What’s inside: A look at our favorite Caldecott Picture Book Winners from all time. Picture books capture a child’s imagination and are the first step in becoming a lifelong reader – from there it’s just steps to becoming a lifelong learner! Using Caldecott Winners for your preschooler’s TBR book list can be a great way to jump start your youngster on the path to becoming a self-learner.
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What are Caldecott Medal Winners?
Caldecott Book Winners are awarded by the American Library Association to the artist of the children’s book for the most distinguished book of the year. In other words – the picture book with the best illustration gets the award.
The award was named after Randolph Caldecott who was an artist of children’s literature in the mid to late 1800s. He actually started as a bank clerk who began drawing on the side for magazines.
The Caldecott award originated because of the existing Newberry Award, which is awarded to the writer of the best children’s book of the year. The children’s librarians felt that the artists and illustrators deserved recognition also. So in 1937, they created the Caldecott Award. Each year, they also announce “runners-up” which are called the Honors Books.
In this way, both the Caldecott Medal Winner can be recognized as well as other notable Caldecott Honor Awards for each year.
The awards cover a wide age range of books. They include a wordless book called Flotsam, which is great for preschool “read alouds” because you can sit with your child and describe the images and point to things as your youngster is learning words. The winners also include several longer books which are suitable for both read alouds and independent readers.
My Top 7 Personal Favorites
While all of the award winning books are usually a good read (especially the ones picked long ago), we do have a few favorites. First, I will show you our favorites, and then I will show you how to find your own favorites.
Our top 7 personal favorite Caldecott Medal Winners are (in no particular order):
- 1942 Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
- 1980 Ox-Cart Man illustrated by Barbara Cooney, text by Donald Hall
- 1985 Saint George and the Dragon illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, retold by Margaret Hodges
- 1999 Snowflake Bentley illustrated by Mary Azarian, text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
- 2004 The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
- 1970 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
- 2008 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Why Each of these is a favorite
Make Way for Ducklings
Make Way for Ducklings is one of our all-time favorites. My boys were preschoolers in the Boston area where the book takes place. It’s the adventure of two mallard ducks who are looking for a good place to nest. They settle on the pond in the Boston Public Garden. When my guys were little, we would take field trips to the Garden and to the Commons. We’ve ridden on the swan boats in the pond which is in the book, and the ducklings born to the ducks are commemorated in bronze statues in the park. The boys have climbed on the statues (which is encouraged – or it was then – we haven’t been there recently!) This story ranks high in our library. We received the 75th Anniversary commemorative edition as a gift when they were little.
Ox-Cart Man
Ox-Cart Man is richly illustrated in an old-fashioned way, which matches the text. The pictures spark the imagination of another time and lifestyle as the farming dad takes his goods to market in Portsmouth. It’s set in the early 19th century. I think we liked it because the pictures enrich the text, which is set in verse. It’s a gentle, rhythmic story.
Saint George and the Dragon
Saint George and the Dragon is another story that is so richly enhanced by the illustration. This folk story or fairy tale is familiar, of course. But the illustrations feel medieval, even though the book was done in 1985! Beautifully done, this book is a great one for reading if you are studying the Middle Ages.
Snowflake Bentley
Snowflake Bentley is a treasure! We loved the illustrations of the snowflakes and the story captivated us. Science fascinates us anyway, so the idea that there was a guy who photographed and categorized snowflakes is irresistible.
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers tells the true story of Phillipe Petit who walked a tightrope strung between the World Trade Towers in 1974. The illustrations of the views from the towers as they were being constructed in this book are a good counterpoint to the disaster of when the buildings were destroyed. Read this story when your kids are old enough to know about the tragic end of the buildings and people in them. Be sure to read other stories of the heroism involved when people helped save others, too.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
We started reading all of William Steig’s books when the boys were old enough to watch Shrek. It’s funny that we came to his books from a movie. Usually I read the book first! Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is an unusual story full of imagination and quirky illustrations. It’s still a picture book, but a longer story, more like and illustrated easy reader or chapter book. Incidentally, the Shrek book is nothing like the movie except that it has two ogres in it.
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
The Invention of Hugo Cabret also had a movie related to it (Hugo). I forget which one we read or saw first. But there’s a clock at the center of the story. The book is unusual to get a Caledcott because it is really more like a novel. It’s unbelievably complex in the illustrations. Really an interesting read. You can get lost in the detail of the illustrations!
Complete Caldecott Medal Winners Book List
I’m including the full list of all the award medal winners here.
We were fortunate when the boys were little in that one of the libraries we frequented had a small section just devoted to Caldecotts which made them easy to find.
If you don’t have that, I’ve got a list for you to use.
How to use the list
Bring this list with you to the library to check out Caldecott winners to find your favorites. Or you can simply put them on your request list for the library if you do online library requests. Do a library binge with some Caldecotts! Once you find your favorites, then add them to your personal home library. This is a pdf file that you can download or bookmark. Remember, these are just the medal winners. There’s still a whole bunch of notable “Honors Winners” for each year that are also worth a read.
