Children’s Literature: Caldecott Winners from the Past 15 Years
After sharing my tips for choosing a good children’s book last week, I thought I would introduce you to the Caldecott Award.
If you’ve been around Children’s Literature at all, you’ve probably heard books referred to as “Caldecott Winners” or “Caldecott Honor Books”. Here is what the Caldecott Award is all about:
“The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually 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. ”  –ALSC website
Although a book is awarded this honor based on its illustrations, the Caldecott winners are normally well-written and extremely engaging for young children.
Here are the Caldecott Winners for the last 15 years. Go here to find the complete list of Caldecott winners since 1938 (along with each year’s honor books).
2012
A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
2011
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by 
Philip C. Stead
2010
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
2009
The House in the Night by 
Susan Marie Swanson
2008
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by 
Brian Selznick
2007
Flotsam by David Wiesner
2006
The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster
2005
Kitten’s First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
2004
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
2003
My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
2002
The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
2001
So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George
2000
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by 
Simms Taback
1999
Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
1998
Rapunzel by 
Paul O. Zelinsky
1997
Golem by David 
Wisniewski
Have you read any of these books? Which is your favorite?
Im a bit surprised at how many of those I have not heard of. I remember specifically picking Caldecott award books when I was a kid…looks like I have some catching up to do!
My daughter loved “A Sick Day for Amos McGee”. My favorite of these so far is “Kitten’s First Full Moon”. I’ve not checked out this year’s winner yet, so we’ll have to see how it stands.
I scanned through several decades of the winners and honor books, and saw Maurice Sendak’s six or seven times. He will be missed.
My grandson’s favorite is Kitten’s First Full Moon, also. Thanks for sharing the list, Renee
Thanks for sharing-I’m always looking for lists of must read books to check out from the library!
I absolutely LOVE Caldecott books! During my time as a teacher I wrote several cross-curricular units to go along with some of the stories. Those units were my favorite lessons to teach. :)
Kitten’s First Full Moon and The Lion and the Mouse. Loved those.
What a GREAT list! Thanks for sharing with us! ~ Marnie
Love the snowflake bentley!!! Used it when I was a middle math teacher!