Visual Literacy Project: The Caldecott Medal Award 1

Visual Literacy: The Caldecott Medal Award

The Adventures of Beekle: An Unimaginary Friend
By Dan Santat
Grace Ku

Teaching and Learning 307

Barbara Ward
 Visual Literacy Project: The Caldecott Medal Award 2

The Caldecott Medal was originated from the Newbery Medal as their secondary medal,

which is given annually to the children book that had the most distinguished and recognized art

from the previous year. In order to identify the winner, the committee need to consider the

author’s “excellence of execution in artistic techniques, pictorial interpretation of story, theme or

concept, appropriateness of style of illustration to story, delineation of mood or information

through pictures, and excellence of presentation in recognition of young audience” (ALSC,

2008). All the fifteen books were very different, they all had their own unique styles portrayed

that it was easy for me to decipher how each of the books earned their recognition for their

illustrations. Out of all the 15 Caldecott Medal books I had read, the one that stood to me the

most was the one written and illustrated by Dan Santat, The Adventures of Beekle: An

Unimaginary Friend. Not only this book had stood to me the most, it also met all the criteria that

was mentioned for it to receive its award.

The Chapter 4 from our required text Children Literacy, Briefly explains with

descriptions on how you can recognize a well-illustrated book. According to the text, the visual

elements the book I had chose contained shape, texture, color and composition for it be

recognized as a well-illustrated book (Tunnell, 2008, pp.41-43). The book contained shapes, on

how in the unimaginable world Alice and Beekle created were full of rounded shapes as if it was

created freely, while in the real world, the shapes were very tall and angular like it was

constructed into a specific structure. Texture also shows along with the shapes, how in the

unimaginable world the characters travel to is smooth, as if it is drawn within their dreams. The

textures in the real world are very stiff, they are covered by shadows which express the dull, cold

real world Beekle had encountered. This idea leads to the color scheme the book used

throughout the book for it to express their theme. The unimaginary world Beekle is from and the
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world Alice and Beekle make are both colorful, enriched in warm colors. In contrast, the real

world uses more the grey, neutral dark colors to express the difference between the two worlds.

The world that used warm colors, gives the readers a fun, interactive mood as they turn the pages

however, the world that used dark colors express the gloomy, unapproachable atmosphere

directly to the readers. For example, you can easily see the drastic changes in the environment as

Beekle is heading to the real world by his boat. The page before Beekle arrives to the real world,

was filled with numerous colors that were appealing to the eye. However, as soon as Beekle

steps into the real world, the colors are dull, grey-like shades of colors. I personally loved how

just simply by the color, the book can express whether the character is happy, sad, or in fear.

Finally, the last element that helps on how to recognize a well illustrated book is

composition. Santat included this element into his book, by bringing a balance between

illustration and text as a whole. All the elements of the book had equally corresponded with each

other. An example of the book is page is how the author put Beekle in one page waiting while

other imaginary friends were getting picked up by their friend in the another. This relates with

the text on how he is countlessly waiting for his friend, as it portrays the readers on Beekle’s

emotion of how he is feeling left alone. Another page example is the first encounter of Beekle

and Alice, how the encounter is broken down into small sections on only one page. This shows

how slow it took for Alice and Beekle to pass through their first, awkward encounter to

eventually opening up to become friends.

The poster was very difficult for me to create at first, I didn’t know how to create an

original poster that included the overall theme of the book. I definitely knew I will include both

characters on the cover, because of the importance of their relationship in the story. The art in the

book was so detailed, that whenever I had an idea it was already drawn similarly in the book. At
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first, I wanted to create the poster in contrast, how one side had the real world with Alice and

Beekle in the unimaginary world on the other side. However, the similar concept was already

made in the book, where the middle was blended to combine the world together. I was

wondering to myself with this question, how can I originally express the contrast of the two

worlds creatively on a poster? As I was losing my ideas, I saw the colored pencils and drawings

that were lying on the grass next to Alice and Beekle on one of the pages in the book.

I noticed that Alice and Beekle together, used their own creativity and art to connect with

one another and travel to the unimaginable world. Then, I figured what if I put a big piece of

paper in front of the real world, with Beekle and Alice going in together. I made sure that the

unimaginary world Beekle and Alice were headed to was filled with warm colors and creatures,

just like it was in the book. In contrast, I colored the background with grey-like colors and long,

dull buildings to describe the cold, unapproachable real world. I also added with Alice holding a

colored pencil, the same warm color of yellow of the skies in the unimaginary world. The

colored pencil she is holding, is one of the elements that express that Alice and Beekle are

creating their world. Generally, as a whole, I wanted my poster to express that even though the

world was being created by Alice and Beekle, for them, it was their actual journey toward the

unimaginable. For Alice and Beekle, the world they traveled to was real, it was a way how they

faced the real world.

The poster is also designed to be shown in a different perspective as well. It can be

viewed in the reader’s perspective, on how the characters use their own thoughts and ideas to

change how they see the world. This perspective also corresponds with the theme of the book,

where how Beekle stepped out of his comfort zone and went to the unknown to find his friend.
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Beekle was able to find his friend, and be able to travel all around and to the unimaginable world

together.

Finally, I would like to express why I personally chose this book out of all the other 14

Caldecott Medal books. I was immediately drawn to this book, because of how cute Beekle was

illustrated on the cover. Along with that, the concept of imaginary friend really stood up to me,

because every time I read or watched a movie about an imaginary friend, it made me wonder if I

had one as a child or how did my imaginary friend look like. Dan Santat did such a splendid job

on expressing this story to be appealing for both young and older audience. To young readers,

the readers may be able to connect and relate to the story. For older audience, like myself, makes

you want to stop and think about your creative childhood. Reading and looking at different

illustration was a great experience, it made me relive why I was so in love with the picture

books. The illustrations in the picture books help young readers to understand what is happening

in the story, and also helps the readers to feel more as a part of the story. Absolutely, all the 15

Caldecott Medal books were distinctly entertaining to read and admire, but I will personally

remember The adventures of Beekle: the unimaginary friend the most out of all.
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1. The book Kitten’s First Full Moon was written by Kevin Henkes. The story is about a

kitten who saw its first moon, and resembling it as a big bowel of milk. Throughout the

story, the kitten is trying to reach forward and drink the moon but fails every time it

attempts. In the end, the kitten gives up and successfully drinks its milk when it goes

back to its home. The book was illustrated in a very simple and clear drawings. Even

when the background was simple, there were still details, such as the glowing bugs,

making it full in the background. The art still used shadows to create a depth, a detail in

the character.

2. This Is Not My Hat was written by Jon Klassen. The book starts off with a tiny fish who

tells the reader that it stole a hat from the big fish. The tiny fish believes that the big fish

will not be able to find him or even know that he stole his hat. It is hilarious how certain

the tiny fish thinks he’s going to get away with the hat. However, as the tiny fish is

roaming around, all of the things he expected did not happen, in the end he was caught by

the big fish. The art uses a black background throughout the whole story, except for some

plants on the bottom or towards the end of the story. I believe this helped me be focused

onto the characters, so that the reader’s attention would not be distracted. The simple,

focused art on the characters helped the book be read smoothly.

3. Flotsam was written by David Wiesner, which starts its story with a boy finding an

underwater camera that was washed in from the waves. The boy eventually obtains the

films from the camera, and see how all the underwater creatures are living in the ocean.

He also discovers there are pictures from previous camera owners, who took a picture

with the person who had the camera before them. The book had no writings, and was
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only relied into the art that was formatted into a graphic novel-like art. Since the book

only relied on its art, the art was very detailed throughout the book.

4. My Friend Rabbit was written by Eric Rohmann, is a book that is told from the

perspective of a mouse, where it states how trouble always follows its friend, Rabbit. The

plane was stuck onto the tree and Rabbit tries to fix it, by bringing all the other animals to

help reach the plane. The plan eventually fails, when all the animals all stumble down to

the ground. Fortunately, Rabbit was able to help Mouse get its plane back, but gets stuck

again. The art was pretty detailed, full of colors since there were a lot of characters in the

book as well. The art takes up specific space to express the book’s story to the reader,

like how it was vertical when the animals were being piled up to one another.

5. The book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat was written by Simms Taback. The book

emphasis on the main meaning throughout the book on how you can make something out

of nothing. Joseph is able to make his worn out overcoat from a jacket to all the way into

a tiny button. Eventually he loses his button, however, he does not stop and write his

story to pass it on! The art is very colorful, and uses styles to show textures of the

different fabric on the clothing. The book was very interactive with the readers, how the

piece of clothing was physically cut out so that the readers can see how the fabric

changed as the page turned.

6. The Three Pigs was written by David Wiesner, which gives a twist on the original three

pigs story as the pigs break the fourth wall. The book goes from switching the whole

story plot throughout the story, and even changes the words by scrambling the words to

change the ending. The art is filled with different art styles, because the pigs are going
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through different stories, like the fiddle. The art goes from colorful pages, full of details

to simple sketches in the book. The art details are heavily focused on the characters.

7. The House in the Night was written by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Beth

Krommes. The book starts with a child receiving a key into the house, and shows how all

the objects are related with one another the whole time in the book. The art is illustrated

as if it was made on an art sketch board, as if the artwork was etched. The major points of

the story were colored in a warm, orange color and gave a nice, relaxing environment to

the reader. The artwork expressed as if it was written for it to be a nice, quiet bedtime

story.

8. A Ball for Daisy was written by Chris Raschka, was about a dog named Daisy who went

to the park with her favorite red ball. The ball is taken away by a different dog, and

eventually was popped and deflated. Daisy gets devastated because of what happened to

the ball, however, at the end she receives a new blue ball from the owner of the dog that

popped her ball. At the end, it ended as a happy ending where Daisy is back with a ball.

The art is very simple, the characters are created with simple lines and the background is

full of watercolor splotches. The thing that is bolded is the ball, which emphasizes the

main focus of the story.

9. A Sick Day for Amos McGee was a book written by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by

Erin E. Stead. The story begins with Amos who does his daily activities with individual

animals at the zoo. Until one day, Amos becomes really sick that he’s unable to go keep

his animal friends company. So then, the animals all come together and head over to

Amos and keep him in comfort for the whole day full of activities. The art uses warm

colors, so as I was reading through the book, it gave me a heartfelt feeling. Because the
 Visual Literacy Project: The Caldecott Medal Award 9

theme of the book is comforting, the soft style and colors the author chose for the art well

balanced well with the story.

10. The Lion & The Mouse was written by Jerry Pinkney, and it focuses on both the lion

and the mouse on how each of them can help each other, despite their size. The lion lets

go of the mouse as it is safe away from the owl, and the mouse helps the lion be freed

from the capturer’s trap later on. Even though the book had only the sound effects for

words, the art helped the readers to understand what was happening in the story. The art

was very detailed, where the characters took most of the parts in the book. Even the

background was very detailed, so that the readers can feel as if they are part of the

environment that was placed in the story.

11. The Man Who Walked Between the Towers was written by Mordicai Gerstein, based on

a true story. It tells the story of Philippe, who is a tightrope performer, on his journey of

successfully walking between the two tall towers. After numerous attempts of setting the

rope and moving forward even though the world has told him ‘no’, he successfully

walked all the way to his goal. The art is very detailed, where the busy, colorful city life

was directly visualized to the readers. At his major performance, the art took up all the

space so that the readers can sense how intense his challenge was on walking between the

towers. Despite that it was drawn on paper, readers were able to get some aspect on

Philippe’s perspective during this time.

12. The Hello, Goodbye Window was written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris

Raschka. The story revolves around the child’s grandma’s window where the child calls

it the ‘Hello, Goodbye Window’. This window is the place that, to the child, is always

open, from greeting and interacting with people to saying goodnight to the stars at night.
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The art chooses multiple colors for its art throughout the book. The art style is very

unique and messy, it seemed as if a child had drawn it with crayons. I believe this book

chose this art style, because it kind of gives the feeling that the narrator is actually

drawing about her experience with her Nanny and Poppy as a child.

13. Locomotive was written by Brian Floca, which tells a story of early America’s railroads.

The book is filled with details of the journey each passengers and workers had done as

the locomotive proceed through the railroads. The book ends in a positive aspect, on how

the locomotive had helped each people in different ways, such as bringing families

together when they are so far away from each other.

14. The adventures of Beekle: the unimaginary friend was written by Dan Santat, and the

story begins with Beekle, an imaginary friend that lives on an island where all imaginary

friends are born. Because his turn of seeing his friend never came, he goes on his journey

to find his friend in the real world. He dealt with the cold, unusual world as the pages

turned, but was able to recognize and finally meet his friend at the end. Beekle wasn’t

alone anymore, and was now able to travel beyond the unimaginable together. The art

uses both cold and warm colors, to express the contrast between when Beekle’s

experience leads to emotional changes. When Beekle goes into the real world, the colors

are very dull, expressing the readers that the world is very cold, until he finally meets his

friend who is very warm and welcoming.

15. The invention of Hugo Cabret: a novel in words and pictures was written by Brian

Selznick, and talks about an orphan boy who works for the station’s clock and lives

inside the walls of a train station in Paris. His life begins to change when he got caught

from stealing a toy mouse, which leads him to start the machine from the girl’s key. As
 Visual Literacy Project: The Caldecott Medal Award 11

the machine operates, near the end, it reveals a big secret that the old man who caught

him was a filmmaker that everyone thought was dead. The book ends in a happy ending,

where Georges is convinced to cherish his accomplishments rather than focusing on his

failures and Hugo get adopted in Georges’ family as his son. The art is black and white,

where it seemed as if it is colored with a pencil. The book’s art is very detailed, so much

details in the background as well.

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References

Floca, B. (2013). Locomotive. S.1.: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Gerstein, M. (2010). The man who walked between the towers. New York, NY: Square Fish.

Henkes, K. (2011). Kittens first full moon. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Juster, N., & Raschka, C. (2013). The hello, goodbye window. New York: Hyperion Books for
Children.

Klassen, J., Keating, J., & DiBeradino, N. (2014). This is not my hat. Connecticut: Weston
Woods.

Pinkney, J. (2011). The lion and the mouse. London, UK: Walker.

Raschka, C. (2011). A ball for Daisy. New York, NY: Random House.

Rohmann, E. (2011). My friend Rabbit. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press.

Santat, D. (2014). The adventures of Beekle: the unimaginary friend. London: Little, Brown
Books for Young Readers.

Selznick, B. (2007). The invention of Hugo Cabret: a novel in words and pictures. New York:
Scholastic Press.

Stead, P.C., & Stead, E. E. (2015). A Sick Day for Amos McGee. New York, NY: Roaring
Brook.

Swanson. S. M. (2012). The house in the night. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Taback, S. (1999). Joseph had a little overcoat. New York, NY: Viking.

Wiesner, D. (2010). Flotsam. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Wiesner, D. (2001). The three pigs. New York: Clarion.