Fence Painting Day

Tom Sawyer Fence Painting Day is celebrated on July 4th. Fence Painting Day is a non-official holiday established in “honor” of the fun that Tom Sawyer had in Mark Twain’s classic novel.




Although Tom was manipulative with how he got the fence painting done, he did have a clever way of doing it. He got everyone else to do his work for him by ACTING like he LIKED to do his work. Now even though we shouldn’t follow Tom’s example, we could follow the example of the people he tricked in one way.
Let me explain.
If we looked at everything like it is a privilege, instead of a burden, then we could be more content in what we do.

Like Mark Twain says, "Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."

I think that this basically means that if you get into the habit of doing work that is not your job, then you won’t be freaked out if someone asks you to do work that is not your job. Otherwise you won’t expect it and will feel irritated.

Mark Twain also wrote, "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”


As the Word of God tells us:
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.


About the Author:
Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. Mr. Twain was an American humorist, satirist, lecturer and writer. He is best-known for his novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is also known for his quips and quotes.

Mr. Twain was immensely popular with the American public as well as around the world for his wit and satire. He is known as "the father of American literature." Mr. Twain died on April 21, 1910.
You can read more about this interesting man in our American history on Wikipedia: Mark Twain.

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

The Caldecott Award

The first Caldecott Award was awarded on June 14, 1938. Dorothy P. Lathrop was the recipient for her illustrations in Animals of the Bible.

The Caldecott is a bronze medal awarded annually to an outstanding children’s picture book. The award is granted by a division of the American Library Association called The Association for Library Service to Children. Runner’s up are called Honor Books, but one actual award has been given each year since 1938 after the medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan.

Ironically, while the medals are only bestowed to American illustrators in the United States, the actual medal depicts an illustration by Randolph Caldecott, who was an English illustrator in the 19th century! I found that to be interesting!

The front of the award depicts an illustration by Caldecott called “The Diverting Story of John Gilpin based on a poem by William Cowper. The humor and action of the tale are apparent in this “snapshot” of artwork arranging a comical scene bearing a runaway horse, geese, dogs and onlookers! The back of the award shows another drawing by Caldecott of “four and twenty blackbirds bak’d in a pie” along with the winner’s name and the date engraved upon it.

The Caldecott Award was established later than the Newbury Award when the concern was raised that the illustrations are not only embellishment to a great story, but often the story is told therein! In 1978 two separate committees were set up for the two separate awards, but they are still often thought of in tandem.

Caldecott Award Criteria includes consideration of not only the execution of the artistic technique and the interpretation of the story, but the presentation to the age-appropriate audience of children. Other criteria are taken into account such as the ability to reproduce the artwork in a picture book and the ability for the artwork to stand alone without the aid of the text of the story in creating a mood and a setting!

Some of my personal favorite Caldecott winners are:

The 2008 award was awarded to a book called The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.







Noah’s Ark by Peter Spier (1978)






The beautiful artwork of Elizabeth Orton Jones in Prayer for a Child (1945)

And Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (1942)