Caldecott Books
The Caldecott Medal is awarded “to the artist of the most distinguished American Picture Book for Children published in the United States during the preceding year.” The artist must be a citizen or resident of the United States. Randolph Caldecott was an influential children's illustrator working in England in the 19th century. His illustrations for children were unique for their humor and their ability to create a sense of movement, vitality, and action that complemented the stories they accompanied (Association for Library Science to Children)
Caldecott Winners 1985 to date
Selznick: The Invention of Hugo Cabret
2008 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Brian Selznick
2007, 544 pages, $23 list
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.
2007 Winner of Caldecott Award
By David Wiesner
2006, 40 pages, $17 list
On a seemingly ordinary day at the beach, a budding young scientist makes a fabulous discovery. A barnacle-encrusted underwater camera has washed up on the shore, holding a reel of film of fantastical images that no human eye has seen. Moving cities, an octopus in a lounge chair, a clockwork fish. And yet, there is one more secret, even more astonishing than these surreal scenes: the camera has journeyed not only through the depths of the ocean but through the past, hiding in its last photo a visual timeline of children from around the world.
Juster: The Hello, Goodbye Window
2006 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Chris Raschka and Norton Juster
2005, 32 pages, $16 list
The kitchen window at
Nanna and Poppy’s house is, for one little girl, a magic gateway. Everything
important happens near it, through it, or beyond it. Told in her voice, her
story is both a voyage of discovery and a celebration of the commonplace
wonders that define childhood. It is also a love song devoted to that special
relationship between grandparents and grandchild. The world for this little
girl will soon grow larger and more complex but never more enchanting or deeply
felt.
Henkes: Kitten's First Full Moon
2005 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Kevin Henkes
2004, 40 pages, $17 list
In this beautiful picture book, Kevin Henkes, captures the sweet, sometimes slapstick struggle of Kitten, who sees her first full moon and thinks it's a bowl of milk in the sky. Any child who has yearned for anything will understand how much Kitten wants that elusive bowl of milk. Readers will giggle as she tries to lick the faraway moon and gets a bug on her tongue, or leaps to catch it and falls down the stairs.
Gerstein: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
2004 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Mordicai Gerstein
2007, 40 pages, $7 list
In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky. This picture book captures the poetry and magic of the event with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely paintings that present the detail, daring, and in two dramatic foldout spreads, the vertiginous drama of Petit's feat.
2003 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Eric Rohmann
2007, 32 pages, $7 list
When Mouse lets his best friend, Rabbit, play with his brand-new airplane, trouble isn't far behind. From Caldecott Honor award winner Eric Rohmann comes a brand-new picture book about friends and toys and trouble, illustrated in robust, expressive prints.
2002 Winner of Caldecott Award
By David Wiesner
2001, 40 pages, $16 list
Once upon a time three pigs built three houses, out of straw, sticks, and bricks. Along came a wolf, who huffed and puffed... So, you think you know the rest? Think again. With David Wiesner at the helm, it's never safe to assume too much. When the wolf approaches the first house, for example, and blows it in, he somehow manages to blow the pig right out of the story frame.
Small: So you Want to Be President?
2001 Winner of Caldecott Award
By David Small
2008, 56 pages, $10 list
So you want to be President! Why not? Presidents have come in every variety. They've been generals like George Washington and actors like Ronald Reagan, big like William Howard Taft and small like James Madison, handsome like Franklin Pierce and homely like Abraham Lincoln. From the embarrassment of skinny-dipping John Quincy Adams to the mischievous adventure of Theodore Roosevelt's pony, Judith St. George shares the backroom facts, the spitfire comments, and the comical anecdotes that have been part and parcel of America's White House.
Taback: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
2000 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Simms Taback
1999, 32 pages, $12 list
Joseph had a little overcoat, but it was full of holes, just like this book! When Joseph's coat got too old and shabby, he made it into a jacket. But what did he make it into after that? And after that? As children turn the pages of this book, they can use the die-cut holes to guess what Joseph will be making next from his amazing overcoat, while they laugh at the bold, cheerful artwork and learn that you can always make something, even out of nothing.
1999 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Mary Azarian and Jacqueline Briggs Martin
1998, 32 pages, $16 list
From the time he was a small boy, Wilson Bentley saw snowflakes as small miracles. And he determined that one day his camera would capture for others the wonder of the tiny crystal. Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination revealed two important truths: no two snowflakes are alike; and each one is startlingly beautiful. His story is gracefully told and brought to life in lovely woodcuts, giving children insight into a soul who had not only a scientist's vision and perseverance but a clear passion for the wonders of nature.
1998 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Paul Zelinsky
2002, 48 pages, $8 list
Trapped in a tower with no door, Rapunzel is allowed to see no one but the sorceress who has imprisoned her, until the day a young prince hears her singing to the forest birds. The timeless tale of Rapunzel is vividly and magnificently brought to life through Paul O. Zelinsky's powerful sense of narrative and his stunning oil paintings.
1997 Winner of Caldecott Award
By David Wisniewski
2007, 32 pages, $7 list
Golem is the Hebrew word for shapeless man. According to Jewish legend, the renowned scholar and teacher Rabbi Loew used his powers to create a Golem from clay in order to protect his people from persecution in the ghettos of 16th century Prague. David Wisniewski's cut-paper collage illustrations are the ideal medium for portraying the stark black-and-white forces of good and evil, pride and prejudice, as well as the gray area that emerges when the tormented clay giant loses control of his anger.
Rathmann: Officer Buckle and Gloria
1996 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Peggy Rathmann
1995, 40 pages, $17 list
Officer Buckle is a roly-poly bloke, dedicated to teaching schoolchildren important safety tips, such as never put anything in your ear and never stand on a swivel chair. The problem is, Officer Buckle's school assemblies are dull, dull, dull, and the children of Napville just sleep, sleep, sleep. That is, until Gloria the police dog is invited along! Stealthily pantomiming each safety tip behind Officer Buckle's back, Gloria wins the children's hearts.
1995 Winner of Caldecott Award
By David Diaz and Even Bunting
1999, 36 pages, $7 list
This is a story about cats and people who couldn't get along until a smoky and fearful night brings them together. The Los Angeles riots made author Eve Bunting wonder about what riots meant to the children who live through them, and what we can all learn from such upheavals.
1994 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Allen Say and Walter Lorraine
1993, 32 pages, $17 list
Home becomes elusive in this story about immigration and acculturation, pieced together through old pictures and salvaged family tales. Both the narrator and his grandfather long to return to Japan, but when they do, they feel anonymous and confused: "The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other. " Allen Say's prose is succinct and controlled, to the effect of surprise when monumental events are scaled down to a few words.
McCully: Mirette on the High Wire
1993 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Emily Arnold McCully
1997, 32 pages, $8 list
Mirette and the "Great Bellini" traverse the Paris skyline on high wire in the climactic scene of this picture book about conquering fear. The two meet at Mirette's mother's boarding house, where Bellini is staying with a troupe of traveling performers. Mirette persuades Bellini to teach her his art, and soon enough the two are performing above the rooftops of Paris. While Mirette gets to step outside her daily routine of peeling potatoes and scrubbing floors, Bellini manages to reaffirm his mastery. The story affords a spunky, down-to-earth role model for readers who like to dream big dreams. It also offers rich, scenic portraits of 19th century Paris.
1992 Winner of Caldecott Award
By David Wiesner
1997, 32 pages, $7 list
"Tuesday evening, around eight" is a deceptively mundane beginning for what proves to be a thrilling, miraculous, and surreal amphibian journey. Slowly and quietly on this particular Tuesday, a few fat frogs begin hovering over a swamp, riding lily pads like magic carpets. Clearly satisfied and comfortable, the floating frogs are as serene as little green buddhas. Gradually, the flying fleet grows in momentum and number, sailing over the countryside and into an unsuspecting town.
1991 Winner of Caldecott Award
By David Macaulay
1990, 32 pages, $7 list
Black and White is an interesting title for a book that aims to prove there's no such thing as black and white. But read on and you will see that irony and playful deception are running themes in this multidimensional, nonlinear picture story, which was awarded the 1991 Caldecott Medal. In it, a normal-looking cow contains a robber literally pointing at one of the plot's various possible outcomes, which remain tentative as long as they are formulated by young readers. Seeing new angles and clues every time they open the book, these readers will probably astound adult onlookers with their excitement and ease at navigating the unknown in a literary medium akin to interactive multimedia.
Young: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
1990 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Ed Young
1989, 32 pages, $7 list
Three little girls spare no mercy to Lon Po Po, the granny wolf, in this version of Little Red Riding Hood where they tempt her up a tree and over a limb, to her death. The girls' frightened eyes are juxtaposed against Lon Po Po's menacing squint and whirling blue costume in one of the books numerous three-picture sequences, which resemble the decorative panels of Chinese tradition. Through mixing abstract and realistic images with complex use of color and shadow, artist and translator Young has transformed a simple fairy tail into a remarkable work of art.
1989 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Stephen Gammell and Karen Ackerman
1988, 32 pages, $16 list
Once a song and dance man, Grandpa reclaims his youth and profession before the delighted eyes of his three grandchildren one afternoon. He simply cannot resist the urge to dress up in clothes left over from his vaudeville days, complete with top hat and gold-headed cane, and to perform tricks, play banjo and tell jokes. He taps, twirls and laughs himself to tears on a thrown-together stage in his attic. Artist Stephen Gammell takes full advantage of lamplight to render Grandpa in shadow and silhouette, trivializing the concept of age and creating a feeling of intense nostalgia.
1988 Winner of Caldecott Award
By John Schoenherr and Jane Yolen
1987, 32 pages, $17 list
Among the greatest charms of children is their ability to view a simple activity as a magical adventure. Such as a walk in the woods late at night. Jane Yolen captures this wonderment in a book whose charm rises from its simplicity. "It was late one winter night, long past my bedtime, when Pa and I went owling." The two walked through the woods with nothing but hope and each other in a journey that will fascinate many a child. John Schoenherr's illustrations help bring richness to the countryside adventure.
1987 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Richard Egielski and Arthur Yorinks
1989, 32 pages, $7 list
Al, a janitor, and his faithful dog, Eddie, live in a single room on the West Side. They eat together, they work together, they do everything together. So what's the problem? Their room is crowded and cramped; their life is an endless struggle. Al and Eddie are practically at each others’ throats when a large and mysterious bird offers them a new life in paradise. After some debate, they decide to accept. Transported to a gorgeous island in the sky, Al and Eddie are soon living a life of ease and luxury. But they come to find that the grass can be a little too green on the other side. After a dramatic, nearly tragic escape from their paradise prison, both man and dog agree: there really is no place like home.
1986 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Chris Van Allsburg
1985, 32 pages, $19 list
One couldn't select a more delightful and exciting premise for a children's book than the tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. And one couldn't ask for a more talented artist and writer to tell the story than Chris Van Allsburg.
Hyman: Saint George and the Dragon
1985 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Trina Schart Hyman and Margaret Hodges
1990, 32 pages, $8 list
This adaptation of The Faerie Queen features illustrations that "glitter with color and mesmerizing details."
End of Caldecott Books