I couldn’t figure out at first why this would have won the Caldecott when it’s well over 500 pages long. As soon as I started reading I understood. It’s composed of pictures as much as it is of text. The words themselves are very simple which annoyed me at first. But the story moves quickly and eventually I was drawn in by the characters. I loved how Selznick did the skin in the close-ups of the characters–it looked like those fine cracks you get in older china. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. [Oct. 2009]