Every Single Caldecott Medal Winner

We read this book for our book club, and it was loved by all. It's a huge book that may seem like too much for some readers, but it's a story told partially in pictures. It's not a babyish picture book either. The drawings are beautiful and really add to the story. At the book club, I was able to show the movie mentioned in the book (which made everybody laugh since they'd never seen a silent movie), plus we looked at some real life automatons. Overall, a great read and a great book club book.

With some of the most majestic illustrations ever crafted, David Wiesner tells the tale of a young boy who travels to the beach to pickup ocean debris. At the shore, the boy finds a camera, which turns out to be an incredible discovery for both the boy and the reader.

Experience the magic and simple pleasures of some quality time at grandma's where the fun starts before you even get in the house, and the Queen of England herself might walk by and wave.

Kitten's First Full Moon is a heart-catching, humorous adventure of a kitten in search of a saucer of milk. Make no mistake this is one determined kitty who makes you want to step in the pages to rescue him and causes little hands to clap over the dear closing. If only every child could have visuals and story this nurturing to fall asleep to. I keep a spare copy for any little ones that might tumble through my door and need their own "saucer of milk."

This book won the 1999 Caldecott Award as it should. This book is beautifully illustrated. Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley was a farmer born in 1865 in Jericho, Vermont (in the heart of the Vermont snowbelt). When he was 15 years old his mother gave him a microscope and he began to study snowflakes under the microscope. He was stunned by their beauty, uniqueness and delicacy. He spent the rest of his life studying and photographing snowflakes. This book is just terrific.

A fun book combining one of the things children most love (animals) with one of the things children most need (a few simple rules that can keep them safe) to provide a laugh and a lesson. This is a book that should be in the library of every parent with a young child and every elementary teacher.

Beautiful illustrations and an easy story for heavy subject matter. I love it.

Emily paints Mirette's High Wire story with soft strokes of watercolor and strong values. She teaches visually how hard work brings about stunning results. I was smitten with her art while paying close attention to her story line. I liked that Emily didn't make success too easy and showed the rewarding payoff of trying again... and again. Emily also captures how friendship impacts all ages and how even grown ups can feel afraid. I love when we can introduce children to art and Emily has a wondrous full palette blending paint and story.

Another winner from David Wiesner. Frogs in a pond resting on their lily pads lift off, using their pads as a sort of botanical magic carpet. They zoom all over town, through a woman's living room, going back to their pond at sunrise. This multi-award winning book is a little bit science fiction, a little bit noir, and all in all a real treat.

A complex and disjointed narrative from the author of the instant classic The Way Things Work, Black and White represents the pinnacle of creative storytelling. It's a topsy-turvy experiment in postmodern narration and it will keep you turning — and re-turning — pages to make way through its multi-layered illustrations way past bedtime.

I use this book in 4th grade to inspire children to write about a grandparent or special person in their life. It uses the senses to help us get the essence of a former vaudeville granddad. Lovely read aloud.

One of the great charms of children is viewing a simple walk as a magical event, and this book evokes that feeling when a father takes his daughter out owling one cold winter night near the farm where they live. The book — a gentle-toned poem — touches on nature as well as father-daughter relationships, and the story's charming simplicity is sure to engage readers both young and young-at-heart.

One of my all time favorites... especially the set that includes the book on tape. I've officially now listened to it — while I flip the pages — more times than my grandsons. Shhh, I sneak peeks between their visits. The illustrations and the story awaken the child within me: I'm on the train (can't you hear its chugging pace?), I'm searching for my ticket, I'm watching out the windows, cold nose pressed against the glass... it's as if the writer gives the train full of growing children one last heart-spinning visit to make-believe, before they are pressed to grow up. All aboard!

This book was one of my childhood favorites. The illustrations were breathtaking, and the storyline captured my imagination. It reads much like a "grown up" book, but has just enough fairy tale elements for children. It's a great read for families who have children at several reading levels, or for parents who want to enjoy reading with their children. It's also a great book to help you begin a study on Medieval literature.

A picture book that will win over even the toughest audience of six- and seven-year-old boys. A brother and sister find what looks like an ordinary board game, but soon find out that it's anything but ordinary. Each roll of the dice is filled with suspense, adventure, and excitement.

All about the Ox-Cart Man and how he and his family work together busily every moment of the day for practically everything they have!

It isn't just the way the story flows, or the beautiful illustrations. As a grown woman reading this story aloud to my young son, it had me secretly wondering for the tiniest moment, "Did she really turn into a horse?" The last page recounts a legend. This is my favorite part.

This is a wonderful book using animals to tell the story of the mosquito's buzzing. Great for teaching cause and effect or sequence of a story.

This book is a lovely melodic rendering of a Scotish ballad. Perfect to read aloud, it sounds as beautiful as it looks. And it has a lovely, cheerful message besides. An absolute must.

This book was controversial when it came out — adults thought that Max was too badly behaved and his monsters were too scary. But generations of young children know best — this book connects perfectly with a young child's fears and his ability to conquer them.

A little boy has a fun day playing in the snow, and even tries to keep a snowball in his coat pocket inside! A strikingly beautiful 1963 Caldecott Medal winner.

Bound to intrigue children everywhere as it has intrigued adults, this book tells the story of the the swallows, and how they return to the same place each spring, on the same day. Wait with a little boy for the swallows to return to Capistrano, sing, and wonder.

The little island starts out feeling lonely, but as the seasons change, so does the feeling. A great way for young children to explore the seasons, and to learn that when you think about it, you are not as alone as you think you are.

Though a well-built house may possibly stay the same over many years, its surroundings most certainly do not. What started out as a happy little house way out in the country became a little house in a bustling city, where it couldn't see the sun anymore because the skyscrapers were so close to it. Yes, houses have feelings too, evidently (and it's quite believable with the charming illustrations by the author). When the descendants of the family who build the little house find it again, they move it back to its original setting... if not quite its original location.

You don't see a book like this one everyday. History told like tall tale, illustrations that are detailed enough to stare at the whole time you're listening to (or reading it yourself) the equally engaging life of Abraham Lincoln, told simply enough that a six year old can understand, and yet details are still there. I also recommend other D'Aulaire biographies, each equally well illustrated and written.