A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images.
Chris Van Allsburg is an American writer and illustrator 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.
Simms Taback was an American writer, graphic artist, and illustrator of more than 35 books. He won the 2000 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, and was a runner-up in 1998 for There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.
Peter Spier was a Dutch-American illustrator and writer who created more than thirty children's books.
Ed Tse-chun Young was a Chinese-born American illustrator and writer of children's picture books and tai chi instructor. He has received many awards and recognitions, including the Caldecott Medal and Lifetime Achievement awards for his contributions as a children's illustrator.
The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1906. Jeremy's origin lies in a letter she wrote to a child in 1893. She revised it in 1906, and moved its setting from the River Tay to the English Lake District. The tale reflects her love for the Lake District and her admiration for children's illustrator Randolph Caldecott.
A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers is a children's picture book written by Nancy Willard and illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen, published by Harcourt Brace in 1981. The next year Willard won the annual Newbery Medal and the Provensens were one runner-up for the Caldecott Medal from the professional children's librarians. William Blake's Inn was the first Newbery-winning book to also be named a Caldecott Honor Book. Last Stop on Market Street later won the 2016 Newbery Medal and a Caldecott Honor.
David Díaz is an American illustrator of children's books. He won the 1995 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration recognizing Smoky Night by Eve Bunting. He currently lives in Carlsbad, California.
The Hello, Goodbye Window is a children's picture book written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka. Published in 2005, the book tells the story of a little girl who enjoys visiting her grandparents. Raschka won the 2006 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations.
May "Nonny" Hogrogian was an American writer and illustrator, known best for children's picture books. She won two annual Caldecott Medals for U.S. children's book illustrations. From childhood she preferred folk and fairy tales, poetry, fantasy and stories. The New York Times attributes her for bringing multiculturalism to children's literature by evoking her Armenian heritage. Another children's author describes her approach to American culture as that of a patchwork quilt, rather than a melting pot.
Blair Lent, who sometimes wrote as Ernest Small, was an American illustrator and writer of children's books, perhaps best known for those with Chinese themes such as Tikki Tikki Tembo (1968). He won the 1973 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing The Funny Little Woman by Arlene Mosel. Lent used a wide range of techniques in his illustrations, including acrylic painting, cardboard cutouts, colored pencil and ink and wash.
Margot Zemach was an American illustrator of more than forty children's books, some of which she also wrote. Many were adaptations of folk tales from around the world, especially Yiddish and other Eastern European stories. She and her husband Harvey Fischtrom, writing as Harve Zemach, collaborated on several picture books including Duffy and the Devil for which she won the 1974 Caldecott Medal.
The Egg Tree is a 1950 book by Katherine Milhous that won the 1951 Caldecott Medal. It is based on the author's family tradition and tells the classic tale of a Pennsylvania Dutch Easter, with its main characters being Katy and Carl. One day, near Easter, they look for Easter eggs and found eggs that their grandmother had painted on a tree. They are interested, so they ask their grandmother about the eggs. They eventually create one, and it becomes a big success the next Easter.
Arrow to the Sun is a 1973 short film and a 1974 book, both by Gerald McDermott. The book was printed in gouache and ink, Both media are a retelling of a Pueblo tale, specifically an Acoma Pueblo tale, in which a mysterious boy seeks his father. In retelling the tale, some folklore scholars believe that the story has digressed from the spirit of the Acoma tradition.
The Funny Little Woman is a book "retold by" Arlene Mosel. Released by E. P. Dutton, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1973, and was illustrated by Blair Lent.
The Three Pigs is a children's picture book that was written and illustrated by David Wiesner. Published in 2001 by Houghton Mifflin/Clarion, the book is based on the traditional tale of the Three Little Pigs, though in this story they step out of their own tale and wander into others, depicted in different illustration styles. Wiesner won the 2002 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations, Wiesner's second of three such medals.
The House in the Night is a children's picture book written by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Beth Krommes. Published in 2008, the book is a bedtime verse about the light in a house during the night. Krommes won the 2009 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations.
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".
Jon Klassen is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books and an animator. He won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which he also wrote. He is the first person to win both awards for the same work.
This Is Not My Hat is a 2012 American children's picture book by the author and illustrator Jon Klassen. The story is told through the unreliable narration of a little fish, who has stolen a hat from a big fish and how the big fish reacts to the theft. It is a thematic follow-up to I Want My Hat Back (2011) and was meant to be a more literal sequel until Klassen took a suggestion to change which animals were in the story. The book was well received by critics, who praised its dark or ironic humor which could only be understood by comparing the words of the little fish's narration against the events of the illustrations. In addition to several positive reviews, Klassen received the 2013 Caldecott Medal and the 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal, making This is Not My Hat the first book to win both awards. This is Not My Hat was also a commercial success.
