2014 Caldecott Winners
On Monday the American Library Association announced its most esteemed literary prizes. The ALA hands out a lot of different awards, but since this is a site dedicated to illustration we are only going to focus on one, the Caldecott medals. The award was announced at the American Library Association’s winter meeting in Philadelphia and selected by a national judging committee of librarians and children’s literature experts. The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.
This year’s award went to Locomotive by Brian Floca. The story about a family taking a trip across country in the summer of 1869 on one of the first passenger trains. Floca is the author and illustrator of Locomotive. He has also written and illustrated other books like Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, Lightship, and The Racecar Alphabet. Mr. Floca’s work is no stranger to awards. His books have received 3 Robert F. Sibert Honor awards, an Orbis Pictus Award, a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators, and have twice been selected for The New York Times annual 10 Best Illustrated Books list. Check out more of Brian Flaca’s work on his website, brianfloca.com.
The other contenders for this award were Journey by Aaron Becker; Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle; and Mr. Wuffles! by David Wiesner. Congratulations to all the nominees. It must have been a tough job to select just one.