Caldecott Medal

http://www.ala.org/img/alsc/Caldecott_Honor_Seal.gif

Award Link: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal.cfm

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. This award is given to the artist for the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. It was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. In the United States, receiving the Randolph Caldecott Medal is the highest honor an artist can achieve for children's book illustration.

The Caldecott Medal was designed by Rene Paul Chambellan in 1937. The face of the medal is designed from a scene that was illustrated in The Diverting Story of John Gilpin by Randolph Caldecott. The reverse side of the award is also designed from another of Caldecott's illustrations Four and Twenty Blackbirds Bak'd in a Pie

According to the Association for Library Service to Children,

The Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children during the preceding year. There are no limitations as to the character of the picture book except that the illustrations be original work. Honor Books may be named, and the artistry for these books must also be original.

Criteria

• The book must be published in English in the United States during the preceding year.
• The illustrations must be original work.
• The artist must be a citizen or resident of the United States.
• The book must be considered for the artistic technique employed; pictorial interpretation of story; appropriateness of style of illustration to the story; delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting mood or information through the pictures; and recognition of a child audience.
• The book must display respect for children's understandings, abilities, and appreciations.
• The book must be a self-contained entity, not dependent on other media for its enjoyment.

What this Award Entails

While the Caldecott Award is given to books with excellent illustrations, there are a few more criteria that the books seem to have in common. For example, nearly all of our books have animals as the main characters. Most of them also introduce some kind of humor to keep the reader interested. Few of them also present the reader with repetition that brings in familiarity and helps present new words and ideas to young readers. There is a broad spectrum of the kind of books that have won this award. For example, Sam Bangs, and Moonshine, The Hello, Goodbye Window, The Red Book, and My Friend Rabbit all promote imagination. The reader is forced to open their mind to the idea of animals performing human activities as in, Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type. The Stray Dog, The Paperboy, and The Man Who Walked Between the Towers all tell stories that could potentially happen in real life. This is also a good way to help a reader stay interested in a fictional book. While entertaining, these books also make seemingly simple activities become very interesting.

The Caldecott award is also given to books with a purposeful and meaningful coloring. The books seem to use color to convey a particular meaning or emotion. In The Little House the illustrator uses bright and vibrant colors to give the sense of happiness. He also uses dark colors such as brown and black to gives a sense of sadness. The illustrator draws the city building in these dark colors giving the sense of sadness. The house is drawn with bright colors this gives a happiness feeling. In the book The Little Island it uses dark colors to represent the storm and the winter sky but it uses bright colors to represent the summer and the spring. These books are both wonderful examples on how Caldecott books excellin utilizing color in their illustrations.

Caldecott books also excell in their use of different media. This helps convey an overall meaning or tone for the book. In the book Many Moons the illustrations gives the sense that this story is imaginative and almost dream-like. The illustrations to this book uses light water colors and sketches to give an imaginary and fairy tale feeling. The illustrations looks like something that a child would imagine while they are being read the story. These drawings support the fairy tale theme in this book. The book The Biggest Bear drawing are used through the pencil drawing convey and sense of reality in this book. The detail in the illustrations through the drawing and media had helped the overall meaning of the book.

The Caldecott award winning books also use a good use of line. In both One Fine Day and The Little House, the use of line helps convey a sense of something being uncomfortable or scared. In The Little House the building of the city is drawn with sharp line, this shows how the house was uncomfortable. The house though is dawn with curved lines to give a sense of being comfortable and warm. In the book One Fine Day the fox is drawn with sharp lines in order to convey that he was scared when his tail got cut off. The old lady is drawn with more sharp line to convey a sense of insecurity with the lady. The women who gave the fox the jug is drawn with more curved line which gives a sense of comfort and security. All these help the books convey what kind of meaning and feeling of the book.

Overall, the Caldecott award criteria is very vague. There are several different kinds of picture books that have won this award. For example, Noahs Arc, Floatsam, and Free Fall were all picture books that had no words in them. Picture books that have no words in them must contain illustrations that are precise and depict the image carefully. Words were not needed in these books because the illustrations were able to tell the story without the use of words. These types of picture books are extremely difficult to win because the illustrations have to be perfect.

Other award winners used similiar mediums, however the end result turned out completely different. For example, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat, used watercolor, ink and collage. This made the book look realistic and unique with the use of collage. Also, So You Want to Be President?, used watercolor, ink and pastel chalk. This made the book appear to be cartoon-like and childish. Both of these books' choice of medium worked well, but this shows the diversity in the selection for the award winner. Not one particular style is a guarantee every year.

Shape was one criterion that was evident throughout most of the award winners. For example, in The Spider and the Fly, there were many inverted triangles. This means instability and a tendancy toward change. This was a key concept throughout the book. Another example, in The House in the Night, there were many calming shapes. There were triangles which indicates stability and lack of change. Also, there were circles which implies safety and comfort. Shapes are a wonderful way to depict the mood of a picture book, and both of these books succeeded. To win the Caldecott award, a picture book must successfully incorporate shapes into their book.

Although there are many different reasons the books win the Caldecott Award, one of the main criteria that jumped out was the use of style. A lot of the books have this naive style that they use. Naive style is when the pictures look like the illustrator has talent but not a lot of training. Since these are picture books and are meant for the preliterate reader this use of style is important. For example, in the book Smoky Night, there were people outside rioting and vandalizing things and if it were a real picture it may have scared the child. But with the style used it does not look as bad as it may be. Another example is the book The Funny Little Woman. In this book she is captured by these monster creatures and is supposed be be scared of them. The way the monsters are drawn though the child may not think that they are these scary monsters, just funny looking creatures. The excellent use of style in each of these books help convey oneof the criterion required for the Caldecott award.

Some of the award winners also used repetition. This can be used in many different ways. It can be structural repetion where the events and sequences repeat with minor changes. The story called May I Bring a Friend? is a perfect use of this example. Throughout the book, a young boy was invited to the King and Queens house. Each time he asks if he them if could bring a friend. They nearly always had the same reply each time. "Any friend of our friend is welcome here." Then the young boy would say, "So I brought a friend." The use of this kind of repetition is good because it helps the preliterate reader follow the pattern that's occuring. Another use of repetion is verbal or visual repetition. This happens when phrases and images repeat in a way of rhythm, or drives home a point, or aids with reading. An example of this is used in the book Frog Went A-Courtin'. Throughout the whole book it has the same rhyming rhythm. The use of repetition in picture books is important for a young reader. A book with a very good use of repetition and can give the reader an understanding of what is to come is a good choice for the Caldecott Award.

Although picture books are not known for this sort of criteria a lot of the Caldecott winners have something in common. The use of the illustration and how it corresponds to what the words are saying. The illustrations in the books help the preliterate reader follow along with what is happening in the story. Furthermore, the illustrations in these books are known to follow along with what is written on the page. For example, in "Madeline", each picture corresponds to the words. Another example of this is in the book "Frog Went A-Courtin". Each of the pictures in this book follows what is being said on the bottom of the page. This helps not only the preliterate reader but also helps the learning reader understand what is going on in the story. These type of books are usually called an easy reader. Although it is said that the Caldecott Award is looking mainly for picture books a lot of the books that they pick have a the criteria of an easy reader.

One of the ways these books excel is through their use of humor. For example, in the story The Boy of the Three Year Nap, Taro dresses up in dark robes, puts on make-up and disguises himself as the patron god of the town as a way of tricking the wealthy merchant into arranging a marriage between his daughter and Taro. Taro devises this plan so that he could continue his lazy lifestyle as the boy of the three year nap. This is clearly an example of how humor is used to make a serious situation seem more comical in that nobody would come up with such a silly plan in order to escape hard work. Humor is also evident in the story Always Room for One More. In this story, Lachie, a poor farmer, invites the entire town to come to his house to celebrate with him. His house becomes extremely overcrowded and eventually falls apart. Normally, one would be upset at the fact that their house was just destroyed. However, Lachie repeats his motto “there’s always room for one more” making light of the situation.

Many of the Caldecott Award and Honor books are stories about cultures. For example, The Lion and the Mouse is a well known African fable. One value in the African culture is family. Each of the main characters are shown several times with their families. Another example is Mei Li. This book illustrates the Chinese cultural belief of honoring one’s deities. All day long, Mei Li’s family is cooking and cleaning so that they can welcome the Kitchen God into their home later that night.

Both of the books Abraham Lincoln and They Were Strong and Good have historical elements. In Abraham Lincoln we follow Abraham from childhood to his presidency. We are able to understand why he is known as “Honest Abe” and how that effected his election. In They Were Good and Strong, we are able to see exerpts from the lives of people in two different generations before, during and after the Civil War. And while the author claims that some things are fictional, most of the story is what he remembers being told as a child.

Caldecott Award Winners and Honor Books

Olivia

By: Ian Falconer

Olivia is an energetic pig that can't keep herself out of trouble.

A Child's Good Night Book

By: Margaret Wise Brown

It's night time, time for everyone and everything to go to sleep.

Marshmallow

By:Clare Turlay Newberry

A little bunny named Marshmallow moves in with a cat named Oliver. Can they get along?

Little Red Riding Hood

By:Trina Schart Hyman

Elisabeth goes to visit her sick grandmother and gets tricked by a mean wolf.

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

By: Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

See the different things animals can do with their noses, eyes, ears, feet, mouth and tails.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus

By: Mo Willems

While the bus driver takes a break, a pigeon begs to drive the bus.

The Graphic Alphabet

By: David Pelletier

David Pelletier uses a unique picture to show each letter of the alphabet graphically. Each letter has a word that starts with that letter and the picture represents the letter doing the action of the word. For example, A for Avalanche has a picture of the letter 'A' with what appears to have an avalanche on the right side of the letter.

Gone Wild

By: David McLimans

David McLimans uses pictograms to show 26 endangered animals, one animal for each letter of the alphabet. Each animal is chosen carefully so the animal's shape would naturally fit the shape of the letter that their name starts with. Each page has specific information about the endangered animal that is listed for that letter.

The Lion and the Mouse

By: Jerry Pinkney

Mouse finds himself as lion’s prey but later they find themselves as friends when mouse comes to lion’s rescue.

More More More said The Baby

By: Vera Williams

Little Guy likes to run. Little Pumpkin likes to scoot and Little Bird likes to fall asleep; they all like to all so fast and they always want more.

When Sophie Gets Angry Really Really Angry…

By: Molly Bang

Sophie gets angry when her sister takes her toy away; Sophie runs away when she doesn’t get her way and being angry takes her on a journey.

Hansel and Gretel

By: Paul Zelinsky

Because Hansel and Gretel’s parents can no longer afford them, they abandon their children in the middle of the forest and Hansel and Gretel are left to survive on their own; they are led to a gingerbread house where they meet an old lady who appears more than what they seem.

No, David!

By: David Shannon

David, a mischievous toddler, causes all sorts of havoc even though his parents shout out “No, David!”

A Chair for my Mother

By: Vera B. Williams

A young girl along with her mother and her grandmother decide to save up to buy a nice chair after they lose all of their possessions due to a fire.

The Way to Start a Day

By: Byrd Baylor

As the people of the world rise with the sun, they commence with their very diverse morning customs.

Always Room for One More

By: Sorche Nic Leodhas

Lachie MacLachlan charitably welcomes everyone who happens to pass by. Tinkers, tailors, sailors, and many others continue to join him, until the joyous rumpus and celebration may bring in one too many guests.

Rumpelstiltskin

By: Paul Zelinsky

A strange little man helps the miller's daughter spin straw into gold for the king on the condition that she will give him her first-born child.

The Boy of the Three Year Nap

By: Dianne Sander

A poor Japanese woman maneuvers events to change the lazy habits of her son.

The Village of the Round and Square Houses

By: Ann Grifalconi

A grandmother explains to her listeners why in their village on the side of a volcano the men live in square houses and the women in round ones.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

By: Marla Frazee

Friends James and Eamon enjoy a wonderful week at the home of Eamon's grandparents during summer vacation.

Mei Li

By: Thomas Handforth

Mei Li, a young girl in ancient China, ventures into the town to find out how girls can be useful.

Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book

By: Dorothy P. Lathrop

Excerpts of the Bible focusing on animals.

They Were Strong and Good

By: Robert Lawson

Two generations of a family grow up and live through the Civil War era.

Abraham Lincoln

By: Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

Honest Abraham Lincoln moves from home to home until he ends up in the White House.

Kitten's First Full Moon

By: Kevin Henkes

The Moon is full and Kitten is hungry. He takes off on a quest to fulfill his hunger.

Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type

By: Doreen Cronin

When a group of cows get hold of a typewriter, they make some negotiations with the farmer.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

By: Simms Taback

An old lady swallows a fly and proceeds to swallow a spider to catch the fly. She continues to swallow animals, getting larger every time, to catch the previous ones she has swallowed.

Make Way for the Ducklings

By: Robert McCloskey

In Boston, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard are on the move to find the perfect place to raise their family.

Tops and Bottoms

By: Janet Stevens

The Bear feels cheated after he and the clever Hare make a deal.

My Friend Rabbit

By: Eric Rohmann

A rabbit tries to help his friend, a mouse, get an airplane out of a tree, but he doesn't quite think things through.

Sam, Bangs & Moonshine

By: Evaline Ness

On a small island, Samantha learns the difference between moonshine and reality.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

By: Norton Juster

A young girl enjoys using her imagination when looking out of the kitchen window of her grandparents' house.

The Red Book

By: Barbara Lehman

A young girl and boy find a red book that allows them to escape into their imagination.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

By: Mordicai Gerstein

When the Two Towers in New York City were being built, tightrope walker Phillippe Petit dreamt of walking between them; however, accomplishing that goal was much harder than he thought.

The Stray Dog

By: Marc Simont

When family meets a stray dog on a picnic they discover it's not as easy to forget about him as they thought.

The Paperboy

By: Dav Pilkey

Newspapers need delivering, and the paperboy is the one to do it; however, this job is more demanding than one might think.

Once a Mouse

By: Marcia Brown

An old hermit mighty with magic, encounters a mouse that will learn from change.

First the Egg

By: Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Everything in this life has a starting point; however some starting points are not as easy to pinpoint.

Hey, Al

By: Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski

Unhappy with thier lives, Al and his dog Eddie wish to escape to paradise.

Yo, Yes?

By: Chris Raschka

Two young boys, one black the other white, feel lonely due to lack of friends.

Knuffle Bunny

By: Mo Willems

Trixie, a baby girl, forgets her knuffle bunny while running an errand with her daddy.

Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity

By: Mo Willems

Trixie, a young girl, accidently takes the wrong bunny home from school, and her daddy helps her retrieve it.

Tuesday

By: David Wiesner

On tuesday fling frogs mysteriously fly across town.

The Biggest Bear

By: Lynd Ward

Johnny and his friend the bear are forced to seperate because a bear cannot live in a farm.

The Little Island

By: Margaret Wise Brown

A little island stays the same throughout the many seasons. One day a kitten sails to the island and discovers that the little island is still part of the big world.

Many Moons

By: James Thurber

The King's daughter, Princess Lenore, becomes very ill and asks her father for the moon and she will be well. The King asks many wise men how to get the moon; there is only one person who really knows the answer.

The Little House

By: Virginia Lee Burton

A Little House that was built in the beautiful country wondered what is was like to live in a big city.

One Fine Day

By: Nonny Hogrogian

One fine day fox drank milk from a jug and an old lady cut his tail off. Worried that his friends would laugh at him without a tail; Fox goes on a search to find milk so that the old lady can give him back his tail.

The House in the Night

By: Susan Marie Swanson

A girl is given keys to a house and explores why there is a house full of light.

Freight Train

By: Donald Crews

A freight train travels through many different places.

The Spider and the Fly

By: Tony DiTerlizzi and Mary Howitt

A cunning spider tries to lure a pretty little fly into his web.

Noah's Ark

By: Peter Spier

A boat is built to rescue many different animals.

Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888

By: Ernest L. Thayer

Fans cheer for Casey to get up to bat during a baseball game, but that makes Casey too confident.

Zen Shorts

By: Jon J. Muth

Stillwater, a panda bear, finds himself in the yard of a neighbor. He meets three young friends, and he shares his stories with them.

Flotsam

By: David Wiesner

A young boy at the beach finds an underwater camera. He gets the film developed and finds more than regular pictures in it.

The Polar Express

By: Chris Van Allsburg

A boy finds himself riding on a train that is headed to the northpole and finds out who is receiving the first gift.

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

By: Simms Taback

Joseph starts off with a little overcoat, but when it gets old and worn he has to try to find different uses for it.

So you want to be president?

By: Judith St.George

Learn many interesting characteristics that identify past presidents; find out if you can become the next president.

The Judge

By: Harve and Margot Zemach

A judge is wondering why the prisoners are telling such a lie about how something big is coming and whether they are innocent so he shoul listen.

The Snow Day

By: Ezra Jack Keats

Peter wakes up to find out it's a snow day and decides to play with his friends despite the snowball melts in his poket.

Free Fall

By: David Wiesner

A young boy falls asleep reading his book in bed and dreams an amazing dream filled with dragons and casles in a farway land.

Owl Moon

By: Jane Yolen

A father and daughter are waiting on this special night to wittness a special snow owl now that the daughter is old enough to see it.

One Wide River To Cross

By:Barbara Emberley

Noah and the animals must escape the flood, counting their way up to ten, the animals climb aboard.

In the Night Kitchen

By: Maurice Sendak

A young boy named Mickey is asleep upstairs in his bed. He is woken up by loud noises coming from down stairs. He begins to float, and loses his clothes as he drifts into a surprising world called the "Night Kitchen".

The Fox went out on a Chilly Night

By: Peter Spier

A Fox goes on adventure on chilly night in search of something in the nearby town.

Time Flies

By: Eric Rohmann

A little bird is flying through a museum full of dinosaur bones where he is transported back into time to see his flying ancestors.

Have You Seen My Duckling?

By: Nancy Tafuri

Mother duck has lost one of her ducklings. Along the way she asks for help from the other animals to find her missing one.

Madeline

By: Ludwig Bemelmans

In Paris lived a brave little girl named Madeline. One night she becomes terribly ill and is taken to the hospital where she must remain brave and get better.

By: Beatrice Schenk De Regniers

A young boy was invited to the King and Queen's for tea and each time asked to bring a friend, however what he brought was very unexpected.

Smoky Night

By: Eve Bunting

A young boy and his mama have to listen to riots in the streets. In the middle of the night their apartment sets on fire and they must leave without his cat.

Frog Went A-Courtin'

By: John Langstaff

Frog went a-courtin' right up to Mistress Mouse and asked her to marry him, but she would not marry until they got her uncles consent.

The Funny Little Woman

By: Arlene Mosel

There was a funny little woman that live in Japan, who like to make rice dumplings. But then, she was forced to make them for the Oni with a magic wooden paddle.

Mirette on the High Wire

By: Emily Arnold McCully

Mirette's dreams come true when she is taught to cross a high wire, but will she be able to help the great master who taught her?

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

By: William Steig

Sylvester is ecstatic when he realizes he has a magic pebble. But joy turns to sadness when something terrible goes wrong.

LonPoPo Lon Po Po

By: Ed Young

Shang, Tao, and Paotze must think and act fast when a stranger comes disguised as their grandmother.

Madeline's Rescue

By: Ludwig Bemelmans

On a daily walk with her schoolmates, Madeline becomes lost and a special friend saves her.

Strega Nona

By: Tomie dePaola

In a town in Calabria, Italy, there lived an old lady everyone called Strega Nona, who was a witch and did not let anybody play or get near her stuff that she has at home.

Frederick

By: Leo Lionni

An artistic and imaginative mouse named Frederick invented a way to become secure.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

By: James Marshall

Goldilocks, who is a little girl who causes trouble in the three bears home.

Tar Beach

By: Faith Ringgold

A young girl dreams of flying above her Harlem home, claiming all she sees for herself and her family.

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom