And the Caldecott goes to…
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Every year, I look forward to late January when the Newbery and Randolph Caldecott Medals are announced.
The Caldecott Medal recognizes the most distinguished American picture book for children. Picture books provide visual interest to stories and can capture the imaginations of children and adults alike.
Don’t underestimate the value of picture books, because research shows that babies can take the name of something they have learned in a picture book and apply it to the actual real-life object and even drawings of that same object. Infants can start learning specific words from stories shortly after their first birthday. After hearing a new object name in a picture book, babies aged 15 to 18 months are able to transfer that new name to a real object, and even to drawings of the object (Ganea, Pickard, & DeLoache, 2008).
2020 Caldecott Medal
The Undefeated, written by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Kadir Nelson is the 2020 Caldecott Medal winner. If you’re wondering why this might seem familiar, then you might recognize this as a 2020 Newbery Honor Award. This book is targeted for grades 3 and older.
Caldecott Honor Books
Other books, all targeted towards 4-8-year-olds, recognized this year include the following titles:
Bear Came Along, illustrated by LeUyen Pham and written by Richard T. Morris, shares the tale of friendship and adventure.
Double Bass Blues, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez and written by Andrea J. Loney, will delight young listeners of stories and music with its story and vibrant illustrations.
Going Down Home with Daddy, illustrated by Daniel Minter and written by Kelly Starling Lyons, emphasizes that “Nothing is more important than family” throughout the tale of the meaning of family, ritual, and tradition.
These four books are sure to be a visual treat to you and your young listeners.
Jann Fujimoto, M.S. CCC-SLP, enjoys reading and visited all of the Waukesha County libraries in the summer of 2019. She’s also a speech-language pathologist and owner of SpeechWorks. SpeechWorks helps toddlers to teens in Oconomowoc, Dousman, Delafield, Ixonia, Watertown, Hartland, Pewaukee, and Waukesha become confident communicators. If you have concerns about your child’s speech-language development, contact SpeechWorks at 262-490-5653.