What’s the Difference Between the Caldecott and Newberry Awards?
What’s the difference? Good question! They both have shiny medals on the cover, drawing you in and letting you know that whatever you are about to read will be a quality book.
The difference is this: Caldecott medals are awarded to the artist of the most distinguished picture book for children. Newberry medals are awarded for the most distinguished children’s book.
So Caldecott’s are awarded for the best illustrations and Newberry’s are awarded for the best story. Because my blog is focused on younger children ages 0-6, I tend to focus more on Caldecott winners. The ALA website has a list of current and past years winners and is a great resource for children’s book recommendations.
The Newberry and Caldecott awards are so popular that some books will add a similar-looking emblem on the clover to make it look like the book has an award at first glance. Perhaps a subtly placed moon or sun? An owl eye? Or a small circle celebrating how long the book has been around? (I might be reaching here!) Side note, I do love all these books, just saying that the art director earned his or her salary!
What’s the Difference Between a Medal and an Honor?
Every year, there are typically a handful of nominees for each award. Only one book will win, but the nominees are phenomenal reads as well. These are classified as Caldecott or Newberry Honor books, and will usually have some type of distinguishing award on the cover to label it as such. Some of the more popular books are actually only Honor books, my personal favorite being Madeline. It lost in 1939 to award winner Abraham Lincoln. Other Honor books include Blueberries for Sal and Stone Soup.
Other ALSC Awards
The Caldecott and Newberry awards are given by the Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC), which is a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The ALSC also gives some lesser-known awards. One award to look out for is the Geisel Award for the best picture book. It’s named after Theodore Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. The award winner for 2020 is Stop! Bot! by James Yang.
This year’s award goes to See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka.
Some other awards include the Odyssey award for best audiobook produced for children or young adults and the Batchelder award for the best foreign book. The Odyssey award gets its name from the ancient Greek myth The Odyssey which was passed down from generation to generation by oral storytelling. The Batchelder is another great award as it features beautiful books from different cultures and can give a child a glimpse into nations other than their own.
The Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books have made a substantial contribution to literature for children. It was originally called the Wilder award but was recently changed in 2018.
Past recipients include Laura Ingalls Wilder, Maurice Sendak, and Eric Carle.
The 2020 winner is Kevin Henkes. I especially like his book, Waiting.
Mildred D. Taylor is the winner for 2021. You might recognize her as the author of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
While there are thousands of great children’s books out there, you are sure to find a winner with the Caldecott and Newberry books. For my all-time favorite Caldecott winners check out The Best Caldecott Award Winning Books for Young Children. Thanks for stopping by!
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