The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

Click on a book title or author name for more information and free teaching resources.

Award Winners by Year

2010 — The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

2009 — The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson

2008 — The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

2007 — Flotsam by David Wiesner

2006 — The Hello, Goodbye Window, illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster

2005 — Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

2004 — The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

2003 — My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann

2002 — The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

2001 — So You Want to Be President?, illustrated by David Small; text by Judith St. George

2000 — Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

1999 — Snowflake Bentley, illustrated by Mary Azarian; text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin

1998 — Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky

1997 — Golem by David Wisniewski

1996 — Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

1995 — Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text by Eve Bunting

1994 — Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say; edited by Walter Lorraine

1993 — Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully

1992 — Tuesday by David Wiesner

1991 — Black and White by David Macaulay

1990 — Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young

1989 — Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text by Karen Ackerman

1988 — Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text by Jane Yolen

1987 — Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text by Arthur Yorinks

1986 — The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg 

1985 — Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; retold by Margaret Hodges

1984 — The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen

1983 — Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars

1982 — Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg

1981 — Fables by Arnold Lobel

1980 — Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text by Donald Hall

1979 — The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

1978 — Noah's Ark by Peter Spier

1977 — Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo Dillon & Diane Dillon; text by Margaret Musgrove

1976 — Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; retold by Verna Aardema

1975 — Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott

1974 — Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach

1973 — The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; retold by Arlene Mosel

1972 — One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian

1971 — A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley

1970 — Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

1969 — The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; retold by Arthur Ransome

1968 — Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; adapted by Barbara Emberley

1967 — Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness

1966 — Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; Sorche Nic Leodhas

1965 — May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor; text by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

1964 — Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

1963 — The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

1962 — Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown

1961 — Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text by Ruth Robbins

1960 — Nine Days to Christmas, illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text by Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida

1959 — Chanticleer and the Fox, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney

1958 — Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey

1957 — A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text by Janice Udry \

1956 — Frog Went A-Courtin', illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text retold by John Langstaff

1955 — Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown; text translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown

1954 — Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans

1953 — The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward

1952 — Finders Keepers by Nicolas Will  

1951 — The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous

1950 — Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi

1949 — The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader

1948 — White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text by Alvin Tresselt

1947 — The Little Island, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text by Golden MacDonald

1946 — The Rooster Crows by Maude & Miska Petersham

1945 — Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text by Rachel Field

1944 — Many Moons, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text by James Thurber

1943 — The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

1942 — Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

1941 — They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson

1940 — Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

1939 — Mei Li by Thomas Handforth

1938 — Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text selected by Helen Dean Fish