The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children". The Newbery and the Caldecott Medal are considered the two most prestigious awards for children's literature in the United States. Books selected are widely carried by bookstores and libraries, the authors are interviewed on television, and master's theses and doctoral dissertations are written on them. Named for John Newbery, an 18th-century English publisher of juvenile books, the winner of the Newbery is selected at the ALA's Midwinter Conference by a fifteen-person committee. The Newbery was proposed by Frederic G. Melcher in 1921, making it the first children's book award in the world. The physical bronze medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan and is given to the winning author at the next ALA annual conference. Since its founding there have been several changes to the composition of the selection committee, while the physical medal remains the same.
The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are considered the most prestigious American children's book awards. Beside the Caldecott Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to runners-up they deem worthy, called the Caldecott Honor or Caldecott Honor Books.
Chris Van Allsburg is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He has won two Caldecott Medals for U.S. picture book illustration, for Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985), both of which he also wrote, and were later adapted as successful motion pictures. He was also a Caldecott runner-up in 1980 for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was a 1986 U.S. nominee for the biennial International Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international recognition for creators of children's books. He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan in April 2012.
Leo Dillon and Diane Dillon were American illustrators of children's books and adult paperback book and magazine covers. One obituary of Leo called the work of the husband-and-wife team "a seamless amalgam of both their hands". In more than 50 years, they created more than 100 speculative fiction book and magazine covers together as well as much interior artwork. Essentially all of their work in that field was joint.
Arnold Stark Lobel was an American author of children's books, including the Frog and Toad series and Mouse Soup. He wrote and illustrated these picture books as well as Fables, a 1981 Caldecott Medal winner for best-illustrated U.S. picture book. Lobel also illustrated books by other writers, including Sam the Minuteman by Nathaniel Benchley published in 1969.
Many Moons is a children's picture book written by James Thurber and illustrated by Louis Slobodkin. It was published by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1943 and won the Caldecott Medal in 1944. Princess Lenore becomes ill, and only one thing will make her better: the moon.
Marcia Joan Brown was an American writer and illustrator of more than 30 children's books. She has won three annual Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association, and three Caldecott Medal honors as an illustrator, recognizing the year's best U.S. picture book illustration, and the ALA's Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 1992 for her career contribution to children's literature. Many of her titles have been published in translation, including Afrikaans, German, Japanese, Spanish and Xhosa-Bantu editions. Brown is known as one of the most honored illustrators in children's literature.
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a children’s picture book by Simms Taback that won the 2000 Caldecott Medal. The book is a re-illustrated version of a book of the same name by Taback that was published in 1977. The protagonist is Joseph, a Jewish farmer, who has a little striped overcoat. When it grows old, Joseph makes it into a little jacket and so on until he makes it into a button. Ultimately, Joseph loses the button, but is prompted to write a book based on his experiences. The moral of the story is "you can always make something out of nothing." In 2001, an 11-minute animated film based on the book, directed by Daniel Ivanick and narrated by Rob Reiner, was made by Weston Woods Studios, Inc.
Marie Hall Ets was an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books. She attended Lawrence College, and in 1918, Ets journeyed to Chicago where she became a social worker at the Chicago Commons, a settlement house on the northwest side of the city. There she met Ines Cassettari, an immigrant from Italy who worked at the settlement. Ets transcribed Cassettari's autobiography, and the book was later published as Rosa: The Life of an Italian Immigrant.
Nonny Hogrogian is an Armenian-American writer and illustrator, known best for children's picture books. She has won two annual Caldecott Medals for U.S. children's book illustrations. Since childhood she prefers folk and fairy tales, poetry, fantasy and stories.
Time of Wonder is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey that won the Caldecott Medal in 1958. The book tells the story of a family's summer on a Maine island overlooking Penobscot Bay, filled with bright images and simple alliteration. Rain, gulls, a foggy morning, the excitement of sailing, the quiet of the night, and the sudden terror of a hurricane are all expressed in this book. This was McCloskey's second Caldecott, the first being Make Way for Ducklings in 1942.
May I Bring a Friend? is a 1964 book by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, It tells the story of a well-mannered boy who frequently gets invited to visit the king and queen. The first time he goes, he asks if he can bring a friend the next time he visits. When they say yes, he always brings different types of exotic animals who are also well mannered. The illustrator, Sir Beni Montresor, won the Caldecott Medal for the book for his jewel-like illustrations.
Flotsam is a children's wordless picture book written and illustrated by David Wiesner. Published by Clarion/Houghton Mifflin in 2006, it was the 2007 winner of the Caldecott Medal; the third win for David Wiesner. The book contains illustrations of underwater life with no text to accompany them.
The Rooster Crows: A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles, written and illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham, is a 1945 picture book published by Simon & Schuster. The Rooster Crows was a Caldecott Medal winner for illustration in 1946. This book is a collection of traditional American nursery rhymes, finger games, skipping rhymes, jingles, and counting-out rhymes. They come from collections all over America.
Noah's Ark is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Peter Spier, first published by Doubleday in 1977. The text includes Spier's translation of "The Flood" by Jacobus Revius, a 17th-century poem telling the Bible story of Noah's Ark. According to Kirkus Reviews, the poem comprises sixty three-syllable lines such as "Pair by pair". "Without revising or even enlarging on the old story, Spier fills it in, delightfully." In a retrospective essay about the Caldecott Medal-winning books from 1976 to 1985, Barbara Bader described the book as "at once elaborate and feeble" and Revius' poem as "neither particularly suited to children nor eloquent in itself."
Grandfather's Journey is a children’s picture book by Allen Say. The story is told from the perspective of Say, who narrates his grandfather’s immigration between Japan and the United States. Say’s grandfather subsequently moves back to Japan. Released by Houghton Mifflin, the book was positively received by critics and reviewers, and Say received the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1994. Grandfather’s Journey is often cited as a culturally significant work in its AAPI representation. In 2008, Weston Woods Studios, Inc. made a film based on the book, narrated by B. D. Wong.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee is a 2010 children's picture book written by Philip C. Stead and was illustrated by Erin E. Stead. The book, published by Roaring Brook Press, depicts a zookeeper who has bonded with the animals he cares for and who come and visit him one day when he gets sick. Phillip Stead wrote the book hoping his wife Erin would illustrate it after a period where she had become discouraged with her art. The book was well reviewed, and Erin won the 2011 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations. The book received praise for its woodblock illustrations and for its message about what friends will do to help and support each other.
In the children's picture book Chanticleer and the Fox, Barbara Cooney adapted and illustrated the story of Chanticleer and the Fox as told in The Nun's Priest's Tale in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, translated by Robert Mayer Lumiansky. Published by Crowell in 1958, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1959. It was also one of the Horn Book "best books of the year".
Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is a 2016 picture book biography by Javaka Steptoe about Jean-Michel Basquiat. Using a style similar to Basquiat's, the book tells the story of his childhood and early career. It won the 2017 Caldecott Medal and Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for its illustrations.
Grand Canyon by Jason Chin is a 2017 children's picture book. The book tells about the plants, animals and habitats of the Grand Canyon, both now and in the past, using the premise of a hiking trip there. The inspiration for the book was a trip in high school; Chin had originally conceived of a Grand Canyon origin story. The book marked the first time Chin used die cuts, in addition to his normal use of pen and ink, watercolors, and gouache. The book was awarded a 2018 Caldecott Honor for its illustrations and a 2018 Sibert Honor for its informative text. Grand Canyon is one of only a few non-fiction books that are not biographies to be recognized by the Caldecott.
