| Caldecott Medal | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | "the most distinguished American picture book for children" |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association |
| First awarded | 1938 |
| Website | ala |
The Randolph Caldecott Medal annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children", beginning with 1937 publications. It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).[1] The Caldecott and Newbery Medals are the most prestigious American children's book awards.
The award is named for Randolph Caldecott, a nineteenth-century English illustrator. Rene Paul Chambellan designed the Medal in 1937. The obverse scene is derived from Randolph Caldecott's front cover illustration for The Diverting History of John Gilpin (Routledge, 1878, an edition of the 1782 poem by William Cowper), which depicts Gilpin astride a runaway horse.[2][3] The reverse is based on "Four and twenty blackbirds bak'd in a pie", one of Caldecott's illustrations for the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence".
Beside the Caldecott Medal, the committee awards a variable number of citations to worthy runners-up, called the Caldecott Honors or Caldecott Honor Books. Recently there are two to four annual Honors. The Honor Books must be a subset of the runners-up on the final ballot, either the leading runners-up on that ballot or the leaders on one further ballot that excludes the winner.[4]
- ==Eligibility and criteria==
The artist must be a US citizen or resident and the illustrations must be original to the book, which must be published first or simultaneously in the US in English during the preceding year.[5]
A picture book provides "a visual experience. A picture book has a collective unity of story-line, theme, or concept, developed through the series of pictures" that constitute the book. Picture books for any audience up to age 14 should be considered.[5]
The Medal is "for distinguished illustrations in a picture book and for excellence of pictorial presentation for children". The book must be self-contained, independent of other media for its enjoyment. Components other than illustration should be considered as they bear on effectiveness as a children's picture book.[5]
- ==Process==
The committee that decides on the Caldecott Award winner comprises fifteen members. Eight are elected by the entire ALSC membership and seven including the chairperson are appointed by the ALSC President.[6] Many publishers send copies of books to the committee; 2009 members each received more than 700.[7] To help identify possible contenders, the chairperson generally asks for committee members to identify strong contenders each month.[8] In the fall each member of the committee may formally nominate seven books.[7] Publications late in the year should receive equal consideration. As of 2009/2010 each committee member must nominate three and no more books in October, two in November, two in December, and January identification of worthy December publications is solicited.[9]
- ==Recipients==
The annual number of Caldecott Honor Books ranges from one to five, same as for the Newbery Medal during the same timespan, from 1938. For two decades 1993–2012 there were two to four Honors every year.
Yellow background highlights the Medalists.
Table
- == Multiple awards ==
Robert Lawson alone has won both a Caldecott Medal and a Newbery Medal, the 1941 Caldecott for They Were Strong and Good and the 1945 Newbery for Rabbit Hill. He both wrote and illustrated both books.
Illustrator Gail E. Haley has won both the Caldecott and the Kate Greenaway Medal, the comparable British award. She won the Caldecott for A Story a Story (Atheneum Books, 1970) and the Greenaway for The Post Office Cat (The Bodley Head, 1976). Haley and her second husband lived in England from 1973 to 1980.[10] From about 2000 the British award is open to all illustrators.
Caldecott Medals
editTwo people have won three Caldecott Medals.
- Marcia Brown, 1955, 1962, 1983 (also five Honors)
- David Wiesner, 1992, 2002, 2007 (also two Honors)
Several others have won two medals:
- Robert McCloskey, Barbara Cooney, Nonny Hogrogian, Leo and Diane Dillon, Chris Van Allsburg, Chris Raschka
Medal and Honor Books
editSeveral winners of one Medal have also created multiple Honor Books
- 7 honors: Maurice Sendak
- 5 honors: Marie Hall Ets, Jerry Pinkney
- 3 honors: Trina Schart Hyman, Blair Lent, Evaline Ness, Uri Shulevitz, Paul O. Zelinsky
- 2 honors: Stephen Gammell, Berta and Elmer Hader, Robert Lawson, Arnold Lobel, David McCaulay, Gerald McDermott, Leo Politi, Marc Simont, David Small, Leonard Weisgard, Ed Young, Margot Zemach
See also
edit
- Newbery Medal
- Kate Greenaway Medal, the British award to illustrators
References
edit- ^ "Welcome to the Caldecott Medal Home Page". ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
- ^ "The Randolph Caldecott Medal". ALSC. ALA. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
- ^
"Caldecott's Picture Book John Gilpin". Randolph Caldecott Society UK (randolphcaldecott.org.uk). Last modified May 26, 2005. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Manual, p. 37.
- ^ a b c
"[Caldecott] Terms and Criteria". ALSC. ALA. 1978, revised 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|year=(help) - ^ Manual, p. 9.
- ^ a b
Colburn, Nell (February 1, 2010). "Caldecott Confidential: What's next year's best picture book for kids? Please, don't ask". School Library Journal. Reed Business Information: 39–40. Retrieved 2010-03-11.
Colburn chaired the 2009 Caldecott committee. - ^ Manual, p. 28.
- ^ Manual, p. 19.
- ^ (Greenaway Winner 1976). Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
- Citations
- "Randolph Caldecott Medal Committee Manual" (PDF). Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). American Library Association (ALA). June 2009 (formatted August 2012). Retrieved 2013-05-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)
Further reading
edit- Kolbe, Richard (1981). "Sex-Role Stereotyping in Preschool Children's Picture Books". Social Psychology Quarterly. 44 (4): 369–74. JSTOR 3033906.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Smith, Irene (1957). A History of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals. New York: Viking Press.
External links
edit- Caldecott Medal at smallfrybooks — winners and honor books including cover images
- Caldecott Medal Winners at AboutRead — borrow from a local library
Category:American children's literary awards Category:Caldecott Medal winners Category:Caldecott Medal winning works Category:Awards established in 1938 Category:American Library Association awards