Newbery Award and Caldecott Award

The Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal are both awards given to outstanding works in world of children’s literature.  The Newbery Medal is an award given for literary merit by the Association for Library Service to Children. Named for John Newbery, an 18^th century English publisher of juvenile literature, it established in 1921 as a way of honor those books and authors who provide an outstanding contribution to children’s literature. One author/book is award the Newbery Award every year while other books which could be considered runners-up can be award the Newbery Honor award.  The Newbery Honor was established in 1971.  Some criteria a book must meet to be considered for the Newbery Award include it’s place of publication, which must be in the United States.  The author must be a United States citizen as well.  Besides being written for children, a book must in some way contribute to literature to be considered for the Newbery Award.  

The Caldecott Medal is award given to a distinguished artist of a children’s picture book.  As is the Newbery Award, the Caldecott Medal is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children.  This award was named for Randolph Caldecott who was a nineteenth-century English illustrator and first awarded in 1938.  The artists who are considered runners-up are awarded the Caldecott Honor award.  Criteria for the Caldecott Medal include place and date of publication.  The book must have been published in the United States in the preceding year.  All illustrations must be original work and the artist must be a U.S. citizen.  Books are judged among other things, for the artistic technique, interpretation of the story through pictures, and the recognition of a child audience.