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
Stead:
A Sick Day for Amos McGee
2011 Winner of Caldecott
Award
By Philip Christian
Stead
2010, 32 pages, $17 list
Friends come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. In Amos McGee’s case, all sorts of species, too! Every day he spends a little bit of time with each of his friends at the zoo, running races with the tortoise, keeping the shy penguin company, and even reading bedtime stories to the owl. But when Amos is too sick to make it to the zoo, his animal friends decide it’s time they returned the favor.
2010 Winner of Caldecott Award
By Jerry Pinkney
2009, 40 pages, $17 list
In award-winning artist Jerry Pinkney's wordless adaptation
of one of Aesop's most beloved fables, an unlikely pair learn that no act of
kindness is ever wasted. After a ferocious lion spares a cowering mouse that
he'd planned to eat, the mouse later comes to his rescue, freeing him from a
poacher's trap. With vivid depictions of the landscape of the African Serengeti
and expressively-drawn characters, Pinkney makes this a truly special
retelling, and his stunning pictures speak volumes.
Swanson:
The House in the Night
2009
Winner of Caldecott Award
By
Susan Marie Swanson
2008,
40 pages, $17 list
A young girl is given a golden key to a house. A spare, patterned text
and glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in
this bedtime book for young children. Naming nighttime things that are both
comforting and intriguing to preschoolers—a key, a bed, the
moon—this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe.
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