The famous nineteenth-century British illustrator who today is credited with inventing contemporary picture books always drew, even on scraps of paper at his first job as a bank clerk. His talent soon got him jobs illustrating for magazines and adult books, and his work caught the eye of engraver Edmund Evans, who hired Caldecott to illustrate a series of children's picture books. Caldecott's picture book illustrations introduced innovations that are now considered conventional, such as adding bits to the story that were not in the narrative. But what he was most known for was his pictures that seemed to jump right off the page. Leonard Marcus's lively and well-documented biography of Caldecott gives readers a clear sense of who Caldecott was and why his work was important in its time, and continues to influence illustrators today. Copiously illustrated with Caldecott's own artwork, the book itself is a work of art befitting its subject. (Age 12 and up)

Randolph Caldecott is best known as the namesake of the award that honors picture book illustrations, and in this inventive biography, leading children's literature scholar Leonard Marcus examines the man behind the medal. In an era when the steam engine fueled an industrial revolution and train travel exploded people's experience of space and time, Caldecott was inspired by his surroundings to capture action, movement, and speed in a way that had never before been seen in children's picture books. Thoroughly researched and featuring extensive archival material and a treasure trove of previously unpublished drawings, including some from Caldecott's very last sketchbook, Leonard Marcus's luminous biography shows why Caldecott was indeed the father of the modern picture book and how his influence lives on in the books we love today.