Caldecott Winners

The Caldecott Medal – named after nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott – is awarded each year to the artist of the most distinguished American children’s picture book.

 

2022: Watercress by Andrea Wang

Archer, Micha. Wonder Walkers. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2021.
Gorgeous double-page illustrations help tell this story of two children who go on a nature walk. Minimal text – in the form of imaginative questions – will inspire students to see the world with fresh eyes. Artists will be reminded of all the colours used by picture book author Brian Wildsmith. Teachers will want to use this picture book to introduce the literary technique of personification. A 2022 Caldecott Honor Book. Highly recommended!

2021: We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom

2020: The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander

2019: Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

2018: Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell

2017: Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe 

2016: Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear, illustrated by Sophie Blackall, written by Lindsay Mattick

2015: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat 

2014: Locomotive by Brian Floca 

2013: This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen 

2012: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka 

2011: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead 

2010: The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney 

2009:  The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson 

2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick 

2007: Flotsam by David Wiesner  

2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window, illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster 

2005: Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes 

2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein 

2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann 

2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner 

2001: So You Want to Be President?, illustrated by David Small, written by Judith St. George 

2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback 

1999: Snowflake Bentley, illustrated by Mary Azarian, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin 

1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky 

1997: Golem by David Wisniewski 

1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann 

1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting 

1994: Grandfather’s Journey, illustrated by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine 

1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully 

1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner 

1991: Black and White by David Macaulay 

1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young 

1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman 

1988: Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen 

1987: Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks 

1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg 

1985: Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; retold by Margaret Hodges 

1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen 

1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars 

1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg 

1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel 

1980: Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall

1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

1978: Noah’s Ark by Peter Spier 

1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove 

1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; retold by Verna Aardema 

1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott 

1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach 

1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; retold by Arlene Mosel

1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian 

1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley 

1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig 

1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; retold by Arthur Ransome 

1968: Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; adapted by Barbara Emberley 

1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness 

1966: Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text: Sorche Nic Leodhas (pseudonym of Leclair Alger)

1965: May I Bring a Friend?, illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers 

1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak 

1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats 

1962: Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown 

1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text: Ruth Robbins 

1960: Nine Days to Christmas, illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida 

1959: Chanticleer and the Fox, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; adapted from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney 

1958: Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey 

1957: A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry

1956: Frog Went A-Courtin’, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; retold by John Langstaff

1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown; text: translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown 

1954: Madeline’s Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans 

1953: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward 

1952: Finders Keepers, illustrated by Nicolas (pseudonym of Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will (pseudonym of William Lipkind)

1951: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous 

1950: Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi 

1949: The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader 

1948: White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text: Alvin Tresselt 

1947: The Little Island, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text: Golden MacDonald (pseudonym of Margaret Wise Brown)

1946: The Rooster Crows by Maud & Miska Petersham 

1945: Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field 

1944: Many Moons, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text: James Thurber 

1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton 

1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

Smith, Emma Bland. Mr. McCloskey’s Marvelous Mallards: The Making of Make Way for Ducklings.  New York: Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, 2022.
How do you  become a great writer? How do you become a great artist? By practising, of course. Practising and practising. Over and over and over. When Robert McCloskey, the famed author and illustrator, decided to create a picture book about a family of ducks, he started drawing sketches. But they weren’t very good. He did some research on ducks and tried again, but his sketches still weren’t very good. So he went out and bought a box of ducklings and took them home to live in his studio. You’d think living with ducklings, messy squawking ducklings, would help him know how to create great illustrations. But it wasn’t enough. So he went out and brought home a box of adult ducks. After Mr. McCloskey had practised and practised some more and the ducks really needed to get back outside where they belonged, he was finally satisfied with his pictures. It had taken him six years of researching and writing and drawing to finish his story. But it was worth it. In 1942, Make Way for Ducklings won the Caldecott Award for the most distinguished American children’s picture book! This biography by Smith, illustrated with gouache and coloured pencil drawings by Becca Stadtlander and appended by extensive background information, is highly recommended for students 6 to 10 years old and for anyone of any age who needs encouragement to not give up. Keep practising!

1941: They Were Strong and Good , by Robert Lawson 

1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire 

1939: Mei Li by Thomas Handforth 

1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text selected by Helen Dean Fish

 

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