swinchester234's review against another edition
3.0
Shadow is a children’s book originally written by Blaise Cendrars in French. This book was translated into English and illustrated by Marcia Brown. This book won the 1983 Caldecott Award for those illustrations. In this book, a shadow is being personified in the form of poetry. It tells a story about how a shadow comes to life in the night and retreats during the day and also how it follows us everywhere. I think the pictures in the book were worthy of the award they won because they are original and show the relationship between dark and bright colors on each other. As a future teacher, I have mixed feelings about this book because it is a wonderful depiction of African story telling. However, children might feel intimidated and even afraid of the way the shadow is being portrayed in the story. This could be read to an older group of children, but certainly not a younger one because they are more likely to be scared of the images and idea of the book.
a_manning11's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't know what to do with this book.
Caldecott Medal Winner 1983.
Caldecott Medal Winner 1983.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
2.0
Caldecott Award winning book of an African Myth translated from French. But neither the words nor the art did much for me. It wasn't actually bad, it just wasn't all that good. It might have worked as a poem. Or a folktale, edited some. But as a children's picture book it did not work.
libraryrobin's review against another edition
4.0
Cool paper collage artwork and text that is very evocative. The high level of creepiness in portions would be great for a classroom Halloween readaloud.
antlersantlers's review against another edition
1.0
The very definition of a book you can skip in 2020. I mean, you can skip it any time (and should!) but it's 2020 and we have real, honest-to-goodness excellent amazing wonderful own voices stories you can read instead of this nonsense.
This past Monday I had a day off so I did what any children's librarian data nerd would do: I created a bracket of Caldecott medalists. Next Monday when the newest Caldecott is announced I can finish it! My ranking formula: (average GR rating * number of GR ratings * number of copies owned by my library) - (base racism penalty * number of copies owned) + medal year. The scores ranged from over 35,000,000 ([b:Where the Wild Things Are|19543|Where the Wild Things Are|Maurice Sendak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384434560l/19543._SX50_.jpg|3020535]) to -20,000 ([b:Mei Li|2186644|Mei Li|Thomas Handforth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1215747471l/2186644._SX50_.jpg|2192346]). This book is the second to last seed (scored approx. -9,000), because the average rating is quite middling, the number of total ratings is low, and it got a heavy racism penalty.
While I think Marcia Brown exhibited some skill in creating the illustrations, it certainly perpetuates racist notions of African people as monolithic, indistinguishable, and uncivilized. It's a picture book made about non-specific African people by a white lady, based on a poem by a European tourist. Again, the very definition of a book you can skip in 2020.
This past Monday I had a day off so I did what any children's librarian data nerd would do: I created a bracket of Caldecott medalists. Next Monday when the newest Caldecott is announced I can finish it! My ranking formula: (average GR rating * number of GR ratings * number of copies owned by my library) - (base racism penalty * number of copies owned) + medal year. The scores ranged from over 35,000,000 ([b:Where the Wild Things Are|19543|Where the Wild Things Are|Maurice Sendak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1384434560l/19543._SX50_.jpg|3020535]) to -20,000 ([b:Mei Li|2186644|Mei Li|Thomas Handforth|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1215747471l/2186644._SX50_.jpg|2192346]). This book is the second to last seed (scored approx. -9,000), because the average rating is quite middling, the number of total ratings is low, and it got a heavy racism penalty.
While I think Marcia Brown exhibited some skill in creating the illustrations, it certainly perpetuates racist notions of African people as monolithic, indistinguishable, and uncivilized. It's a picture book made about non-specific African people by a white lady, based on a poem by a European tourist. Again, the very definition of a book you can skip in 2020.
michelle_neuwirth_gray9311's review against another edition
4.0
Caldecott Winner 1983
I really like the illustrations in this story. They were bright and earthy and just really matched the story.
I really like the illustrations in this story. They were bright and earthy and just really matched the story.
david_reads_books's review against another edition
3.0
1983 Caldecott winner. While the colorful images are worthy of Caldecott recognition, there is darkness in their meaning, and much more darkness in the writing. The text is deep for adults, and beyond the intended kid audience most definitely.
4+ on Images. 2 for text. Net 3*
4+ on Images. 2 for text. Net 3*