LibGuides: Caldecott Medal: 1990s

1990-1999

1990s

To see the complete list of winners and honor books please click here.

Winner

Lon Po Po : a Red-Riding Hood story from China by Ed Young (Illustrator, Translator)
Call Number: Easy YOU (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780399216190
Publication Date: 1989-11-01
Three sisters staying home alone are endangered by a hungry wolf who is disguised as their grandmother.

Honor Books

Bill Peet : an autobiography by Bill Peet (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-813.54 PEE (Juvenile Non-Fiction)
ISBN: 9780395509326
Publication Date: 1989-03-27
The well-known author and illustrator relates the story of his life and work.
Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy EH (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780397322602
Publication Date: 1989-04-04
Introduces colors and shapes with illustrations of shapes on die-cut pages that form animal faces when placed on top of one another.
The Talking Eggs : a folktale from the American South by Robert D. San Souci; Jerry Pinkney (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy SAN (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780803706194
Publication Date: 1989-09-29
A Southern folktale in which kind Blanche, following the instructions of an old witch, gains riches, while her greedy sister makes fun of the old woman and is duly rewarded.
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel (Retold by); Trina Schart Hyman (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy KI (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780823407699
Publication Date: 1989-09-01
Relates how Hershel outwits the goblins that haunt the old synagogue and prevent the village people from celebrating Hanukkah.

Winner

Black and White by David Macaulay (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XM (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780395521519
Publication Date: 1990-04-30
Four brief "stories" about parents, trains, and cows, or is it really all one story? The author recommends careful inspection of words and pictures to both minimize and enhance confusion.

Honor Books

Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault; Malcolm Arthur (Translator); Fred Marcellino (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy PE (Easy Reading)
ISBN: 9780374361600
Publication Date: 1990-11-01
A retelling of the French fairy tale in which a clever cat wins his master a fortune and the hand of a princess.
More More More, Said the Baby : 3 love stories by Vera B. Williams (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy WIL (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780688091736
Publication Date: 1990-10-17
Three babies are caught up in the air and given loving attention by a father, grandmother, and mother.

Winner

Tuesday by David Wiesner (Illustrator); Dorothy Briley (Editor)
Call Number: Easy WIE (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780395551134
Publication Date: 1991-04-22
Frogs rise on their lily pads, float through the air, and explore the nearby houses while their inhabitants sleep.

Honor Books

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780517580301
Publication Date: 1991-01-16
A young girl dreams of flying above her Harlem home, claiming all she sees for herself and her family. Based on the author's quilt painting of the same name.

Winner

Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy MC (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780399221309
Publication Date: 1992-10-21
Mirette learns tightrope walking from Monsieur Bellini, a guest in her mother's boarding house, not knowing that he is a celebrated tightrope artist who has withdrawn from performing because of fear.

Honor Books

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka; Lane Smith (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy SCI (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780670844876
Publication Date: 1992-10-01
Madcap revisions of familiar fairy tales.
Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy YOU (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780399222610
Publication Date: 1992-04-29
Retells in verse the Indian fable of the blind men discovering different parts of an elephant and arguing about its appearance. The illustrations depict the blind arguers as mice.
Working Cotton by Sherley Anne Williams; Carole Byard (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy WIL (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780152996246
Publication Date: 1992-09-15
A young black girl relates the daily events of her family's migrant life in the cotton fields of central California.

Winner

Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (Illustrator); Eve Bunting
Call Number: Easy XS (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780395570357
Publication Date: 1993-10-25
A Japanese American man recounts his grandfather's journey to America which he later also undertakes, and the feelings of being torn by a love for two different countries.

Honor Books

Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone; Ted Lewin (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XB (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780688102692
Publication Date: 1993-04-26
Peppe's father is upset when he learns that Peppe has taken a job lighting the gas street lamps in his New York City neighborhood.
In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy FL (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780805022643
Publication Date: 1993-09-15
Illustrations and rhyming text describe the activities of animals living in and near a small pond as spring progresses to autumn.
Raven : a trickster tale from the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott
Call Number: Easy MC (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780152656614
Publication Date: 1993-04-30
Raven, a Pacific Coast Indian trickster, sets out to find the sun.
Owen by Kevin Henkes (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy HEN M6 (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780688114503
Publication Date: 1993-09-15
Owen's parents try to get him to give up his favorite blanket before he starts school, but when their efforts fail, they come up with a solution that makes everyone happy.

Winner

Smoky Night by Eve Bunting; David Diaz (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy BU (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780152699543
Publication Date: 1994-03-31
When the Los Angeles riots break out in the streets of their neighborhood, a young boy and his mother learn the value of getting along with others.

Honor Books

John Henry by Julius Lester; Jerry Pinkney (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XLE (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780803716063
Publication Date: 1994-10-01
Retells the life of the legendary African American hero who raced against a steam drill to cut through a mountain.
Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs; Paul O. Zelinsky (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XI (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780525452713
Publication Date: 1994-09-01
Along with other amazing feats, Angelica Longrider, also known as Swamp Angel, wrestles a huge bear, known as Thundering Tarnation, to save the winter supplies of the settlers in Tennessee.
Time Flies by Eric Rohmann
Call Number: Easy XR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780517595992
Publication Date: 1994-04-05
A wordless tale in which a bird flying around the dinosaur exhibit in a museum has an unsettling experience when it finds itself back in the time of living dinosaurs.

Winner

Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
Call Number: Easy RA (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780399226168
Publication Date: 1995-09-28
The children at Napville Elementary School always ignore Officer Buckle's safety tips, until a police dog named Gloria accompanies him when he gives his safety speeches.

Honor Books

Alphabet City by Stephen T. Johnson (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy JOH (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780670856312
Publication Date: 1995-10-01
Paintings of objects in an urban setting present the letters of the alphabet.

Zin! Zin! Zin! : a violin by Lloyd Moss; Marjorie Priceman (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy MO (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780671882396
Publication Date: 1995-03-01
Ten instruments take their parts one by one in a musical performance.

Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens
Call Number: Easy STE (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780152928513
Publication Date: 1995-03-29
Hare turns his bad luck around by striking a clever deal with the rich and lazy bear down the road.

Winner

Golem by David Wisniewski (Retold by); David Wisniewski (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XW (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780395726181
Publication Date: 1996-10-18
A saintly rabbi miraculously brings to life a clay giant who helps him watch over the Jews of sixteenth-century Prague.

Honor Books

Hush! : a Thai lullaby by Minfong Ho; Holly Meade (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy HO (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780531095003
Publication Date: 1996-03-01
A lullaby which asks animals such as a lizard, monkey, and water buffalo to be quiet and not disturb the sleeping baby.
The Graphic Alphabet by David L. Pelletier
Call Number: Easy PE (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780531360019
Publication Date: 1996-09-01
A graphical representation of the alphabet gives a new view of the letters, from the A that crumbles as an avalanche approaches to the D that glows with the light of the devil.
The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey (Illustrator)
Call Number: EAsy PI (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780531095065
Publication Date: 1996-03-01
A paperboy and his dog enjoy the quiet of the early morning as they go about their rounds.
Starry Messenger : a book depicting the life of a famous scientist, mathematician, astronomer, philospher, physicist, Galileo Galilei by Peter Sís (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XS (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780374371913
Publication Date: 1996-10-31
Describes the life and work of the courageous man who changed the way people saw the galaxy, by offering objective evidence that the earth was not the fixed center of the universe.

Winner

Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky (Illustrator, Retold by); Wilhelm K. Grimm; Jacob Grimm; Brothers Grimm
Call Number: Easy XZ (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780525456070
Publication Date: 1997-10-01
A retelling of a folktale in which a beautiful girl with long golden hair is kept imprisoned in a lonely tower by a sorceress. Includes a note on the origins of the story.

Honor Books

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart; David Small (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy STE (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780374325176
Publication Date: 1997-08-30
A series of letters relating what happens when, after her father loses his job, Lydia Grace goes to live with her Uncle Jim in the city but takes her love for gardening with her.
Harlem : a poem by Walter Dean Myers; Christopher Myers (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XMY (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780590543408
Publication Date: 1997-02-01
A poem celebrating the people, sights, and sounds of Harlem.

Winner

Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin; Mary Azarian (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy MA (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780395861622
Publication Date: 1998-09-28
A biography of a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of individual snowflakes in order to study their unique formations.

Honor Books

Duke Ellington : the piano prince and his orchestra by Andrea Davis Pinkney; Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)
Call Number: EAsy PI (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780786801787
Publication Date: 1999-03-03
A brief recounting of the career of this jazz musician and composer, who, along with his orchestra, created music that was beyond category.
Snow by Uri Shulevitz (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy SHU (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780374370923
Publication Date: 1998-07-15
As snowflakes slowly come down, one by one, people in the city ignore them, and only a boy and his dog think that the snowfall will amount to anything.
Tibet : through the red box by Peter Sís (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy SIS (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780374375522
Publication Date: 1998-11-05
An illustrated memoir of the author's father and his wanderings in Tibet.