What is the Caldecott Medal? According to the ALA, each year the Newbery Medal is awarded by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's books published the previous year. However, as 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, Frederic G. Melcher suggested in 1937 the establishment of a second annual medal. This medal is to be given to the artist who had created the most distinguished picture book of the year and named in honor of the nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph J. Caldecott.
If you have the desire to build a children's book library of your own, this is a good place to start. You are getting the best of the best in children's literature with illustrations. Here are my favorites!
- Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
- The Little House by Virgina Lee Burton
- Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper by Marcia Brown
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
- Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinksky
Because these are the ones I remember from my childhook, except for Rapunzel. It's one of my new favorites. Not only do I love these books that are winners but I love other books by these award winning illustrators.
Print off the list from the link I provided above, read it over and then tell me what your favorites are. Are they from your childhood? Newly discovered? Are their many you have never read? I have to mention that one of my favorite illustrators of all time was never a winner of any award but whose illustrations are enchanting...Gyo Fujikawa. Who until recently, I thought was a man. She is actually an American woman, whose parents were from Japan and was given a masculine name. Interesting right? This particular book is one that my mother read to me until the cover fell off. Here are some sample illustrations I have found online to share with you. Once I rediscovered this illustrator in college I started buying her books whenever possible. So, my brother, my mom and myself all have a copy of this beloved book. 
Here are a few great website that showcase beautiful children's books (not all Caldecott). Just look for them and be sure to make a list of your own and keep it handy. Visit your local library and used bookstores for great choices in literature.
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