Caldecott And Newbury Medal Winners Announced

A little fish made a big splash this morning when Jon Klassen received the Randolph Caldecott Medal for This Is Not My Hat. The American Library Association awards the prestigious prize yearly to the artist of the most distinguished American’s children’s picture book. Past winners have included Maurice Sendak for Where the Wild Things Are,  Brian Selznick for The Invention of Hugo Cabret,  Jerry Pinkney for The Lion & the Mouse and Chris Raschka for A Ball for Daisy.

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The American Library Association also announced today that Katherine Applegate won the Newbery Medal for The One and Only Ivan. The honor is awarded every year to the writer of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. Past winners include Jack Gantos for Dead End in Norvelt, Clare Vanderpool for Moon Over Manifest, Susan Patron for The Higher Power of Lucky and Christopher Paul Curtis for Bud, Not Buddy.

This Is Not My Hat (Candlewick Press) tells the story of a fish who makes no apologies for stealing a bigger fish’s bowler hat. The spirited thief elicits chuckles as he sneaks away, but things soon take a darker turn when the big fish catches up. The One and Only Ivan (HarperCollins) follows the story of Ivan, a gorilla who lives in a mall and doesn’t miss the jungle at all…until a new resident makes him see everything differently. The Caldecott and Newbury medals are the top two awards for children’s books, and can have a huge impact on book sales.

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