When my favourite three-year-old brought me a new picture book to read to her I noticed that it had a familiar silver circle stamp on it. This meant that it was very likely going to be a book worth reading because it was an award-winning book, and yes, it was worth reading too. The silver circle was the Caldecott stamp. The book was a Caldecott Honor Book. Not a medal winner but still wonderful enough to receive ‘Honor’.
The Caldecott Medal is a prestigious annual award given to the illustrator of an American children’s picture book. The book needs to be published in English in the USA first and the illustrator must be American. Each year a single book is chosen for the Caldecott Medal and there are runners-up which get a ‘Caldecott Honor’. There are usually somewhere between one and five Honor books each year.
The Caldecott Medal is named after English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott. He was born in Chester in England, in 1846 and he died in Florida while on a tour of USA a few weeks before his fortieth birthday in 1866. Randolph Caldecott’s pictures are exquisitely beautiful and his work is considered by many to be the start of the modern picture book where the picture itself can actually tell the story. His illustrations are the sort of pictures that you can pore over and enjoy the detail all adding to the story. The Medal was first proposed by the publisher, Frederic G Melcher, in 1937 and the first award was presented in 1938.
Looking at the list of Caldecott winners, I see some of my favourite picture books; Robert Lawson’s They Were Strong and Good won the award in 1941, Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings won the award in 1942, the same year that Paddle to the Sea by Holling Clancy Holling won an ‘Honor’. The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice and Martin Provensen was the 1984 winner.
Allen Say’s Grandfather’s Journey won in 1994. And then there are the books that get a Caldecott Honor Award. Too many to mention, and so many good stories there.
Watch out for these picture books; books worth reading again and again, taking your time reading, enjoying the illustrations which tell the stories so beautifully, and enjoying the time with your young people.
And pop back here in a week or two to read about other children’s award winning books and the awards themselves.
Write to me stephanie@homeschoolfamilylife.com I love hearing from those who love life, learning and family. 🙂
