Caldecott & Newbery Awards

Caldecott Awards are given to some of the most prestigious picture books in the United States. The Caldacott Medal was named in honor of an English illustrator, Randolph Caldecott. Books are judged by committees who choose what they consider to be the best books published each year. The medal was designed in 1937 and has the winners name and date engraved on the back.
The following is the criteria for a Caldecott Award as stated by Wikipidia ©:
Criteria for the award
• The book must be published in English in the United States during the preceding year.
• The illustrations must be original work.
• The artist must be a citizen or resident of the United States.
• The book must be considered for the artistic technique employed; pictorial interpretation of story; appropriateness of style of illustration to the story; delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting mood or information through the pictures; and recognition of a child audience
• The book must display respect for children's understandings, abilities, and appreciations.
• The book must be a self-contained entity, not dependent on other media for its enjoyment.


The Newbery Medal has been given since 1922. The Newberry Honor award has been handed out to books that have received runner up since 1971.
The following is the criteria for a Newbery Award as stated by Wikipidia ©:
Criteria for award• The book must be published in English in the United States the previous year.
• The author must be a citizen or resident of the United States.
• The book must be considered for its theme, presentation (clarity, accuracy and organization), plot, characters, setting, and style.
• The book must relate to a child audience.
• The book must contribute to literature.
• The book must stand alone and not as a part of a multimedia presentation.

While both the Caldecott and Newbery Award Criteria have a lot in common one main difference would be that the Caldecott Award focuses on picture books. Artistic technique is an important part of the judgment of books nominated for the Caldecott award while Newberry books need not have pictures. Personally, I do not believe that either award is more prestigious than the other. It is especially impressive when you find an author who is also gifted with the ability to illustrate his/her own books.