Ezra Jack Keats was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1963 Caldecott Medal for illustrating The Snowy Day, which he also wrote. Keats wrote A Letter to Amy and Hi, Cat! but he was most famous for The Snowy Day. It is considered one of the most important American books of the 20th century.
Yoshiko Uchida was a Japanese American writer of children's books intended to share Japanese and Japanese-American history and culture with Japanese American children. She is most known for her series of books, starting with Journey to Topaz (1971) that took place during the era of the mass removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. She also authored an adult memoir centering on her and her family's wartime internment, a young adult version her life story, and a novel centering on a Japanese American family.
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.
Allen Say is a Japanese-American writer and illustrator. He is best known for Grandfather's Journey, a children's picture book detailing his grandfather's voyage from Japan to the United States and back again, which won the 1994 Caldecott Medal for illustration. This story is autobiographical and relates to Say's constant moving during his childhood. His work mainly focuses on Japanese and Japanese American characters and their stories, and several works have autobiographical elements.
Marie Hall Ets was an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books.
Song and Dance Man is a children's picture book written by Karen Ackerman and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Published in 1988 by Knopf Books, the book is about a grandfather who tells his grandchildren about his adventures on the stage. Gammell won the 1989 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations, pencil drawings using full colors.
Black and White is a 1990 postmodern children's picture book by David Macaulay. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, it received mixed reviews upon its release. It was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1991. The book tells four overlapping stories, each drawn with a distinct visual style: "Seeing Things", about a boy on a train trip by himself, "Problem Parents", about siblings whose parents behave differently one night, "A Waiting Game", about people waiting for a train, and "Udder Chaos", about cows who escape and then return to their field.
Alice Dalgliesh was a naturalized American writer and publisher who wrote more than 40 fiction and non-fiction books, mainly for children. She has been called "a pioneer in the field of children's historical fiction". Three of her books were runners-up for the annual Newbery Medal, the partly autobiographical The Silver Pencil, The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, and The Courage of Sarah Noble, which was also named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list.
The Lion & the Mouse is a 2009 nearly wordless picture book illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. This book, published by Little, Brown and Company, tells Aesop's fable of The Lion and the Mouse. In the story, a mouse's life is a spared by a lion. Later, after the lion is trapped, the mouse is able to set the lion free. Adapting the fable, with the moral that the weak can help the strong, as a wordless picture book was seen as a successful way of overcoming the brief plot generally found in the source stories. While it was Pinkney's first wordless picture book, it was not the first time he had told the story, having previously included it in his Aesop's Fables, published in 2000. Pinkney, who had received five Caldecott Honors, became the first African American to win the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations in this book. His illustrations were generally praised for their realism and sense of place. The cover illustrations, featuring the title characters but no text, drew particular praise.
Grace Lin is a Taiwanese-American children's writer and illustrator. She is a Newbery, Geisel, and Caldecott honoree, known for contributing to and advocating for Asian American representation and diversity in children’s literature. She has published more than 25 books, all of which are written for young and middle-grade audiences. Much of her work features young Asian and Asian American characters in both everyday and fantastical settings.
Locomotive is a 2013 children's book written and illustrated by Brian Floca. A non-fiction book written primarily in free verse, the book follows a family as they ride a transcontinental steam engine train in summer of 1869. The book details the workers, passengers, landscape, and effects of building and operating the first transcontinental railroad. The book also contains prose about the earlier and later history of locomotives. The book took Floca four years to create, which included a change in perspective from following the crew of the train to following a family. Floca conducted extensive research including his own train ride and consultation with experts to ensure he had the details all correct.
The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend is a 2014 picture book by Dan Santat. The book won the 2015 Caldecott Award and tells the story of an imaginary friend in search of a child. This is the third book Santat has written, following The Guild of Geniuses (2004) and Sidekicks (2011), and his second picture book.
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.
A Different Pond is a 2017 children's picture book by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui. The book tells the story of a boy and his father going fishing. Phi created the book because of his desire to have books about people like himself to read to his daughter. Bui's detailed illustrations allowed Phi to remove elements of the prose. Bui, who had never illustrated a traditional picture book before, won praise for her use of colors and was recognized with a 2018 Caldecott Honor. The book received positive reviews and appeared on best of 2017 book lists.
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.
Hello Lighthouse is a picture book written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. The book tells the story of a lighthouse and its last keeper and was well received, winning the 2019 Caldecott Medal for its illustrations. Drawing inspiration from a variety of sources, Blackall worked hard on the design of the book. The writing and illustrations were meant to complement each other noting the change and consistency of the sea.
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters is a children's picture book published in 1987 by John Steptoe. The book won many awards for Steptoe's illustrations, and went on to be adapted into many different children's literature curricula. In the late 1980s, Weston Woods made a version of the book, narrated by Terry Alexander.
We Are Water Protectors is a 2020 picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. Written in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, the book tells the story of an Ojibwe girl who fights against an oil pipeline in an effort to protect the water supply of her people. It was published by Roaring Brook Press on March 17, 2020. The book was well received. Critics praised its message of environmental justice, its depiction of diversity, and the watercolor illustrations, for which Goade won the 2021 Caldecott Medal, becoming the first Indigenous recipient of the award. The book also received the 2021 Jane Addams Children's Book Award winner in the Books for Younger Children category.
Korean American children's literature has often been included in the study of the broader Asian American children's literature category. There are varying definitions of “Korean American children’s literature,” as this is a category that has been written by both non-Koreans and Korean Americans as well as by Koreans and Korean Americans. Scholars have outlined two main criteria to categorize these books. These include the presence of at least one Korean American or Korean character, and the identification of the author as a resident of the United States. This category represents a variety of Korean American experiences, including immigration to the United States, misrepresentation, interracial Korean adoption narratives, and multiracial Korean American children's narratives. Since the 1970s, numerous authors have contributed to the genre of Korean American children's literature.
Going Down Home with Daddy is a 2019 picture book written by Kelly Starling Lyons and illustrated by Daniel Minter. It tells the story of a young boy who attends a large family reunion at his great-grandmother's house and struggles to prepare a contribution to the family celebration. Inspired by Lyons's visit to a family gathering in rural Georgia, the book was published by Peachtree Publishing on April 1, 2019. The acrylic illustrations incorporate Adinkra symbols representing various concepts in Ghanaian culture. Critics praised the book's themes of family culture and heritage as well as Minter's illustrations, for which it received a Caldecott Honor in 2020. It also received the 2019 Lupine Award in the Picture Book category.
