Watercress
It’s the culmination of our 2022 Caldecott Breakdown series as we dive into this year’s Caldecott Medal Winner, WATERCRESS!
If you missed our previous discussions, you can still catch them at the links below.
In today’s video, we are honored to share with you the stunning picture book WATERCRESS, written by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin.
Here’s a brief description:
“Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl’s parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can.
At first, she’s embarrassed. Why can’t her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family’s time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress.
Andrea Wang tells a moving autobiographical story of a child of immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage, illustrated by award-winning author and artist Jason Chin, working in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author’s note in the back shares Andrea’s childhood experience with her parents.”
Click the video below and listen in as Julie Hedlund shares some behind-the-scenes insight from Jason Chin about this remarkable story.
WATERCRESS
This book is not just the Caldecott Medal Winner, it’s won ALL the awards, including:
- Newbery Honor Book
- APALA Award Winner
- New England Book Award Winner
- A New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year
- A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
- Winner of the Cybils Award
- A Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Book of the Year
- A Boston Globe Best Children’s Book of the Year
- A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of the Year
- A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
- A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
- An ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- Named a best book of the year by Publishers Weekly, BookPage, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Lunch, Shelf Awareness, and more!
- A CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
- An NPR ‘Book We Love!’
- A Horn Book Fanfare Title
- A Mighty Girl Best Book of the Year
- A Floyd’s Pick Honor Book
- A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children’s Book of the Year
- A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!
- A CCBC Choice
Congratulations to Andrea Wang and Jason Chin on creating magic with WATERCRESS!
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Lauri Fortino
May 3, 2022 at 3:14 pmWatercress is definitely a lovely book, both in text and illustration. One thing that really struck me was that the book is so gentle that you could classify it as a “quiet” book. We hear all the time that “quiet” books don’t do well. But this book is proof that they can; they just have to be done right. There’s power in the quietness of Watercress, making it a perfect mentor text for all the “quiet” writers out there.
Nancy Fowlds
May 3, 2022 at 4:15 pmWhat a beautiful book! Thank you!