"One modern author-illustrator who has done his work almost exclusively in children's literature is Leo Politi. One of the prominent author-illustrators, he is the recipient of the Caldecott Award for the artist creating the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States during the year 1949 and the runner-up for this award in two other years. In an attempt to find out what makes his work outstanding, books he has written and illustrated were read and evaluated to determine the dominant theme and quality of his stories, the style of his illustrations and the degree to which the illustrations and stories are suited to each other. Except for two of the books illustrated by Politi that were not accessible, all the books written by other authors and illustrated by him were studied to determine how well the illustrations fit the purpose and mood of the text. Politi's publications were analyzed to determine how prolific he has been and the nature of his contribution to children's literature"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1959." / "Submitted to the Graduate School of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Sciences." / Advisor: Sara K. Srygley, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-62).