Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

The Undefeated

The Undefeated
By Alexander, Kwame
Illustrator Nelson, Kadir

2019-04 – Hardcover
Versify
9781328780966
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The Newbery Award-winning author of “The Crossover” pens an ode to Black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree. Full color.

• Winner of the 2020 Caldecott Medal
• A 2020 Newbery Honor Book
• Winner of the 2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
• The Newbery Award-winning author of THE CROSSOVER pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree.

Originally performed for ESPN’s The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest heroes. The text is also peppered with references to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others, offering deeper insights into the accomplishments of the past, while bringing stark attention to the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present. Robust back matter at the end provides valuable historical context and additional detail for those wishing to learn more.

Hello Lighthouse

Hello Lighthouse
By Blackall, Sophie

2018-04 – Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9780316362382
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A beloved picture book from two-time Caldecott Medal award-winner Sophie Blackall that transports readers to the seaside in timeless, nautical splendor.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2019)

Watch the days and seasons pass as the wind blows, the fog rolls in, and icebergs drift by. Outside, there is water all around. Inside, the daily life of a lighthouse keeper and his family unfolds as the keeper boils water for tea, lights the lamp’s wick, and writes every detail in his logbook.

Step back in time and through the door of this iconic lighthouse into a cozy dollhouse-like interior with the extraordinary award-winning artist Sophie Blackall.

Wolf In The Snow

Wolf in the Snow
By Cordell, Matthew

2017-01 – Hardcover
Feiwel & Friends
9781250076366
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Winner of the 2018 Caldecott Medal

A girl is lost in a snowstorm. A wolf cub is lost, too. How will they find their way home?

Paintings rich with feeling tell this satisfying story of friendship and trust. Here is a book set on a wintry night that will spark imaginations and warm hearts, from Matthew Cordell, author of Trouble Gum and Another Brother.

Radiant Child - The Story of Young Artist: Jean-Michel Basquiat

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
By Steptoe, Javaka

2016-10 – Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9780316213882
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Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal and the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocketed to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe’s vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat’s own introduce young readers to the powerful message that art doesn’t always have to be neat or clean–and definitely not inside the lines–to be beautiful.
Finding Winnie - The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear
By Mattick, Lindsay
Illustrator Blackall, Sophie

2015-10 – Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9780316324908
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A #1 New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the Caldecott Medal about the remarkable true story of the bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2016), Charlotte Zolotow Award (2016)

In 1914, Harry Colebourn, a veterinarian on his way to tend horses in World War I, followed his heart and rescued a baby bear. He named her Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg, and he took the bear to war.

Harry Colebourn’s real-life great-granddaughter tells the true story of a remarkable friendship and an even more remarkable journey–from the fields of Canada to a convoy across the ocean to an army base in England…

And finally to the London Zoo, where Winnie made another new friend: a real boy named Christopher Robin.

Before Winnie-the-Pooh, there was a real bear named Winnie. And she was a girl.

The Adventures of Beekle - The Unimaginary Friend

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend
By Santat, Dany

2014-04 – Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9780316199988
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A “New York Times”-bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator combines classic storytelling with breathtaking art, creating an unforgettable tale about friendship, imagination, and the courage to find one’s place in the world. Full color.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2015), NAPPA Gold Awards (2014)

Dan Santat’s Caldecott Medal-winning The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend is a humorous and thoughtful celebration of friends.

This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born. He patiently waits his turn to be chosen by a real child, but when he is overlooked time and again, he sets off on an incredible journey to the bustling city, where he finally meets his perfect match and–at long last–is given his special name: Beekle.

The #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Dan Santat–creator of After the Fall and Are We There Yet?–combines classic storytelling with breathtaking art in an unforgettable tale about friendship, imagination, and the courage to find one’s place in the world.

Locomotive

Locomotive
By Floca, Brian
Illustrator Floca, Brian

2013-09 – Hardcover
Atheneum Books
9781416994152
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From the creator of the “stunning” (“Booklist”) “Moonshot” comes a rich and detailed sensory exploration of America’s early railroads. These pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives of the 19th century. Full color.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2014), Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2014), Cybils (2013), Nutmeg Book Award (2015), Orbis Pictus Award (2014), Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up) (2013), Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award (2014), William Allen White Childens Book Award (2016)

The Caldecott Medal Winner, Sibert Honor Book, and New York Times bestseller Locomotive is a rich and detailed sensory exploration of America’s early railroads, from the creator of the “stunning” (Booklist) Moonshot.

It is the summer of 1869, and trains, crews, and family are traveling together, riding America’s brand-new transcontinental railroad. These pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and the thrill of travel from plains to mountain to ocean.

Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails, come cross the young country.

This Is Not My Hat

This Is Not My Hat
By Klassen, Jon
Illustrator Klassen, Jon

2012-10 – Hardcover
Candlewick Press (MA)
9780763655990
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The 2013 Caldecott Medal winner
From the creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling and award-winning I Want My Hat Back comes a second wry tale.

Awards:
Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award (2015), Buckeye Children’s Book Award (2013), Caldecott Medal (2013), Golden Archer Award (2014), Greenaway Medal (2014), Irma S. & James H. Black Award (2012), Irma S. & James H. Black Award (2013), Kentucky Bluegrass Award (2014), Libris Awards (2013), Texas 2×2 Reading List (2013), Volunteer State Book Awards (2015), Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award (2014)

When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened. . . . Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassen follows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale.

A Ball for Daisy

A Ball for Daisy
By Raschka, Chris
Illustrator Raschka, Chris

2011-05 – Hardcover
Schwartz & Wade Books
9780375858611
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In the tradition of his nearly wordless picture book “Yo! Yes?,” Caldecott Medalist Raschka explores in pictures the joy and sadness that having a special toy can bring. Full color.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2012), Golden Archer Award (2013)

This New York Times Bestseller and New York Times Best Illustrated Book relates a story about love and loss as only Chris Rashcka can tell it. Any child who has ever had a beloved toy break will relate to Daisy’s anguish when her favorite ball is destroyed by a bigger dog. In the tradition of his nearly wordless picture book Yo Yes?, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka explores in pictures the joy and sadness that having a special toy can bring. Raschka’s signature swirling, impressionistic illustrations and his affectionate story will particularly appeal to young dog lovers and teachers and parents who have children dealing with the loss of something special.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee

A Sick Day for Amos McGee
By Stead, Philip Christian
Illustrator Stead, Erin E.

2010-05 – Hardcover
Roaring Brook Press
9781596434028
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In this Junior Library Guild selection, Amos McGee is too sick to make it to the zoo, so his animal friends decide to return the favor and visit him, making it the best sick day ever. Full color.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2011), Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2011), Charlotte Zolotow Award (2011), Cybils (2010), Golden Archer Award (2012), Monarch Award (2013)

THE BEST SICK DAY EVER and the animals in the zoo feature in this striking picture book debut.

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.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead is a 2011 Bank Street – Best Children’s Book of the Year and the winner of the 2011 Caldecott Medal. This title has Common Core connections.

The Lion & the Mouse

The Lion & the Mouse
By Pinkney, Jerry

2009-09 – Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9780316013567
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In this wordless adaptation of one of Aesop’s most beloved fables by an award-winning artist, an unlikely pair learns that no act of kindness is ever wasted. With vivid depictions of the landscape of the African Serengeti and expressively drawn characters, Pinkney makes this a truly special retelling.

Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (2010), Buckeye Children’s Book Award (2011), Caldecott Medal (2010), Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2010), Cybils (2009), Indies Choice Book Awards (2010), Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up) (2009), Texas 2×2 Reading List (2010), Volunteer State Book Awards (2012)

The Caldecott Award-winning and New York Times bestselling fable of compassion and kindness retold by acclaimed artist Jerry Pinkney.

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.

The House in the Night

The House in the Night
By Swanson, Susan Marie
Illustrator Krommes, Beth

2008-05 – Hardcover
Houghton Mifflin
9780618862443
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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. Full color.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2009), Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2009), Minnesota Book Award (2009), Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up) (2008)

This Caldecott Medal-winning picture book gets children ready for bed with rhythmic text and glowing illustrations that explore the warmth and light that makes us feel at home.

“Here is the key to the house.”

Inside the house are nighttime things both comforting and intriguing–a bed, many books–and outside, too, there are sources of light and joy–the moon, the sky–that reveal a reassuring order in the universe. This timeless bedtime tale takes readers through the house in the night, up into the sky, and back home again, all the while reminding us of the presence of love and wonder in our world.

Susan Marie Swanson’s spare verse and Beth Kromme’s astonishing illustrations intertwine to create a comforting, magical story to revisit again and again.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
By Selznick, Brian

2007-03 – Hardcover
Scholastic Press
9780439813785
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Orphan, clock keeper, thief: Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. Combining elements of picture book, graphic novel, and film, Caldecott Honor artist Selznick breaks open the novel form to create an entirely new reading experience in this intricate, tender and spellbinding mystery.

Awards: Bluebonnet Awards (2009), Book Sense Book of the Year Award (2008), Caldecott Medal (2008), Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2008), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award (2009), Flicker Tale Children’s Book Award (2009), Garden State Teen Book Award (2010), Golden Archer Award (2009), Golden Archer Award (2011), Grand Canyon Reader Award (2009), Iowa Children’s Choice (ICCA) Award (2010), Kentucky Bluegrass Award (2008), Maine Student Book Award (2009), National Book Awards (2007), Nene Award (2009), Nene Award (2010), Nene Award (2011), Nene Award (2012), New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Award (2007), North Carolina Children’s Book Award (2008), Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award (2009), Quill Awards (2007), Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Book Award (2009), Volunteer State Book Awards (2010), Young Reader’s Choice Award (2010)

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–like the gears of the clocks he keeps–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.

Flotsam

Flotsam
By Wiesner, David

2006-09 – Hardcover
Clarion Books
9780618194575
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In this wordless masterpiece from a two-time Caldecott medalist, a bright, science-minded boy goes to the beach equipped to collect and examine flotsam–anything floating that has been washed ashore. Full color.

Awards: Book Sense Book of the Year Award (2007), Caldecott Medal (2007), Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2007), NAPPA Gold Awards (2006), Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007) (2006), Quill Awards (2007), Red Clover Award (2008)

A bright, science-minded boy goes to the beach equipped to collect and examine flotsam–anything floating that has been washed ashore. Bottles, lost toys, small objects of every description are among his usual finds. But there’s no way he could have prepared for one particular discovery: a barnacle-encrusted underwater camera, with its own secrets to share . . . and to keep.

Each of David Wiesner’s amazing picture books has revealed the magical possibilities of some ordinary thing or happening–a frog on a lily pad, a trip to the Empire State Building, a well-known nursery tale. In this Caldecott Medal winner, a day at the beach is the springboard into a wildly imaginative exploration of the mysteries of the deep, and of the qualities that enable us to witness these wonders and delight in them.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

The Hello, Goodbye Window
By Juster, Norton
Illustrator Raschka, Chris

2005-05 – Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
9780786809141
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The first picture book by the author of the classic “The Phantom Tollbooth” tells the story of a little girl who finds a magic gateway in the kitchen window of her grandparents’ house, and the voyage of discovery she takes. Full color.

Awards: Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards (2005), Caldecott Medal (2006), Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (2006), Parents Choice Award (Fall) (1998-2007) (2005), Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award (2008), Red Clover Award (2007)

This award-winning tale by the author of the classic book The Phantom Tolbooth is a love song to that special relationship between grandparents and grandchild.

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. The world for this little girl will soon grow larger and more complex, but never more enchanting or deeply felt. Her story is both a voyage of discovery and a celebration of the commonplace wonders that define childhood, expressed as a joyful fusion of text with evocative and exuberant art that garnered the highest honor in children’s book illustration in 2006.

Kitten's First Full Moon

Kitten’s First Full Moon
By Henkes, Kevin

2004-03 – Library Binding
Greenwillow Books
9780060588298
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From one of the most beloved picture book creators of today comes a memorable new character and a suspenseful adventure. Kitten sees her first full moon, but she thinks it’s a bowl of milk and tries to get at it. Full color.

Awards: Texas 2×2 Reading List (2005)

What a night
The moon is full.
Kitten is hungry
and inquisitive
and brave
and fast
and persistent
and unlucky . . .
then lucky
What a night

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
By Gerstein, Mordicai

2003-09 – Library Binding
Roaring Brook Press
9780761328681
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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.

Awards: Florida Children’s Book Award (2005), Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award (2006), Red Clover Award (2005)

Moving, inspiring, solemn, and true. This is the story of Philippe Petit, a French trapeze artist who, during the construction of the World Trade Center in 1974, walked a tightrope between the Twin Towers. Yes, the act was illegal and he was arrested; but for a short period–in a time of innocence before 9/11–one man performed exhilarating feats on a wire high above the city as dawn broke, to the delight of passersbys in Lower Manhattan. Mordicai Gerstein’s masterful narrative, dramatic paintings and heartfelt reading combine in this remarkable memorial to the towers and to the lives of all the people connected to them.

My Friend Rabbit

My Friend Rabbit
By Rohmann, Eric
Illustrator Rohmann, Eric

2002-05 – Hardcover
Roaring Brook Press
9780761315353
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When Mouse lets his best friend, Rabbit, play with his brand-new airplane, trouble isn’t far behind. Full color.

Awards: Caldecott Medal (2003)

Rabbit saves the day in a most ingeneous way.

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.

The Three Pigs

The Three Pigs
By Wiesner, David

2001-04 – Hardcover
Clarion Books
9780618007011
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A Caldecott medalist playfully deconstructs the familiar nursery tale, taking the visual narrative to a new level. Dialogue balloons, text excerpts, and a wide variety of illustration styles guide the reader through a fantasy universe to the surprising and happy ending. Full-color illustrations.

Awards: Bookseller’s Choice (2002), Caldecott Medal (2002), Irma S. & James H. Black Award (2001), Irma S. & James H. Black Award (2002)

This Caldecott Medal-winning picture book begins placidly (and familiarly) enough, with three pigs collecting materials and going off to build houses of straw, sticks, and bricks. But the wolf’s huffing and puffing blows the first pig right out of the story . . . and into the realm of pure imagination. The transition signals the start of a freewheeling adventure with characteristic David Wiesner effects–cinematic flow, astonishing shifts of perspective, and sly humor, as well as episodes of flight.

Satisfying both as a story and as an exploration of the nature of story, The Three Pigs takes visual narrative to a new level. Dialogue balloons, text excerpts, and a wide variety of illustration styles guide the reader through a dazzling fantasy universe to the surprising and happy ending. Fans of Tuesday’s frogs and Sector 7’s clouds will be captivated by old friends–the Three Pigs of nursery fame and their companions–in a new guise.

So You Want to Be President

So You Want to Be President?
By St George, Judith
Illustrator Small, David

2000-08 – Hardcover
Philomel Books
9780399234071
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Awards: Bluebonnet Awards (2002), Bookseller’s Choice (2001), Caldecott Medal (2001), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award (2002), Garden State Children’s Book Awards (2003), Kentucky Bluegrass Award (2002), Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award (2002), Sequoyah Book Awards (2003)

That’s a big job, and getting bigger. But why not? Presidents have come in just about 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. They’ve been born in log cabins like Andrew Jackson and mansions like William Harrison.

From the embarrassment of skinny-dipping John Quincy Adams, to the escapades of Theodore Roosevelt’s children, to the heroic recovery of John Kennedy’s crew, Judith St. George shares the backroom facts, the spit-fire comments, and the comical anecdotes that have been part and parcel of America’s White House.

Hilariously illustrated by Caldecott honor-winning artist David Small in the cherished tradition of political commentary, this rip-roaring celebration of forty-one Presidents shows us the foibles, the quirks, and — most of all — the humanity of those men who have risen to one of the most powerful positions in the world.

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