Table Of ContentT h e
N e w b e r y
&
C a l d e C o T T
a w a r d s
A G u i d e t o t h e
M e d a l a n d H o n o r B o o k s
2 0 0 9 E d i t i o n
As s o c i At i o n f o r Li b r A ry
s erv i c e t o c h i Ld r en
A m er i c A n Li b r A ry A s s o c i At i o n
c h i c Ag o 2009
Te newbery and Caldecott medals and Honor Book seals are property of the American
Library Association and cannot be used in any form or reproduced without permission of
the ALA, ofce of Rights and Permissions.
Cover illustration for Te Graveyard Book, by neil Gaiman, illustrated by dave McKean,
used with permission of HarperCollins Children’s Books. Cover illustration for Te
Undern eath, by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by david Small, used with permission of Simon
& Schuster Children’s Publishing. Cover illustration for Te Surrender Tree: Poems of
Cu ba’s Struggle for Freedom, by Margarita Engle, used with permission of Henry Holt and
Company. Cover illustration for Savvy, by ingrid Law, used with permission of Penguin
Group USA. Cover illustration for After Tupac and D Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson, used
with permission of Penguin Group USA.
Photo of Beth Krommes by dave Rowell. Cover illustration for Te House in the Night, by
Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes, used with permission of Houghton
Mifin Harcourt. Cover illustration for A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, written
and illustrated by Marla Frazee, used with permission of Houghton Mifin Harcourt.
Cover illustration for How I Learned Geography, written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz,
used with permission of Macmillan Children’s Publishing. Cover illustration for A River
of Words: Te Story of William Carlos Williams, by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet,
used with permission of Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
Te paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
national Standard for information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, AnSi Z39.48-1992. ∞
Copyright © 2009 by the American Library Association. All rights reserved except those
which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976.
iSBn-13: 978-0-8389-3585-9
iSSn: 1070-4493
Printed in the United States of America
13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
PREFACE v
newbery and Caldecott Awards:
Authorization and terms 1
newbery and Caldecott Medal Books:
Revised, Revamped, and Revitalized
Kathleen T. Horning 11
Te newbery Awards,
2009–1922 19
Te Caldecott Awards,
2009–1938 89
AUtHoR/iLLUStRAtoR indEx 153
titLE indEx 161
Additional material can be found on the book’s website,
at www.ala.org/editions/extras/alsc35859.
iii
Preface
elcome to the 2009 edition of the newbery and Caldecott awards guide. Tis
Wcomplete listing of newbery and Caldecott Medal–winning and honor books
showcases the most distinguished examples of American children’s literature and
i llustration over the past eighty-plus years.
Tis volume is reissued each year, featuring the new medal-winning and honor
books and listing the previous awards from their inceptions in 1922 (newbery Medal)
and 1938 (Caldecott Medal). in this edition, we’re introducing an exciting new fea-
ture that will be continued in future editions: notes indicating which newbery and
Caldecott Medal winners have been subsequently revised and republished with new
text or art. Tis information is important if the revisions are extensive. in the case
of Caldecott winners, for instance, at what point does a book’s art cease to be the
art examined and recognized by the committee that awarded the initial medal? An
excellent example is Judith St. George and david Small’s So You Want to Be President?
Clearly, in order for the book to stay current, this art (and text) needs to change every
four or eight years. our goal in making note of this information is to raise awareness
of the issue and alert librarians, academics, and others interested in these award-
winning titles to the books that have been revised.
We are indebted to past ALSC president Kathleen t. Horning, director of the
Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, for
her research and writing on this topic. Her contributions make this annual guidebook
even more useful and help us provide the most comprehensive information possible
about these noted awards.
Some favorite features remain: Bette J. Peltola’s essay “newbery and Caldecott
Awards: Authorization and terms” discusses the terms and defnitions that have
evolved for both awards. Te information on media used in Caldecott Medal–winning
and honor books, originally compiled by Christine Behrmann and published in the
Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, has been moved to accompany individual award
entries. in addition, we have made several of the featured essays from past editions of
this guidebook available on the Web at www.ala.org/editions/extras/alsc35859.
We hope you fnd the 2009 guide valuable, and we welcome your suggestions for
future editions.
diane Foote
Executive director
Association for Library Service to Children
v
Newbery and
Caldecott Awards
AUtHoRiZAtion And tERMS
Bette J. Peltola
ach year the newbery and Caldecott Medals are awarded by the American Li-
Ebrary Association for the most distinguished American children’s books pub-
lished the previous year. on June 22, 1921, Frederic G. Melcher proposed to the
American Library Association meeting of the Children’s Librarians’ Section that a
medal be given for the most distinguished children’s book of the year. He suggested
that it be named for the eighteenth-century English bookseller John newbery. Te
idea was enthusiastically accepted by the children’s librarians, and Melcher’s ofcial
proposal was approved by the ALA Executive Board in 1922. in Melcher’s formal
agreement with the board, the purpose of the new bery Medal was stated as follows:
“to encourage original and creative work in the feld of books for children. to em-
phasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar
recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. to give those librarians, who make it their life
work to serve children’s reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing
in this feld.” Te newbery Award thus became the frst children’s book award in the
world. its terms, as well as its long history, continue to make it the best known and
most discussed children’s book award in this country.
Te description of the award adopted in 1922 indicated that the newbery Medal
“is to be awarded annually to the author of the ‘most distinguished contribution to
American literature for children,’ the award being made to cover books whose publi-
cation in book form falls in the calendar year last elapsed. Te award is restricted to
authors who are citizens or residents of the United States. Reprints and compilations
are not eligible for consideration. Tere are no limitations as to the character of the
book considered except that it be original work. it need not be written solely for
bette J. PeLtoLA is professor emerita, School of Education, University of Wisconsin–
Milwaukee.
1
2 nEWBERY And CALdECot t AWARdS
chi ldren ; the judgment o f the l ib ra r i ans vo t ing sha l l dec ide whether a book be a
‘cont r ibut ion to the l i t e r a ture fo r ch i ld ren . ’ Te award cons ider s on l y the books o f
one c a l endar yea r and does not pas s judgment on the author ’s p rev ious work or o ther
work dur ing tha t yea r out s ide the vo lume tha t maiyn b 1e 9n3a2m tehde. ”S ec t ion
fo r L ibra r y Work with Chi ldren, with Melcher ’s approva l , adoptetdo the fo l lowing: “
be e l ig ib le for nthewe ber y Medal books must be o r ig ina l , or, i f t radi t iona l in or ig in ,
the resul t of indiv idua l research, the re te l l ing and re interpretat ion being the wr i ter ’s
own.”
during the next several years, 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. So, in 1937 Melcher suggested a second annual
medal, this to be given to the artist who had created the most distinguished picture
book of the year and to be called the Caldecott Medal in honor of Randolph Cal-
decott, the nineteenth-century English illustrator. Te idea for this medal was also
accepted enthusiastically by the Section for Library Work with Children of ALA and
was approved by the ALA Executive Board.
Te Caldecott Medal “shall be awarded to the artist of the most distinguished
American Picture Book for Children published in the United States during the pre-
ceding year. Te award shall go to the artist, who must be a citizen or resident of the
United States, whether or not he be the author of the text. Members of the newbery
Medal Committee will serve as judges. if a book of the year is nominated for both
the newbery and Caldecott Awards the committee shall decide under which heading
it shall be voted upon, so that the same title shall not be considered on both ballots.”
in 1977 the Board of directors of the Association for Library Service to Children
rescinded the fnal part of the 1937 action and approved that “any book published in
the preceding year shall be eligible to be considered for either award or both awards.”
Separate committees to choose the newbery and Caldecott Awards were established
in 1978 and began with the 1980 Selection Committees.
Additional changes in terms for the Awards
A resolution by the Section for Library Work with Children in 1932 that “the book
of a previous award winner shall receive the award only upon the unanimous vote”
of the committee was later rescinded by the Children’s Services division Board of
directors. “in view of the fact that a unanimous vote in the case of a previous winner
of the newbery or Caldecott Awards was frst instituted to encourage new authors
and illustrators at a period when such encouragement was needed and since such
need is no longer apparent, the restriction of a unanimous vote for winning either
award more than once [is] removed from terms for selection [of the awards]” (1958).
in 1963 it was voted by the Children’s Services division that “joint authors shall be
eligible” for the awards.
nEWBERY And CALdECot t AWARdS 3
in 1978, the ALSC Board of directors adopted new statements of terms, defni-
tions, and criteria for each award. Te new statements were prepared and adopted to
provide further clarifcation of the basis on which the awards are to be given. Tey
were slightly modifed for further clarifcation in 1985 and 1987.
newbery Award
Te terms, defnitions, and criteria for the newbery Award are as follows:
Terms
1. Te Medal shall be awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished
contribution to American literature for children published in the United States
during the preceding year. Tere are no limitations as to the character of the book
considered except that it be original work. Honor Books may be named. Tese
shall be books that are also truly distinguished.
2. Te Award is restricted to authors who are citizens or residents of the United
States.
3. Te committee in its deliberations is to consider only the books eligible for the
Award as specifed in the terms.
Defnitions
1. “Contribution to American literature” indicates the text of a book. it also implies
that the committee shall consider all forms of writing—fction, nonfction, and
poetry. Reprints and compilations are not eligible.
2. A “Contribution to American literature for children” shall be a book for which
children are a potential audience. Te book displays respect for children’s
understandings, abilities, and appreciations. “Children” are defned as persons of
ages up to and including fourteen, and books for this entire age range are to be
considered.
3. “distinguished” is defned as:
• marked by eminence and distinction: noted for signifcant achievement
• marked by excellence in quality
• marked by conspicuous excellence or eminence
• individually distinct
4. “Author” may include coauthors. Te author may be awarded the medal
posthumously.
