Living Canon

Caldecott Medal

The Caldecott Medal, awarded annually by the American Library Association since 1938, honors the most distinguished American picture book for children. Named after nineteenth-century illustrator Randolph Caldecott.

• Fireworks by Cátia Chien

  2026CaldecottPicture Books
• Chooch Helped by Rebecca Lee Kunz

  2025CaldecottPicture Books
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  Big by Vashti Harrison

  2024CaldecottPicture Books
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  Hot Dog by Doug Salati

  2023CaldecottPicture Books
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  Watercress by Jason Chin

  2022CaldecottPicture Books
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  We Are Water Protectors by Michaela Goade

  2021CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Undefeated by Kadir Nelson

  2020CaldecottPicture Books
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  Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall

  2019CaldecottPicture Books
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  Wolf in the Snow by Matthew Cordell

  2018CaldecottPicture Books
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  Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe

  2017CaldecottPicture Books
• Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear by Sophie Blackall

  2016CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

  2015CaldecottPicture Books
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  Locomotive by Brian Floca

  2014CaldecottPicture Books
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  This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

  2013CaldecottPicture Books
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  A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka

  2012CaldecottPicture Books
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  A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Erin E. Stead

  2011CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

  2010CaldecottPicture Books
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  The House in the Night by Beth Krommes

  2009CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

  2008CaldecottPicture Books
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  Flotsam by David Wiesner

  2007CaldecottPicture Books
• The Hello, Goodbye Window by Chris Raschka

  2006CaldecottPicture Books
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  Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

  2005CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein

  2004CaldecottPicture Books
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  My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann

  2003CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Three Pigs by David Wiesner

  2002CaldecottPicture Books
• So You Want to Be President? by David Small

  2001CaldecottPicture Books
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  Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback

  2000CaldecottPicture Books
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  Snowflake Bentley by Mary Azarian

  1999CaldecottPicture Books
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  Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky

  1998CaldecottPicture Books
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  Golem by David Wisniewski

  1997CaldecottPicture Books
• Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

  1996CaldecottPicture Books
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  Smoky Night by David Diaz

  1995CaldecottPicture Books
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  Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say

  1994CaldecottPicture Books
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  Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully

  1993CaldecottPicture Books
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  Tuesday by David Wiesner

  1992CaldecottPicture Books
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  Black and White by David Macaulay

  1991CaldecottPicture Books
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  Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young

  1990CaldecottPicture Books
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  Song and Dance Man by Stephen Gammell

  1989CaldecottPicture Books
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  Owl Moon by John Schoenherr

  1988CaldecottPicture Books
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  Hey, Al by Richard Egielski

  1987CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

  1986CaldecottPicture Books
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  Saint George and the Dragon by Trina Schart Hyman

  1985CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice and Martin Provensen

  1984CaldecottPicture Books
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  Shadow by Marcia Brown

  1983CaldecottPicture Books
• Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg

  1982CaldecottPicture Books
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  Fables by Arnold Lobel

  1981CaldecottPicture Books
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  Ox-Cart Man by Barbara Cooney

  1980CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble

  1979CaldecottPicture Books
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  Noah's Ark by Peter Spier

  1978CaldecottPicture Books
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  Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Leo and Diane Dillon

  1977CaldecottPicture Books
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  Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Leo and Diane Dillon

  1976CaldecottPicture Books
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  Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott

  1975CaldecottPicture Books
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  Duffy and the Devil by Margot Zemach

  1974CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Funny Little Woman by Blair Lent

  1973CaldecottPicture Books
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  One Fine Day by Nonny Hogrogian

  1972CaldecottPicture Books
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  A Story a Story by Gail E. Haley

  1971CaldecottPicture Books
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  Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig

  1970CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship by Uri Shulevitz

  1969CaldecottPicture Books
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  Drummer Hoff by Ed Emberley

  1968CaldecottPicture Books
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  Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness

  1967CaldecottPicture Books
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  Always Room for One More by Nonny Hogrogian

  1966CaldecottPicture Books
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  May I Bring a Friend? by Beni Montresor

  1965CaldecottPicture Books
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  Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

  1964CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

  1963CaldecottPicture Books
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  Once a Mouse by Marcia Brown

  1962CaldecottPicture Books
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  Baboushka and the Three Kings by Nicolas Sidjakov

  1961CaldecottPicture Books
• Nine Days to Christmas by Marie Hall Ets

  1960CaldecottPicture Books
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  Chanticleer and the Fox by Barbara Cooney

  1959CaldecottPicture Books
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  Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey

  1958CaldecottPicture Books
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  A Tree Is Nice by Marc Simont

  1957CaldecottPicture Books
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  Frog Went A-Courtin' by Feodor Rojankovsky

  1956CaldecottPicture Books
• Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown

  1955CaldecottPicture Books
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  Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans

  1954CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward

  1953CaldecottPicture Books
• Finders Keepers by Nicholas Mordvinoff

  1952CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous

  1951CaldecottPicture Books
• Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi

  1950CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Big Snow by Berta and Elmer Hader

  1949CaldecottPicture Books
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  White Snow, Bright Snow by Roger Duvoisin

  1948CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Little Island by Leonard Weisgard

  1947CaldecottPicture Books
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  The Rooster Crows by Maud and Miska Petersham

  1946CaldecottPicture Books
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  Prayer for a Child by Elizabeth Orton Jones

  1945CaldecottPicture Books
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  Many Moons by Louis Slobodkin

  1944CaldecottPicture Books
• The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

  1943CaldecottPicture Books
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  Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

  1942CaldecottPicture Books
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  They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson

  1941CaldecottPicture Books
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  Abraham Lincoln by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

  1940CaldecottPicture Books
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  Mei Li by Thomas Handforth

  1939CaldecottPicture Books
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  Animals of the Bible by Dorothy P. Lathrop

  1938CaldecottPicture Books

• Picture Books

See also

• Arthur C. Clarke Award
• Booker Prize
• Carnegie Medal
• Costa Book Awards
• Edgar Awards
• Giller Prize
• Hugo Awards
• International Booker Prize
• Kirkus Prize
• Lambda Literary Awards
• Locus Awards
• National Book Award
• National Book Critics Circle Award
• Nebula Awards
• Newbery Medal
• Nobel Prize in Literature
• PEN/Faulkner Award
• PEN/Hemingway Award
• Pulitzer Prizes
• Women’s Prize for Fiction
• World Fantasy Awards