From Elizabeth Kennedy,
Your Guide to Children's Books.
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A. 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. It is named after Randolph Caldecott, a nineteenth century English illustrator who was known for his picture book illustrations. In most years, in addition to the Caldecott Medal winner, several books are designated Caldecott Honor Books for the quality of their illustrations.

The following artists are recent Caldecott Medal winners:

• 2008: Brian Selznick for The Invention of Hugo Cabret
• 2007: David Wiesner for Flotsam
• 2006: Chris Raschka for The Hello, Goodbye Window
• 2005: Kevin Henkes, for Kitten's First Full Moon
• 2004: Mordicai Gerstein, for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
• 2003: Eric Rohmann, for My Friend Rabbit
• 2002: David Wiesner, for The Three Pigs
• 2001: David Small, for So You Want to Be President?
• 2000: Simms Taback, for Joseph Had a Little Overcoat.