Caldecott Award Winners

The Caldecott Award is a prestigious award which was first presented in 1938. It is awarded annually by the American Library Association to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the United States.

The award is named in honor of the nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph J. Caldecott and is granted specifically to the illustrator of the book, rather than the author, although the two may be, of course, one and the same. The award was created to complement the Newbery Medal, another award which acknowledges the authors of children's books, in recognition of the fact that the artists creating picture books for children were as deserving of honour as the authors of children's books.

The Latest Caldecott Award Winners

Below you can find details of the most recent winners of the Caldecott Award.

The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend illustrated and written by Dan Santat is a book about friendship and courage. An imaginary friend, Beekle, is born on an island far away and waits to be chosen by a real child. Eventually, fed up with waiting, he heads off on a courageous and emotional journey to the city to find his own human.

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Locomotive by Brian Floca is the perfect book for any train-lover, painting a picture of life on America's early railroads. It is 1869 and a train approaches the platform. The book describes the mechanics of the locomotive, the responsibilities of the crew members, the passing landscapes and the thrill of the passengers experiencing the sights and sounds of this new mode of travel.

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This Is Not My Hat illustrated and written by Jon Klassen is a follow-on from Klassen's equally popular I Want My Hat Back . A little fish steals a bowler hat from a much bigger fish and then proceeds to tell everyone about it. Unbeknown to him, the owner of the hat is in hot pursuit and the two fish disappear behind a tangle of seaweed. The big fish emerges with his hat and the reader is left to surmise the fate of the little fish.

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A Ball for Daisy illustrated and written by Chris Raschka is a wordless book which tells the tale of a dog called Daisy and her very special ball. First we see Daisy's joy when playing with the ball, but then the ball pops and her joy turns to sorrow. The bold, colourful illustrations display the changing emotions wonderfully. Fortunately it all comes out well in the end when Daisy gets a new ball to play with.

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A Sick Day for Amos McGee illustrated by Erin E. Stead and written by Philip C. Stead tells the story of an elderly man who works at the zoo, spending a little bit of quality time each day with his special friends - the elephant, tortoise, penguin, rhinoceros and owl. One day Amos is too sick to go to the zoo and so his friends decide to visit him at his home. This is a lovely gentle story with elegant drawings in soft colours.

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The Lion & the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney is an adaption of an Aesop fable and contains vivid artwork of the African Serengeti with expressively-drawn, but still realistic, animals. A ferocious lion spares the life of an adventurous mouse. The mouse finds a way of returning the favor by freeing him from a poacher's trap. The few words in the book tend to be onomatopoetic.

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Our All-Time Top Five Caldecott Award Winners

Many of our family favorites have been winners of this award and it is hard to choose our top five. However, after much deliberation here they are:

The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton was the sixth winner of the Caldecott Award, winning it in 1943. It describes how a house in the countryside eventually finds itself in the middle of a busy city after a new road is built followed by more houses, apartment blocks, tramways, railways and subways. The thing I love about this book is that as well as being a touching story, it is so rich with things to discuss ... transport before cars, the seasons, the waxing and waning of the moon, urban vs country living. My children love it too and have committed most of it to memory. I was astonished when I realised I could stop virtually anywhere in the book and my three year old would finish the sentence for me.

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Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig was the Caldecott Award winner in 1970. One rainy day Sylvester finds a magic pebble and realises that anything he wishes for will come true. However, too late he realises that he must be holding the pebble in order for the wish to be granted. On encountering a lion, Sylvester panics and turns himself into a rock. However, now that he is a rock he cannot hold the pebble and so cannot turn himself back again. How will he get out of this?

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Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema and illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon won the Caldecott Award in 1976. This African folktale explains how a mosquito who tells a lie to an iguana sets off a chain of events which eventually results in the sun not rising. A good tale to warn young readers of the dangers of lying, with brightly coloured illustrations to help capture their attention.

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Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann won the Caldecott Award in 1996 and tells the amusing story of Officer Buckle and his amazing acrobatic police dog, Gloria. Officer Buckle was responsible for giving safety talks at Napville Elementary School, but nobody would ever listen. Then one day everything changed when Gloria, the police dog, accompanied him. Suddenly everyone was paying attention and he was inundated with requests from schools who wanted to hear his saftey speech. He didn't quite know what had happened until a television news team videotaped one of his talks and Officer Buckle realised what had been going on behind his back.

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The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein was the 2004 winner of the Caldecott Award. It tells the true uplifting story of Philippe Petit, a French trapeze artist, who surreptitiously constructed a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. He then spent an hour performing high-wire tricks up in the sky, walking, running and dancing between the towers to the amazement of people below, and all with no safety net of course!

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Full List of Caldecott Award Winners

Below is the full list of Caldecott Award winners from 1938 until the present day. Several Caldecott Award Honour Books are also awarded each year to the runners up.

Click on these links to jump straight to books from the: 2010s   2000s   1990s   1980s   1970s   1960s   1950s   1940s   1930s

2010s

2015
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend
illustrated and written by Dan Santat

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2014
Locomotive
by Brian Floca

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2013
This Is Not My Hat
illustrated and written by Jon Klassen

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2012
A Ball for Daisy
illustrated and written by Chris Raschka

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

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2010
The Lion & the Mouse
illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney

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2000s

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

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2008
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick

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2007
Flotsam
by David Wiesner

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

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2005
Kitten's First Full Moon
by Kevin Henkes

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2004
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein

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2003
My Friend Rabbit
by Eric Rohmann

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2002
The Three Pigs
by David Wiesner

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

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2000
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
by Simms Taback

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1990s

1999
Snowflake Bentley
illustrated by Mary Azarian; written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

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1998
Rapunzel
by Paul O. Zelinsky

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1997
Golem
by David Wisniewski

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1996
Officer Buckle and Gloria
by Peggy Rathmann

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1995
Smoky Night
illustrated by David Diaz; written by Eve Bunting

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1994
Grandfather's Journey
by Allen Say; text edited by Walter Lorraine

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1993
Mirette on the High Wire
by Emily Arnold McCully

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1992
Tuesday
by David Wiesner

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1991
Black and White
by David Macaulay

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

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1980s

1989
Song and Dance Man
illustrated by Stephen Gammell; written by Karen Ackerman

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

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

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1986
The Polar Express
by Chris Van Allsburg

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

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

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

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1982
Jumanji
by Chris Van Allsburg

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1981
Fables
by Arnold Lobel

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

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1970s

1979
The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
by Paul Goble

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1978
Noah's Ark
by Peter Spier

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

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1976
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text retold by Verna Aardema

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1975
Arrow to the Sun
by Gerald McDermott

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

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

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1972
One Fine Day
retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian

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

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1970
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
by William Steig

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1960s

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

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1968
Drummer Hoff
illustrated by Ed Emberley; text adapted by Barbara Emberley

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1967
Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
by Evaline Ness

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1966
Always Room for One More
illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text by Sorche Nic Leodhas

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

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1964
Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak

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1963
The Snowy Day
by Ezra Jack Keats

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1962
Once a Mouse
retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown

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

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

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1950s

1959
Chanticleer and the Fox
illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney

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1958
Time of Wonder
by Robert McCloskey

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

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1956
Frog Went A-Courtin'
illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text retold by John Langstaff

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

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1954
Madeline's Rescue
by Ludwig Bemelmans

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1953
The Biggest Bear
by Lynd Ward

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1952
Finders Keepers
illustrated by Nicholas Mordvinoff; text by William Lipkind

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1951
The Egg Tree
by Katherine Milhous

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1950
Song of the Swallows
by Leo Politi

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1940s

1949
The Big Snow
by Berta & Elmer Hader

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

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

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1946
The Rooster Crows
by Maud & Miska Petersham

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

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

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1943
The Little House
by Virginia Lee Burton

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1942
Make Way for Ducklings
by Robert McCloskey

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1941
They Were Strong and Good
by Robert Lawson

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1940
Abraham Lincoln
by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

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1930s

1939
Mei Li
by Thomas Handforth

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

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