The Randolph Caldecott Medal

Note: Scroll down for links to the current and recent Caldecott winners.

About the Randolph Caldecott Medal

In the United States, receiving the Randolph Caldecott Medal is the highest honor an artist can achieve for children's book illustration. The Caldecott awards are administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The annual awards are announced each January during the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting.

According to the ALSC,

"The Medal shall be awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in English in the United States 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. These shall be books that are also truly distinguished."

Another requirement is that the artist must be a U.S. citizen or resident. This annual award has been presented every year since 1938.

Illustrator Randolph Caldecott

The award is named after Randolph Caldecott, a nineteenth century English illustrator who was known for his picture book illustrations. Author and illustrator Maurice Sendak who won a Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are and seven Caldecott Honors, had great admiration for Randolph Caldecott as the following two quotations from Sendak's Caldecott & Co.: Notes on Books and Pictures reveal:

– “Caldecott’s work heralds the beginning of the modern picture book. He devised an ingenious juxtaposition of picture and word, a counterpoint that never happened before. Words are left out-but the picture says it. Pictures are left out-but the word says it. In short, it is the invention of the picture book.”

and

“Caldecott is an illustrator, he is a songwriter, he is a choreographer, he is a stage manager, he is a decorator, he is a theater person; he’s superb, simply. He can take four lines of verse that have very little meaning in themselves and stretch them into a book that has tremendous meaning-not overloaded, no sentimentality anywhere.”

Randolph Caldecott Medal Winner and Honor Books

In most years, in addition to the Caldecott Medal winner, several books are designated Caldecott Honor Books for the quality of their illustrations. For Caldecott Medal winners from 1938 to 2013, see 75 Years of Caldecott Medal Winners. To learn more about recent Caldecott Medal winners and Caldecott Honor Books, see:

• 2013 Randolph Caldecott Medal Winner and Honor Books
• 2012 Caldecott Medal Winner and Caldecott Honor Books
• 2011 Caldecott Medal Winner and Caldecott Honor Books
• 2010 Caldecott Medal Winner and Caldecott Honor Books
• 2009 Caldecott Medal Winner and Caldecott Honor Books
• 2008 Caldecott Medal Winner and Caldecott Honor Books
• 2007 Caldecott Medal Winner and Caldecott Honor Books

There are many wonderful children's books on these lists, and I hope you will have the time to look over the lists and select some of these picture books to share with your children.