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

2013: This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

2012: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka

2011: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead

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