Caldecott Medal Winner

Black and White

by David Macaulay

Summary

Four separate stories unfold at once across split pages, involving a boy on a train, escaped commuters, a family with a newspaper, and a herd of Holstein cows. Readers are invited to decide whether the four tales are truly separate or secretly one interlocking puzzle. Macaulay plays with narrative structure, perspective, and visual style across the quadrants, creating a playful experiment that asks children to read pictures actively and question how stories fit together.

Historical Context & Significance

The book opens with a warning that it may contain several stories or only one, signaling its experimental approach to narrative.