Caldecott Medal Winners – Illustrators

illustration by Randolph Caldecott

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. Caldecott Honor citations are also awarded to worthy runners-up every year. (Only Medal Winners are listed below – go to ALA site for complete list of runners-up.)

I’ve arranged this list first alphabetically by author for easier library searches, then, below, chronologically. In a few instances the illustrators and authors are different, so I’ve listed the illustrators after the title.

Click on links to read individual reviews.

*** NEW! – CALDECOTT WINNERS GROUPED BY AGE! I thought this would be useful for parents. Just scroll down to the bottom..

Caldecott Medal Winners 1938-2014

(arranged alphabetically by author)

Aardema, Verna – Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears (ill. DILLON, Leo & Diane)
Ackerman, Karen – Song and Dance Man (ill. GAMMELL, Stephen)
Alexander, Kwame – The Undefeated (ill. by NELSON, Kadir)
Bemelmans, Ludwig – Madeline’s Rescue
Blackall, Sophie – Hello Lighthouse
Brown, Marcia – Once a Mouse ; Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper
Brown, Margaret Wise (pseud. Golden Macdonald) – The Little Island (ill. WEISGARD, Leonard)
Bunting, Eve – Smoky Night (ill. DIAZ, David)
Burton, Virginia Lee – The Little House
Cendrars, Blaise – Shadow (ill. BROWN, Marcia)
Cooney, Barbara – Chanticleer and the Fox
Cordell, Matthew – Wolf in the Snow
d’Aulaire, Ingri & Edgar Parin – Abraham Lincoln
de Regniers, Beatrice Schenk – May I Bring a Friend? (ill. MONTRESOR, Beni)
Emberley, Barbara – Drummer Hoff (ill. EMBERLEY, Ed)
Ets, Marie Hall – Nine Days to Christmas
Field, Rachel – Prayer for a Child (ill. JONES, Elizabeth Orton)
Fish, Helen Dean, ed. – Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book (ill. LATHROP, Dorothy P.)
Floca, Brian – Locomotive
Gerstein, Mordicai – The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
Gobel, Paul – The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
Hader, Berta & Elmer – The Big Snow
Haley, Gail E. – A Story A Story
Hall, Donald – Ox-Cart Man (ill. COONEY, Barbara)
Handforth, Thomas – Mei Li
Henkes, Kevin – Kitten’s First Full Moon
Hodges, Margaret – Saint George and the Dragon (ill. HYMAN, Trina Schart)
Hogrogian, Nonny – One Fine Day
Juster, Norton – The Hello, Goodbye Window (ill. RASCHKA, Chris)
Keats, Ezra Jack – The Snowy Day
Klassen, Jon – This is Not My Hat
Langstaff, John – Frog Went A-Courtin’ (ill. ROJANKOVSKY, Feodor)
Lawson, Robert – They Were Strong and Good
Leodhas, Sorche Nic (pseud. for Leclair Alger) – Always Room for One More (ill. HOGROGIAN, Nonny)
Lindstrom, Carole – We are Water Protectors (ill. by GOADE, Michaela)
Lobel, Arnold – Fables
Macaulay, David – Black and White
Mallick, Lindsay – Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear (ill. BLACKALL, Sophie)
Martin, Jacqueline Briggs – Snowflake Bentley (ill. AZARIAN, Mary)
McCloskey, Robert – Time of Wonder ; Make Way for Ducklings
McCully, Emily Arnold – Mirette on the High Wire
McDermott, Gerald – Arrow to the Sun
Milhous, Katherine – The Egg Tree
Mosel, Arlene – The Funny Little Woman (ill. LENT, Blair)
Musgrove, Margaret – Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions (ill. DILLON, Leo & Diane)
Ness, Evaline – Sam, Bangs & Moonshine
Petersham, Maud & Miska – The Rooster Crows
Pinkney, Jerry – The Lion & the Mouse
Politi, Leo – Song of the Swallows
Provensen, Alice & Martin – The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot
Ransome, Arthur – The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (ill. SHULEVITZ, Uri)
Raschka, Chris – A Ball for Daisy
Rathmann, Peggy – Officer Buckle and Gloria
Robbins, Ruth – Baboushka and the Three Kings (ill. SIDJAKOV, Nicolas)
Rohmann, Eric – My Friend Rabbit
St. George, Judith – So You Want to Be President? (ill. SMALL, David)
Santat, Dan – The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend
Say, Allen – Grandfather’s Journey
Selznick, Brian – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sendack, Maurice – Where the Wild Things Are
Spier, Peter – Noah’s Ark
Stead, Philip C. – A Sick Day for Amos McGee (ill. STEAD, Erin E.)
Steig, William – Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Steptoe, Javaka – Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Swanson, Susan Marie – The House in the Night (ill. KROMMES, Beth)
Taback, Simms – Joseph Had a Little Overcoat
Thurber, James – Many Moons (ill. SLOBODKIN, Louis)
Tresselt, Alvin – White Snow, Bright Snow (ill. DUVOISIN, Roger)
Udry, Janice – A Tree is Nice (ill. SIMONT, Marc)
Van Allsburg, Chris – The Polar Express ; Jumanji
Ward, Lynd – The Biggest Bear
Wiesner, David – Flotsam ; The Three Pigs ; Tuesday
Will (pseud. William Lipkind) – Finders Keepers (ill. MORDVINOFF, Nicholas)
Wisniewski, David – Golem
Yolen, Jane – Owl Moon (ill. SCHOENHERR, John)
Yorinks, Arthur – Hey, Al (ill. EGIELSKI, Richard)
Young, Ed – Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
Zelinsky, Paul O. – Rapunzel
Zemach, Harve – Duffy and the Devil (ill. ZEMACH, Margot)

Caldecott Medal Winners 1938-2014

(chronological list)

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

1939: Mei Li – Thomas Handforth

1940: Abraham Lincoln – Ingri & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire

1941: They Were Strong and Good – Robert Lawson

1942: Make Way for Ducklings – Robert McCloskey

1943: The Little House – Virginia Lee Burton

1944: Many Moons – ill. Louis Slobodkin; text James Thurber

1945: Prayer for a Child – ill. Elizabeth Orton Jones; text Rachel Field

1946: The Rooster Crows – Maud & Miska Petersham

1947: The Little Island – ill. Leonard Weisgard; text Golden Macdonald (pseudonym for Margaret Wise Brown)

1948: White Snow, Bright Snow – ill. Roger Duvoisin; text Alvin Tresselt

1949: The Big Snow – Berta & Elmer Hader

1950: Song of the Swallows – Leo Politti

1951: The Egg Tree – Katherine Milhous

1952: Finders Keepers – ill. Nicolas (pseud. for NIcholas Mordvinoff); text Will (pseud. William Lipkind)

1953: The Biggest Bear – Lynd Ward

1954: Madeline’s Rescue – Ludwig Bemelmans

1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper – ill. Marcia Brown; text translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown

1956: Frog Went A-Courtin’ – ill. Feodor Rojankovsky; retold by John Langstaff

1957: A Tree is Nice – ill. Marc Simont; text Janice Udry

1958: Time of Wonder – Robert McCloskey

1959: Chanticleer and the Fox – ill. Barbara Cooney; text adapted from Chaucer by Barbara Cooney

1960: Nine Days to Christmas – ill. Marie Hall Ets; text Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida

1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings – ill. Nicolas Sidjakov; text Ruth Robbins

1962: Once a Mouse – Marcia Brown

1963: The Snowy Day – Ezra Jack Keats

1964: Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak

1965: May I Bring a Friend? – ill. Beni Montresor; text Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

1966: Always Room for One More – ill. Nonny Hogrogian; text Sorche Nic Leodhas (pseud. Leclair Alger)

1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine – Evaline Ness

1968: Drummer Hoff – ill. Ed Emberley; text adapted by Barbara Emberley

1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship – ill. Uri Shulevitz; text retold by Arthur Ransome

1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble – William Steig

1971: A Story A Story – Gail E. Haley

1972: One Fine Day – Nonny Hogrogian

1973: The Funny Little Woman – ill. Blair Lent; text retold by Arlene Mosel

1974: Duffy and the Devil – ill. Margot Zemach; text retold by Harve Zemach

1975: Arrow to the Sun – Gerald McDermott

1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears – ill. Leo & Diane Dillon; text retold by Verna Aardema

1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions – ill. Leo & Diane Dillon; text Margaret Musgrove

1978: Noah’s Ark – Peter Spier

1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses – Paul Goble

1980: Ox-Cart Man – ill. Barbara Cooney; text Donald Hall

1981: Fables – Arnold Lobel

1982: Jumanji – Chris Van Allsburg

1983: Shadow – ill./text Marcia Brown; original text Blaise Cendrars

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

1985: Saint George and the Dragon – ill. Trina Schart Hyman; text retold by Margaret Hodges

1986: The Polar Express – Chris Van Allsburg

1987: Hey, Al – ill. Richard Egielski; text Arthur Yorinks

1988: Owl Moon – ill. John Schoenherr; text Jane Yolen

1989: Song and Dance Man – ill. Stephen Gammell; text Karen Ackerman

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

1991: Black and White – David Macaulay

1992: Tuesday – David Wiesner

1993: Mirette on the High Wire – Emily Arnold McCully

1994: Grandfather’s Journey – Allen Say

1995: Smoky Night – ill. David Diaz; text Eve Bunting

1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria – Peggy Rathmann

1997: Golem – David Wisniewski

1998: Rapunzel – Paul O. Zelinsky

1999: Snowflake Bentley – ill. Mary Azarian; text Jacqueline Briggs Martin

2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat – Simms Taback

2001: So You Want to Be President? – ill. David Small; text Judith St. George

2002: The Three Pigs – David Wiesner

2003: My Friend Rabbit – Eric Rohmann

2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers – Mordicai Gerstein

2005: Kitten’s First Full Moon – Kevin Henkes

2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window – ill. Chris Raschka; text Norton Juster

2007: Flotsam – David Wiesner

2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Brian Selznick

2009: The House in the Night – ill. Beth Krommes; text Susan Marie Swanson

2010: The Lion & the Mouse – Jerry Pinkney

2011: A Sick Day for Amos McGee – ill. Erin E. Stead; text Philip C. Stead

2012: A Ball for Daisy – Chris Raschka

2013: This is Not My Hat – Jon Klassen

2014: Locomotive – Brian Floca

2015: The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend – Dan Santat

2016: Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear – ill. Sophie Blackall; text Lindsay Mallick

2017: Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat – Javaka Steptoe

2018: Wolf in the Snow – Matthew Cordell

2019: Hello Lighthouse – Sophie Blackall

2020: The Undefeated – ill. Kadir Nelson; text Kwame Alexander

2021: We Are Water Protectors – ill. Michaela Goade; text Carole Lindstrom

Caldecott Medal Winners 1938-2014

(grouped by age)

All of these books should appeal to a wide range of ages of course, the “age” rating I’ve given each is simply the youngest age that I think a child might be able to “get” the general drift of the story and fully enjoy it. Within each age grouping the books are listed in chronological order.

Save

Rarest Kind of Best