jovial Huntsmen” but in the very brief introduction in this book, I learned it was actually from “The Diverting History of John Gilpin,” which seems to maybe be a song for adults. It’s about a linen draper who is taking his wife on a trip to celebrate their anniversary. She fills the carriage with their children, her sister and her sister’s child, leaving John to borrow a horse from a friend and follow behind. Just as he’s about to leave, a few customers arrive and they take their sweet time. He then realizes he forgot the wine, and attaches a jug by the loop on each side of his belt and sets off. But the horse has a will of it’s own, quickly speeding up to a trot and then a gallop. This is the illustration used for the award, and if you look closely you can see the jugs at his waist. I don’t want to spoil it for those of you who haven’t read it, but there are more diverting adventures.
“The House That Jack Built” is a pretty redundant story in terms of text, but has a gloriously disturbing pair of illustrations for the line “This is the Man all tattered and torn, That kissed the Maiden all forlorn” which shows a disheveled man climbing over a fence and sneaking up behind a young woman with a lecherous smile. They get married in the next verse, which I suppose makes it all right, though I question if all that happened was a kiss, considering the hasty kiss-to-marriage timeline.
“The Queen of Hearts” has gorgeous illustrations, with beautiful people reminiscent of the illustrations of a deck of cards. The four queens have medieval dresses patterned with their suits. If you love illustrations, particularly vintage illustrations, this one is worth tracking down (or google image search).
“The Milkmaid” is described on the title page as “An Old Song exhibted & explained in many designs by R. Caldecott.” It starts with a mother telling her squire son to seek a wife with a fortune. He goes out on his oddly short horse and encounters a pretty milk maid. He asks where she’s going (milking), what her father does (farmer), and if he should marry her (yes). But when he asks what her fortune is and she replies her face is her fortune, he tells her he can’t marry her. And she says, “Nobody asked you, sir!” Three times. That’s all we get from the text. But in the illustrations her two girlfriends seize him by the legs as she stands with a riding crop raised, and they force him to ride a bucking bull, while they watch and laugh. The End.
Perhaps my favorite illustration is a subtle black and white sketch at the end of “Hey Diddle Didle.” The dish and spoon who run away together have human faces and legs. After the end of the story, we see the aftermath, an angry father Knife and mother Fork walking away with guilty daughter Spoon between them, while Dish lies on the floor behind them, his dish head smashed to pieces and female plates weep around him.
“Baby Bunting” has one of the odder images that reflect the period. The baby’s father catches a rabbit, skins it and the baby wears the skin, complete with with rabbit ear hood. I love babies in animal hoodies, but not ones made out of actual animals.
I’m really glad I tracked this book down, and now it’s my mission to find more Caldecott books, though I think there may be only be one more reprinted that wasn’t included in this collection.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming. After reading Tomfoolery!: Randolph Caldecott and the Rambunctious Coming-of-Age of Children's Books I wanted to read some of his books.

[Reading]

《凯迪克图画书集》（英）凯迪克。

喜欢这个画风和颜色，只是有些人物形象不是非常喜欢的那种。“姑娘嫁妆有什么？”“全部嫁妆脸上挂。”“那我没法娶你呀。”“没人求着嫁你啊！”“没人求着嫁你啊！”再说一遍别听岔：“没人求着嫁你啊！”哈哈哈哈哈

[Mubera Selimovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful classic book that children will enjoy reading. Also, a perfect book to read aloud to children.

[Paige Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read because it had more then more book to read. There were a lot of pictures and the words rhymed which made me want to sing along to some of the books that I read.

[klagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, beautiful book. A few of the rhymes are a little tough to read because of the old English, but well worth the effort. The pictures tell half of the story anyway.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun to see some of the original stories and art.