Difference Between Caldecott and Newbery Awards

Caldecott Award

Created in 1938, the Caldecott Award is presented annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association(ALA), to the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott.

Newbery Award

Created in 1922, the Newbery Medal is also presented annually by the American Library Association (ALA) for the most prominent American children’s book published the previous year. The award was named in honor of eighteenth-century English bookseller John Newbery.

Is one better than the other?

I do not believe that one award, the Caldecott or Newbery, is better than the other. Each award serves a particular purpose in that one is for illustrations (Caldecott) and the other for literature (Newbery). Readers who favor one type of book may preference one award over the other depending on the variety of material they enjoy most.

A complete inventory of the Caldecott Award winners and Newbery Award winners may be located at the American Library Assocation webpage (www.ala.org)