A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term only dates from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
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 contribution 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 and doctoral theses 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 annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children", beginning with 1937 publications. 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 the most prestigious American children's book awards.
John Robert McCloskey was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He wrote and also illustrated nine picture books, and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association for the year's best-illustrated picture book. Four of the nine books were set in Maine: Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, Time of Wonder, and Burt Dow, Deep-water Man; the last three were all set on the coast. His best-known work is Make Way For Ducklings, set in Boston. In longer works, he both wrote and illustrated Homer Price and he illustrated Keith Robertson's Henry Reed series.
Peter Spier was a Dutch-American illustrator and writer who created more than thirty children's books.
Feodor Stepanovich "Rojan" Rojankovsky, also known as Rojan, was a Russian émigré illustrator. He is well known both for children's book illustration and for erotic art. He won the 1956 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration from the American Library Association, recognizing Frog Went A-Courtin' by John Langstaff.
Marguerite de Angeli was an American writer and illustrator of children's books including the 1950 Newbery Award winning book The Door in the Wall. She wrote and illustrated twenty-eight of her own books, and illustrated more than three dozen books and numerous magazine stories and articles for other authors.
Chris Raschka is an American illustrator, writer, and violist. He contributed to children's literature as a children's illustrator. He was U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 2012.
Marjorie Torrey Hood Chanslor was an American illustrator and writer of children's books. She also wrote two mystery novels for adults under the name Torrey Chanslor and published under the name Torrey Bevans. She was a runner-up for the annual American Library Association Caldecott Medal for children's picture book illustration, in both 1946 and 1947; Opal Wheeler wrote both books, Sing Mother Goose and Sing in Praise).
No, David!, written and illustrated by David Shannon, is a 1998 children's book published by Scholastic Inc. It was named a Caldecott Honor Book, an ALA Notable Children's Book, a Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon title, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, and was on the New York Times Best Illustrated Book list.
Nancy Ekholm Burkert is an American artist and illustrator. Her most celebrated work is the picture book Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1972), which was a New York Times Notable Book and a Caldecott Honor Book.
Molly Garrett Bang is an American illustrator. For her illustration of children's books she has been a runner-up for the American Caldecott Medal three times and for the British Greenaway Medal once. Announced June 2015, her 1996 picture book Goose is the 2016 Phoenix Picture Book Award winner – that is, named by the Children's Literature Association the best English-language children's picture book that did not win a major award when it was published twenty years earlier.
Vera Baker Williams was an American children's writer and illustrator. Her best known work, A Chair for My Mother, has won multiple awards and was featured on the children's television show Reading Rainbow. For her lifetime contribution as a children's illustrator she was U.S. nominee in 2004 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available to creators of children's books. Additionally, she was awarded the 2009 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature.
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, written by Charlotte Zolotow and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is a 1962 pictures book published by HarperCollins. It was a Caldecott Medal Honor Book for 1963 and was one of Sendak's Caldecott Honor Medal of a total of seven during his career. Sendak won the Caldecott Medal in 1964 for Where the Wild Things Are, which he both authored and illustrated. Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present was re-issued by HarperCollins in 1999 in hardcover format as part of a project to re-issue 22 Sendak works, including several authored by Zolotow.
A Big Mooncake for Little Star is a 2018 picture book written and illustrated by Grace Lin. The story is about Little Star gradually eating the mooncake that her mother has baked. The book was a departure for Lin both thematically and in her use of illustrative style. The book was well reviewed and was awarded a Caldecott Honor. The illustrations feature heavy use of black and rely on both the pictures and words to convey the story and its themes.
In My Mother's House is a 1941 picture book by Ann Nolan Clark and illustrated by Velino Herrera. A Tewa character presents his life. The book was a recipient of a 1942 Caldecott Honor for its illustrations.
Barkis is a 1945 picture book with music by Opal Wheeler and illustrated by Marjorie Torrey. The book contains a collection of Mother Goose Nursery rhymes set to music. The book was a recipient of a 1946 Caldecott Honor for its illustrations.
My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World is a 1945 picture book by Becky Reyher and illustrated by Ruth Stiles Gannett. A lost girl looks for her mother who is, in the girl's eyes, the most beautiful woman in the world. The book was a recipient of a 1946 Caldecott Honor for its illustrations.
Juana Martinez-Neal is a Peruvian American children's book author and illustrator. Her debut book as an author illustrator, Alma and How She Got Her Name, was well reviewed and won a 2019 Caldecott Award Honor.
