The Randolph Caldecott Medal annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children", beginning with 1937 publications. It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).
Caldecott Winner 2023
Salati expertly captures the stifling claustrophobia of hot and crowded city streets. One can almost feel the palpable temperature shift when the colors on the pages move from vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows to blues and greens, like a tonal reprieve. Happily, the book avoids demonizing cities in favor of the country, showing instead how a bad day affects your every sense. Available at North and South Campus
Caldecott Winner 2022
Wang’s moving poetry paired with—and precisely laid out on—Chin’s masterfully detailed illustrations capture both an authentic Midwestern American landscape and a very Chinese American family, together infusing a single event with multiple layers laden with emotion, memory, and significance. Available at North and South Campus
2022-Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, illustrated by Floyd Cooper and written by Carole Boston Weatherford, published by Carolrhoda Books
Author Weatherford and illustrator Cooper join forces to present this important story with sensitivity and care for younger readers. Weatherford’s measured prose depicts the events in a cleareyed, age-appropriate narrative. Oklahoma native Cooper’s muted palette and oil-erasure style effectively portray first the achievement and then the devastation that followed. The author’s and illustrator’s notes provide valuable insight and context, as does the rear endpapers’ photograph of the massacre’s aftermath. Available at North and South Campus.
The Newbery and the Caldecott awards are the most anticipated of the annual prizes given out by the American Library Association for young adult and children’s literature.
Basically the difference in the two awards is that one is for illustrations (Caldecott), while the other is for literature (Newbery). ... Created in 1922, the Newbery Medal is also awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year.
Newbery and Caldecott books are shelved in the Early Childhood Sections at Rowan-Cabarrus North and South Campus.
Freewater (Newbery and Coretta Scott King Award Winner)
by
"A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again? "
"Reading is the most fundamental skill taught in school. Research, however, shows that exposing students to outside literature is more likely to promote a love of reading that will last for a lifetime. Newbery Award books provide a variety of themes and thought-provoking topics appropriate for classroom use. Teachers assume the role of exposing students to quality literature to promote not only academic growth but also the desire to become a lifelong reader."
Ricksecker, R. E. (n.d.). Irresistable Children’s Literature: The Benefits of Integrating Newbery Award Books into the Curriculum(Unpublished master's thesis). Liberty University.