,

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.

Vote for your favorite Caldecott Medal winners here. There is also a list to vote for your favorite Caldecott Honor Books .

Caldecott Terms and Conditions:
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms

Caldecott Contenders aka Mock Caldecotts by year:
2009
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2024, 2025

See also:
Best Picture Books
Best Popular Picture Books on Goodreads
Children's Picture Books With Beautiful illustrations
Wordless Picture Books

ALA Youth Media Awards By Year:
2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
2020, 2021, 2024

ALA Awards:
Alex Awards 2000s, 2010s, 2020s
Batchelder Award Books
Caldecott Award Winners, Honors
Coretta Scott King Award Winning Books
Newbery Award Winners, Honors
Printz Award Winners and Honor Books
Pura Belpre Narrative Award Winners Honorees
Stonewall Book Award Winners
1

by
4.25 avg rating — 1,060,765 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
4.20 avg rating — 119,278 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.25 avg rating — 90,850 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.32 avg rating — 248,401 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.30 avg rating — 42,306 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
4.22 avg rating — 189,440 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.24 avg rating — 27,090 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.16 avg rating — 45,945 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.23 avg rating — 44,600 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.16 avg rating — 27,506 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.24 avg rating — 29,719 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.10 avg rating — 25,290 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.04 avg rating — 30,383 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.23 avg rating — 24,432 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.13 avg rating — 16,528 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.14 avg rating — 18,038 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.16 avg rating — 20,683 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.19 avg rating — 30,037 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
4.04 avg rating — 26,322 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
4.06 avg rating — 18,557 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.09 avg rating — 15,442 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.22 avg rating — 26,026 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.15 avg rating — 17,010 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
4.17 avg rating — 17,407 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.18 avg rating — 8,590 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.10 avg rating — 5,280 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
4.17 avg rating — 15,522 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.26 avg rating — 15,207 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
4.26 avg rating — 21,823 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
4.12 avg rating — 6,097 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
3.87 avg rating — 6,355 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
3.88 avg rating — 9,659 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.12 avg rating — 5,539 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.15 avg rating — 8,814 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
3.87 avg rating — 8,907 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.05 avg rating — 12,386 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
4.02 avg rating — 11,503 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
3.90 avg rating — 11,504 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.49 avg rating — 10,602 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
3.82 avg rating — 2,813 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
3.96 avg rating — 8,594 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.37 avg rating — 7,598 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
3.78 avg rating — 2,401 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
3.90 avg rating — 5,061 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
3.99 avg rating — 3,386 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
4.13 avg rating — 6,181 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
3.94 avg rating — 4,986 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
4.08 avg rating — 3,218 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
3.90 avg rating — 6,093 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
4.04 avg rating — 9,242 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
3.84 avg rating — 4,896 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
3.75 avg rating — 4,039 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
3.79 avg rating — 3,334 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
3.95 avg rating — 6,052 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
3.77 avg rating — 4,705 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.91 avg rating — 2,480 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
3.94 avg rating — 4,386 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
3.94 avg rating — 3,830 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.83 avg rating — 3,578 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.04 avg rating — 4,895 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
3.84 avg rating — 4,270 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
3.78 avg rating — 3,118 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
63

by
3.88 avg rating — 10,105 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
3.91 avg rating — 7,428 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
3.94 avg rating — 2,733 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
66

by
3.67 avg rating — 2,139 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.13 avg rating — 5,484 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.79 avg rating — 2,082 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
3.58 avg rating — 1,843 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
3.70 avg rating — 1,874 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.29 avg rating — 908 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
3.92 avg rating — 3,179 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
3.96 avg rating — 5,838 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.93 avg rating — 2,446 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
3.71 avg rating — 1,325 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
3.47 avg rating — 1,434 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.62 avg rating — 7,308 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
3.67 avg rating — 1,496 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
3.46 avg rating — 1,450 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.49 avg rating — 8,876 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
3.76 avg rating — 2,070 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
3.05 avg rating — 745 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.51 avg rating — 5,774 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.36 avg rating — 995 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.41 avg rating — 1,138 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
4.28 avg rating — 3,544 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.62 avg rating — 4,841 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.25 avg rating — 974 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
280 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Luann 4932 books
176 friends
Laura 6354 books
1234 friends
Kim 1048 books
90 friends
Esther 344 books
114 friends
Blaise 262 books
44 friends
David 425 books
200 friends
Nik 332 books
87 friends
Sharon 36 books
4 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-25 of 25 (25 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Ronyell (new)

Ronyell My favorite books from this list are The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, Where the Wild Things Are, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, Tuesday and Flotsam.


message 2: by Kilian (new)

Kilian There are four books on here that are not Caldecott Medal winners:
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
The three Bugville Critters books


message 3: by Luann (new)

Luann Thanks Kilian, I removed them from the list. I can understand the mistake with "There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly" since it is a Caldecott Honor. But the other three don't make any sense to me at all.


message 4: by Melanie (new)

Melanie Additional books that were Honor books, but not winners: Madeline (Bemelmans), Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (Willems), Click, Clack, Moo (Cronin).


message 5: by Mr. Paul (new)

Mr. Paul This list has a number of books that are not Caldecott medal winners, so I made a new list at http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/31... . It's up-to-date and accurate.


message 6: by Luann (new)

Luann Thanks for making updates, Mr. Paul. It's hard to keep the list current and accurate when people vote for books that don't fit. Good luck keeping yours up-to-date and accurate.


message 7: by Mr. Paul (new)

Mr. Paul Actually, I deleted my list. I thought better of having two lists with the same purpose and did what I should have done from the beginning and just made the updates to your list. I'm a real-life librarian and I like having everything accurate and in its right place! Nitpicking is a professional hazard, I'm afraid.


message 8: by Luann (new)

Luann Even better! Feel free to check in on this list whenever you like to keep it up-to-date. I've deleted books several times, but it's an ongoing task.


message 9: by Beverly (last edited Dec 02, 2013 07:28PM) (new)

Beverly Luann wrote: "Even better! Feel free to check in on this list whenever you like to keep it up-to-date. I've deleted books several times, but it's an ongoing task."

#68: The Cinderella edition cover that is showing is not the correct edition. The edition cover that should be showing is the one illustrated by Marcia Brown.


message 10: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman I'm thinking that the Cinderella illustrated by Marcia Brown probably needs to be separated out from the other editions - since the other editions didn't win the Caldecott. Not sure how to do that.


message 12: by Luann (new)

Luann Thanks, Jess!


message 13: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman http://www.ala.org/news/press-release...

“Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat,” illustrated by Javaka Steptoe is the 2017 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was written by Javaka Steptoe and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: “Leave Me Alone!” illustrated and written by Vera Brosgol and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership; “Freedom in Congo Square,” illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Little Bee Books, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing Group; "Du Iz Tak?" illustrated and written by Carson Ellis, and published by Candlewick Press; and "They All Saw a Cat," illustrated and written by Brendan Wenzel and published by Chronicle Books LLC.


message 14: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman https://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...

"Wolf in the Snow," illustrated and written by Matthew Cordell is the 2018 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was published by Feiwel and Friends, an Imprint of Macmillan.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: "Big Cat, little cat," illustrated and written by Elisha Cooper and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership; "Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut," illustrated by Gordon C. James, written by Derrick Barnes, and published by Bolden, an Agate Imprint, a Denene Millner Book; "A Different Pond," illustrated by Thi Bui, written by Bao Phi and published by Capstone Young Readers, a Capstone imprint and "Grand Canyon," illustrated and written by Jason Chin, a Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership.


message 15: by Luann (new)

Luann Thanks, Mitchell! I've been waiting and waiting and then suddenly the day of the award announcements passed without my notice.


message 16: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Luann wrote: "Thanks, Mitchell! I've been waiting and waiting and then suddenly the day of the award announcements passed without my notice."

yeah - I was the same way - I saw a comment on one of the other goodreads award lists


message 17: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman From Jan 27, 2020
https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blogs/the-scoop/2020-youth-media-award-winners/

The Undefeated, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, is the Caldecott Medal winner. The book was written by Kwame Alexander and published by Versify, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Three Caldecott Honor Books also were named: Bear Came Along, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, written by Richard T. Morris, and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group; Double Bass Blues, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez, written by Andrea J. Loney and published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC; and Going Down Home with Daddy, illustrated by Daniel Minter, written by Kelly Starling Lyons and published by Peachtree Publishers


message 18: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman The Randolph Caldecott Medal, which the American Library Association awards to the most distinguished American picture book for children, went to We Are Water Protectors illustrated by Michaela Goade and written by Carole Lindstrom. The book stresses the urgent need to take care of Earth's water.

We Are Water Protectors, illustrated by Michaela Goade and written by Carole Lindstrom, won the 2021 Caldecott medal.
Roaring Brook Press

Other Caldecott honor books were: A Place Inside of Me: A Poem to Heal the Heart, illustrated by Noa Denmon and written by Zetta Elliott; The Cat Man of Aleppo, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu and written by Irene Latham & Karim Shamsi-Basha; Me & Mama illustrated and written by Cozbi A. Cabrera; and Outside In, illustrated by Cindy Derby and written by Deborah Underwood.


message 19: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: “Watercress,” illustrated by Jason Chin, is the 2022 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was written by Andrea Wang and published by Neal Porter Books, Holiday House.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named:

“Have You Ever Seen a Flower?” illustrated and written by Shawn Harris and published by Chronicle Books;

“Mel Fell,” illustrated and written by Corey R. Tabor and published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers;

“Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre,” illustrated by Floyd Cooper, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Carolrhoda Books, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group; and

“Wonder Walkers,” illustrated and written by Micha Archer and published by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House.


message 20: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman 2023 Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: “Hot Dog,” illustrated and written by Doug Salati, is the 2023 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: “Ain’t Burned All the Bright,” illustrated by Jason Griffin, written by Jason Reynolds and published by Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing; “Berry Song,” illustrated and written by Michaela Goade and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.; “Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement,” illustrated by Janelle Washington, written by Angela Joy and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group; and “Knight Owl,” illustrated and written by Christopher Denise and published by Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.


message 21: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: “Big,” illustrated and written by Vashti Harrison, is the 2024 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was published by Little, Brown and Co., a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: “In Every Life,” illustrated and written by Marla Frazee and published by Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division; “Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter,” illustrated by Molly Mendoza, written by Aida Salazar and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.; “There Was a Party for Langston,” illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey, written by Jason Reynolds and published by Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing; and “The Truth About Dragons,” illustrated by Hanna Cha, written by Julie Leung and published by Henry Holt and Co., an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group.


message 22: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Removed Berry Song, was an Honor Book in 2023 but was not the winner


message 23: by Luann (new)

Luann Thanks, Mitchell! I appreciate your help in keeping the list up-to-date and correct.


message 24: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Luann wrote: "Thanks, Mitchell! I appreciate your help in keeping the list up-to-date and correct."

This list is much easier than the Honor list. I worry that it could easily be missing something or have the wrong book. And there are entirely too many books with only one voter (though a lot better than it used to be).


message 25: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman 2025-01-27

Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children: “Chooch Helped,” illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz and written by Andrea L. Rogers, is the Caldecott Medal winner. The book was published by Arthur A. Levine, an imprint of Levine Querido.

Four Caldecott Honor Books also were named: "Home in a Lunchbox," illustrated and written by Cherry Mo and published by Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House; "My Daddy Is a Cowboy," illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, written by Stephanie Seales and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS; "Noodles on a Bicycle," illustrated by Gracey Zhang, written by Kyo Maclear and published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House; and "Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains," illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, written by Anita Yasuda and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.


back to top



Related News

Adam Fites reads, writes, and makes his home in Seattle. He works in the library of a public school in nearby Kent, where he was the 2023–2024...

Anyone can add books to this list.