Caldecott and Newbery Medals

"It has a gold medal!" "Look, it's a famous book!" "Do you know what this means? This means that this book is really, really good!" All of these comments are just a few of the typical exclamations I hear when my elementary school students discover Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners in the library. After we study and explore the medals and some of the award winners, the students thrill at discovering and reading these books. Over the next few weeks, I get to experience that same thrill as I read and review Caldecott and Newbery Medal winners and honor books for my LME 518: Advanced Children's Literature course. Do you know the difference between the two awards?

The Newbery Medal, named after eighteenth-century bookseller John Newbery, is awarded annually by the Association of Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association. Frederic G. Melcher proposed the award to the American Library Association in 1921 and it has been awarded annually since 1922. In order to become a Newbery Medal recipient, an author must meet the following criteria:
*have the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children
*the book must be published in the United States in English
*the book must be published in the preceding year
*all work must be original
*the author must be a citizen or resident of the United States
The list of award winners includes a diverse span of titles such as Holes, A Single Shard, The Slave Dancer, Bud, Not Buddy, along with other now-classic titles.

In 1937, Frederic Melcher proposed a second annual award, the Caldecott Medal, to the American Library Association. Since the Newbery Medal focused on recognizing the contributions of authors, many people felt the the illustrators, who also made lasting contributions, would be overlooked. For that the reason, the Caldecott Medal has now been awarded annually since 1938. In order to win the Caldecott Medal, the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book must meet the following criteria:
*all illustrations are original work
*the book has been published in the United States
*the book is in English
*the book was published the preceding year
*the artist must be a citizen or resident of the United States
Caldecott winners include The Polar Express, The Lion and the Mouse, Kitten's First Full Moon, and Smoky Night. Just like the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal winners are a diverse group.

Since the Newbery and Caldecott Medals use the same criteria, it appears to me that the awards place an equal significance on both the work of authors and illustrators. And, by utilizing the same criteria, it would appear that the awards committees also places an equal significance on these roles. The primary difference in the awards is on the means of making the contribution to children's literature--the text or the illustration. The Newbery Medal awards the text while the Caldecott awards the illustrations.

In children's literature, both the written word and the illustrations help the children comprehend the story and connect to the characters. At times, it would be hard for primary children to grasp the storyline without the aid of the illustrations to further their understanding. Yet, as children grow and learn to use their imaginations to "see" the story, the illustrations are needed less and the words take on more significance. For this reason, I feel that awards are equally important. One is not "better" than the other. Instead, I think it is important to recognize both illustrators and authors since they meet different purposes for different age groups.