What is the Caldecott Medal?

One afternoon, I was updating the list of the Caldecott Medal winners for the library where I work when I found out the award has been given out for 76 years.  My boss mentioned that she had once met a teenage girl who was making it her goal to read all the Caldecott Medal winners and I thought that sounded like a fun idea.  I love books, I love children's books, and I love picture books.  And I realized I wanted to read all the Caldecott Medal winners.

And I decided to do just that. I will borrow all the Caldecott Medal winning books from our library system, read them, and share with you the books and my thoughts.  How has the art changed from 1938 to 2014?  Do the stories written in the first half of the 20th Century still hold up in the 21st century? How many illustrators have won more than once?

Let's find out.

But first, we should start with the most important question:

What is the Caldecott Medal?

The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association.  According to their website:

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. 

And this leads to the question: 

Who was Randolph Caldecott?  

Randolph Caldecott (Courtesy Wikipedia)

Caldecott was born March 22, 1846 in Chester, England and became a famous Victorian illustrator.  In 1879, he was asked to illustrate two children's books to be sold at Christmas.  The two books, The House that Jack Built and The Diverting History of John Gilpin, were immediate successes. 

Illustration from The House that Jack Built
(Courtesy Wikipedia)

For the next seven years, Caldecott illustrated two books a year to be sold at Christmas for one shilling a piece.  He went on to also do illustrations for Washington Irving, Juliana Ewing, and other authors.  Artists Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Vogh were well known admirers of Caldecott's work.

Caldecott had always suffered from poor health and he died in St. Augustine, Florida while on a tour of the U.S. on February 12, 1886.  He was 39 years old.

Another well-known fan of Randolph Caldecott was children's author Maurice Sendak. Sendak was quoted as praising the illustrator: "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."

And this brings us to:

How did the Caldecott Medal come into being?

Since 1922, the Newbery Medal had been given annually "to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

According to the American Library Association, "many persons became concerned that the artists creating picture books for children were as deserving of honor and encouragement as were the authors of children's books."  

And in 1937, it was decided a second annual medal would be awarded, the Caldecott Medal.

For more information on the Caldecott Medal, please visit the American Library Association's The Randolph Caldecott Medal page. 

To learn more about the life of Randolph Caldecott, please visit the Randolph Caldecott Society UK page.