• Randolph Caldecott was a renowned English illustrator of the Victorian Era, whose drawings changed the face of children’s picture books. Fifty years after Caldecott’s death, an award was proposed to honor the illustrator “who had created the most distinguished picture book of the year.” In 1938, the Caldecott Medal was awarded for the first time to Dorothy Lathrop for her work on Animals of the Bible.
• The bronze medal features Caldecott’s illustrations, with one side featuring his work on a 1782 poem, and the reverse based on his drawings for the nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence.”
• Two mallard ducks searching for a permanent home are the foundation of 1942’s Make Way for Ducklings. Mrs. Mallard is about to hatch her eight ducklings when she and her mate land on an island in the Charles River in the city of Boston. A week later, it’s time to move the family to their forever home in the lagoon of Boston Public Garden’s lagoon. Stuck at a busy intersection in the city’s downtown, the family is helped by the friendly policeman Michael, who stops traffic along the route to the Garden. Author and illustrator Robert McCloskey brought six ducklings to live in his New York City apartment to study for his illustrations. He studied illustrations of ducks at the city’s American Museum of Natural History, and consulted with an ornithologist to make his artistry just right. The book was awarded the 1942 Caldecott Medal. The mallard family was re-created in bronze by sculptor Nancy Schon, with the statues installed in the Public Garden in 1987.
• Kids are familiar with the four movies in the Jumanji franchise, but might not know their origin. The adventures began with Chris Van Allsburg’s 1982 Caldecott-winning picture book. It’s the story of an enchanted board game filled with wild animals and jungle features that becomes real, sending the dangers of the game board into the home of the children playing it, including wild monkeys, huge spiders, untamed tigers, and a monsoon. The book was adapted into the first film in 1995.
• Four years after Jumanji, Chris Van Allsburg nabbed the Caldecott Medal once again, with The Polar Express, the story of a young boy’s journey on a train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. As a child, Van Allsburg had played on a steam locomotive on display in his Michigan hometown, and used it as his inspiration for his illustrations. The book was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film in 2004.
• Arnold Lobel introduced his beloved characters Frog and Toad in 1970, with stories of the loyal friendship between the two. Frog and Toad navigate life’s circumstances, from the menial, such as a lost button, to adventures of flying a kite and planting a garden. Lobel penned a series of four Frog and Toad books, winning Caldecott Honors in 1970 and a Newbery Honor Award in 1973. Lobel was the Caldecott Medal winner in 1981 for his illustrations in Fables, containing 20 tales each containing a moral, such as “Nothing is harder to resist than a bit of flattery” and “A first failure may prepare the way for later success.” Lobel was also the author of 1977’s popular Mouse Soup. A childhood illness initiated his love of drawing, when Lobel spent most of the second grade at home, keeping himself occupied by drawing.
