The Randolph Caldecott Medal

2009 Caldecott Medal Winner — The House in the Night
illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson
Age Range: 3 to 6
 
A spare, patterned text and glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in this bedtime book for young children. Naming nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to preschoolers—a key, a bed, the moon—this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe.
 

2009 Honor Book — A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
Age Range: 6 to 9
 
When James and Eamon go to a week of Nature Camp and stay at Eamon's grandparents' house, it turns out that their free time spent staying inside, eating waffles, and playing video games is way more interesting than nature. But sometimes things work out best when they don't go exactly as planned.

In this moving and hilarious celebration of young boys, childhood friendships, and the power of the imagination, Marla Frazee captures the very essence of summer vacation and what it means to be a kid.
 

2009 Honor Book — How I Learned Geography
written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz
Age Range: 4 to 8
 
Having fled from war in their troubled homeland, a boy and his family are living in poverty in a strange country. Food is scarce, so when the boy’s father brings home a map instead of bread for supper, at first the boy is furious. But when the map is hung on the wall, it floods their cheerless room with color. As the boy studies its every detail, he is transported to exotic places without ever leaving the room, and he eventually comes to realize that the map feeds him in a way that bread never could.
 

2009 Honor Book — A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant
Age Range: 9 to 12
 
Willie loved to write — words gave him freedom and peace. But he also knew that he needed to earn a living, so when he grew up he went off to medical school and became a doctor — one of the busiest men in town! Yet he never stopped writing.

In this picture book biography of poet William Carlos Williams, Jen Bryant’s engaging prose and Melissa Sweet’s stunning mixed-media illustrations celebrate the amazing man whose poems about ordinary, everyday things will inspire young readers to create poems of their own.
 

Caldecott Information