The Caldecott Medal


Presentation by Mrs. Hembree
Adapted from a presentation by Jan Ross,
LMS at Dixie Elementary School,
Lexington, KY
The Caldecott Medal

What is the
Caldecott Medal?

The award is given out
every year by the
Association for Library
Service to Children, a
division of the American
Library Association, to the
artist of the most
distinguished American
picture book for children.

Only picture books
can earn this award.
These children’s
books are mostly
pictures with only
some words.

The Caldecott Medal
was named in honor of
English illustrator
Randolph Caldecott
who lived in the 1800’s.
This is a book he wrote
called “John Gilpin’s
Ride.”

In 1937, Rene’ Paul
Chambellan designed
the Caldecott Medal.
It is a bronze medal
with the winner’s
name and the date
engraved on the back.

The medal looks
like the pictures
from Randolph
Caldecott’s book

15 different Librarians
are chosen to be on the
Caldecott committee
each year. They read
hundreds and
hundreds of books so
they can decided
which one is the best!
Medal Winner 2012

In the end of
January the
Caldecott winner is
announced. This
year the winner was
A Ball for Daisy by
Chris Raschka
The first Caldecott
Medal was
presented in 1938 to
Dorothy Lathrop for
her book, Animals of
the Bible, A Picture
Book.

Some books each year
were called “runnersup”. In 1971, that
term was changed to
“honor books”.
These medals look like
the award except they
are silver instead of
bronze.
Honor Winners 2012

Now, let’s talk about
some books that have
won the Caldecott
Medal. If you would
like to check one of
these books out or
another book which has
won the medal, check
with Mrs. Hembree
“The Man Who Walked
Between the Towers”, by
Mordicai Gerstein, won the
Caldecott Medal in 2004.

All of the winners are
pictured on the poster
on the side window.

I am doing the
Caldecott Challenge
and reading all of the
Medal winners this
year!

In 2008, Brian
Selznick won for his
book, The Invention of
Hugo Cabret. It has
158 pictures and 533
pages!

This book won the
Caldecott honor medal
the same year.

This book won in
2007 and it has only
pictures. It is a
wordless book!

An alphabet book
won the honor
medal in 2007.
The Lion and the
Mouse by Jerry
Pinkney won in 2010.
Notice the title is not
on the cover! Why
not?

This book won the
Caldecott Medal in
2005.
 Kevin Henkes only
used black and white
illustrations!

This funny book won a
Caldecott honor medal
in 2004. Mo Willems
has won 3 Caldecott
Honor awards, 2 Geisel
Medal awards, 2 Geisel
Honor awards!
Mo Willems Interview

Caldecott winners
have a sticker on
the spine!
 Check out our
display on the side
counter
 Check out the
poster with all the
winners!
 Join the Caldecott
challenge!
Caldecott winners are really great!
Next time we will learn about the art
styles illustrators use in their books.
Bibliography
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/awardsscholarships/literaryawds/c
aldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal.htm
http://www.sno-isle.org/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/homepage.html/104-78526906099124
http://www.dixie.fayette.k12.ky.us/LibSkills/Primary_Library_
Information_Skills.htm#Second Grade