William Sherman Pène du Bois was an American writer and illustrator of books for young readers. He is best known for The Twenty-One Balloons, published in April 1947 by Viking Press, for which he won the 1948 Newbery Medal. He was twice a runner-up for the Caldecott Medal for illustrating books written by others, and the two Caldecott Honor picture books, which he also wrote.
Jane Hyatt Yolen is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is The Devil's Arithmetic, a Holocaust novella. Her other works include the Nebula Award−winning short story "Sister Emily's Lightship", the novelette "Lost Girls", Owl Moon, The Emperor and the Kite, and the Commander Toad series. She has collaborated on works with all three of her children, most extensively with Adam Stemple.
The Westing Game is a mystery book written by Ellen Raskin and published by Dutton on May 1, 1978. It won the Newbery Medal recognizing the year's most distinguished contribution to American children's literature.
Ed Tse-chun Young was a Chinese-born American illustrator and writer of children's picture books. He has received many awards and recognitions, including the Caldecott Medal and Lifetime Achievement awards for his contributions as a children's illustrator.
David Wiesner is an American illustrator and writer of children's books, known best for picture books including some that tell stories without words. As an illustrator he has won three Caldecott Medals recognizing the year's "most distinguished American picture book for children" and he was one of five finalists in 2008 for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest recognition available for creators of children's books.
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.
David Shannon is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. Shannon grew up in Spokane, Washington. He graduated from the Art Center College of Design and now resides in Los Angeles. In 1998, he received the Caldecott Honor for his No, David!. He has also written A Bad Case of Stripes, How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball, and The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza. Shannon illustrated Audrey Wood's The Bunyans, Rafe Martin's The Rough Face Girl, various books by Jane Yolen, including The Ballad of the Pirate Queens and Encounter, as well as Melinda Long's How I Became a Pirate and Pirates Don't Change Diapers.
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.
Owl Moon is a 1987 children's picture book written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by John Schoenherr. It won many awards, most notably the Caldecott Medal for its illustrations, and has appeared on Reading Rainbow in the US. It has been translated into more than a dozen foreign languages, including French, German, Chinese, and Korean. In 1989, Weston Woods Studios adapted the book to an animated film narrated by Yolen.
Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper is a book adapted and illustrated by Marcia Brown. Released by Charles Scribner's Sons, the book is a retelling of the story of Cinderella as written by Charles Perrault, and was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1955. The book takes place in France, in a palace similar to other Cinderella stories.
Fables is a children's picture book written and illustrated by American author Arnold Lobel. Released by Harper & Row in 1980, it was the recipient of the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1981.
One Morning in Maine is a picture book by Robert McCloskey set in Brooksville, Maine. It was awarded the Caldecott Honor in 1953. It features Robert McCloskey, his wife Peggy, and their two real-life daughters, Sarah ("Sal"), who had previously had appeared in Blueberries for Sal, and Jane. McCloskey was a professional illustrator and drew his wife's and daughters' facial features to accurately show what they really looked like. McCloskey also cleverly depicts the adventurously-rambunctious little Jane in his drawings of their mainland adventures; on every page, the robust tousle-headed toddler is usually shown to be exploringly bustling about independently of the two others in her group, engaged in "typical young tomboy" activities such as perching high up on a work-table, climbing on a stack of tires, snuggling with a furry puppy who has wandered into the garage, etc.
Marla Frazee is an American author and illustrator of children's literature. She has received three Caldecott Honors for picture book illustration.
Nononono (ノノノノ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. It was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from October 2007 to December 2010, with its chapters collected in 13 tankōbon volumes The plot follows ski jumper Nono Nonomiya, the daughter of a disgraced Olympian who aims to reclaim her family's honor. However, since only men are eligible to compete in the Olympics in ski jumping, Nono cross dresses and assumes her twin brother's identity. Her brother, Yūta Nonomiya, whose name she takes, perished in a fire.
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.
Sophie Jocasta Blackall is an Australian artist, author, and illustrator of children's books based in Brooklyn, New York.
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.
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.
Floyd Cooper was an American illustrator of children's books whose art frequently explored the African American experience. He was based in Easton, Pennsylvania, and worked with authors such as Jane Yolen, Nikki Grimes, Eloise Greenfield, Howard Bryant, Joyce Carol Thomas, and Bill Martin Jr, among others. In all, he illustrated more than 100 titles.
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.
