No matter what age you are, picture books hold a certain joy - the interplay of illustrations and the words working together to create a magical story between the bookcovers. The American Library Association (ALA) annually honors transformative books, videos, and outstanding materials with dozens of awards, including 18 awards specifically for Youth Media. The Caldecott Medal honors the artist of the most distinguished American picture book published for children by an American publisher. You can check out a complete PDF list of past winners and honorees from 1938 to the present here.
Curious about the Caldecott and other Youth Media Awards? The 2026 Youth Awards are live-streamed and open to the public and will begin at 10:00 AM Central Time (which is 11:00 AM Eastern Time). If you’re snowed in, grab a warm drink, some munchies and tune in on the ALA website or on Facebook to take a peek at some of this year’s transformative children’s literature titles.
The first Caldecott medal was awarded in 1938 to Animals of the Bible by Dorothy P. Lathrop. Named after Randolph Caldecott, often referred to as the “father of the picture book,” the medal is awarded based on illustrations’ merit. The criteria for scoring illustrations include technique and mood of art, consistency between the story and illustrations, the importance of art to storytelling, and the illustrations appeal to young readers. Some iconic Caldecott winners throughout the award’s history c Make Way for Ducklings (Robert McCloskey), Madeline’s Rescue (Ludwig Bemelmans), The Snowy Day (Ezra Jack Keats), Where the Wild Things Are (Maurice Sendak), The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznik), The Adventures of Beekle (Dan Santat), Finding Winnie (Lindsey Mattick), and Big (Vashti Harrison).
According to the ALA’s Caldecott Criteria to identify a “distinguished American picture book for children”, specifically defined as illustration, committee members must consider several factors:
- Excellence of execution in how the artistic technique of the illustration is used.
- Excellence in how the illustrations help to interpret the story, theme, or concept.
- Appropriateness of the style of the illustration in fitting the story, theme, or concept.
- How accurately the plot, theme, characters, setting, mood, or information is conveyed in the illustration.
- Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.
This year, brilliant works have been nominated for the prized Caldecott medal. While the official winners are yet to be announced, many children’s literature enthusiasts have made educated guesses as to books that are likely to earn the medal and honor awards. You can check out their predictions that some groups have shared on 2026 Mock YMA Results Page - ALSC Blog. It’s easy to feel disappointed if your favorite book doesn’t make the list. The world of picture books is highly competitive and the individuals selected to vote on the final winners each bring their own background and perspective to the table but it is fun to see what books others are championing.
The Caldecott winner and honors are selected by official members of the American Library Association. It is considered an honor to be nominated or voted onto the committee by Association Members, as the selection criteria is strict. Voters must be experienced librarians and ALA Members, U.S. citizens or residents, and be free from conflicts of interest. Crestwood’s Branch Administrator, Z Baird, considers her experience on the Caldecott selection committee in 2010 as one of the highlights of her librarian career. Reflecting on the selection process, Baird said, “It was an honor to serve on the Caldecott Committee. The careful listening, respectful discussion, and a willingness among members to both consider and incorporate each other's ideas, perspectives and knowledge was an integral part of the committee experience. It was especially meaningful to serve in 2010, when Westchester’s own famed children’s writer and illustrator Jerry Pinkney was bestowed the medal for The Lion and the Mouse."
After receiving five Caldecott honors throughout his career, Pinkney finally struck gold in 2010, when the nearly-wordless picture book stunned the reader with its rich oil-on-canvas illustrations, completed in his cozy Croton-on-Hudson studio that Baird got to visit and spend time with Jerry once the award was announced.
You can also get involved in the Caldecott action! Check out previous Caldecott winners from any of our Yonkers Public Library branches. There is a Caldecott Winners Book Display at the Crestwood Branch. Starting in February 2026, visit the Crestwood Library to participate in our mock-Caldecott 2027 program to try your own hand at predicting a winner, “Crestwood Celebrates Caldecott”, as part of our ongoing celebration of Crestwood Library’s centennial year and our back to books and literacy focus here at Yonkers Public Library.
For our centennial year at Crestwood Library, Crestwood Crew has selected the following 2026 Caldecott Choices:
Caldecott Medal Goes to: Cat Nap illustrated by Brian Lies
Caldecott Honors go to:
Every Monday Mabel illustrated by Jashar Awan
Broken illustrated by X. Fang
Fireworks illustrated by Cátia Chien
Anything illustrated by Gracey Zhang
Alison Robles, a Yonkers native, received an MS in Information and Library Science from the University at Buffalo. She works at the Crestwood Library and is an avid reader with a passion for YA lit, historical fiction, and fantasy.
Natalie Varker is a part-time page at the Crestwood Library and a full-time student at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH. She is studying elementary education and is especially passionate about the transfer of literacy skills. Her free time is spent reading and watching rom-coms and scavenging for animal-patterned Target socks.
Z is Branch Administrator at the Crestwood Library. January 4th, 2026 marked a milestone of a decade of service to Crestwood Community. She enjoys booktalking and sparking people’s connections with books. When she is not cultivating library experiences for patrons of all ages and matching people with resources (a legacy of doing so for over 30 years), she can be found walking in nature, paddleboarding or curled up fireside with PK, her cat, and an interesting book.