Caldecott Medal 2024 Predictions

The Caldecott Medal award winner will be announced on January 22, 2024, which means it’s time for my predictions on which book will take home the top prize and who will be runner-up.

The ALA awards are given out sometime in mid-January. Members of the Caldecott committee work hard all year to choose the book they think is deserving of this distinguished award. Members of the committee read thousands of picture books throughout the year. Then they must narrow their choices down to 7 titles each. Once they have this much smaller list, they spend hours debating about which book should receive the top honor. Every year I always come up with my own list of titles that I believe will be contenders. This year I have come up with 15 books that I believe should be on the list (although I have not read nearly as many as the committee members do). The titles are in alphabetical order. At the end of the post, I will list my top 3 contenders for the Caldecott Medal. Be sure to check out my other Caldecott blog posts as well!

An American Story by Kwame Alexander and illustrated by Dare Coulter

From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is a story of a people’s struggle and strength, horror and hope. This is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. A testament to the resilience of the African American community, this book honors what has been and envisions what is to be.

Big by Vashti Harrison

This picture book traces a child’s journey to self-love and shows the power of words to both hurt and heal. With spare text and exquisite illustrations, this emotional exploration of being big in a world that prizes small is a tender portrayal of how you can stand out and feel invisible at the same time.

Evergreen by Matthew Cordell

Evergreen the squirrel is afraid of many things: thunder, hawks, and the dark paths of Buckthorn Forest. But when her mother tasks Evergreen with delivering soup to her sick Granny Oak, the little squirrel must face her fears and make the journey. Along the way, Evergreen is met by other forest dwellers – some want to help her, but some want her mother’s delicious soup! It’s up to Evergreen to stay the course, and those who help her will surprise and delight young readers.

The Fire of Stars: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars are Made of by Kristen W. Larson and illustrated by Katherine Roy

A poetic picture book celebrating the life and scientific discoveries of the groundbreaking astronomer Cecilia Payne. Astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne was the first person to discover what burns at the heart of stars. But she didn’t start out as the groundbreaking scientist she would eventually become. She started out as a girl full of curiosity, hoping one day to unlock the mysteries of the universe.

How to Write a Poem by Kwame Alexander and illustarted by Melissa Sweet

From this first stanza, readers are invited to pay attention–and to see that paying attention itself is poetry. Kwame Alexander and Deanna Nikaido’s playful text and Melissa Sweet’s dynamic, inventive artwork are paired together to encourage readers to listen, feel, and discover the words that dance in the world around them–poems just waiting to be written down.

I’m From by Gary Gray and illustrated by Oge Mora

A poetic, heartwarming ode to the small, defining moments of a boy’s life.

In Every Life by Marla Frazee

In every life, there is love and loss, hope and joy, wonder and mystery. With glowing art and spare, powerful text, Caldecott Honor-winning creator Marla Frazee celebrates the moments, feelings, and experiences, both big and small, that make up a life.

In the Night Garden by Carin Berger

In the night garden, nothing is as it seems and everything is made new. Blinking stars and pale moonlight might reveal a lone cat tiptoeing across a roof, luminous flowers unfurling in the cool air, a mama fox escorting her sleepy cubs home. Listen closely and you might hear the wind blowing through the trees, the murmur of a slow stream, or the gentle song of crickets and bullfrogs, lulling you to sleep. With soothing words and spectacularly detailed, hand-cut collage artwork, this is a bedtime book like no other.

Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner

Alice loves to imagine herself in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure, riding camels in the desert, swimming under the sea with colorful fish, floating in outer space, and more! But when her imaginative journey comes to an end, she yearns for the place she loves best of all.

Remember by Joy Harjo and illustrated by Michaela Goade

US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s iconic poem “Remember,” illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, invites young readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world around them, and to remember the importance of their place in it.

Small Places Close to Home: a Children’s Declaration of Rights by Deborah Hopkinson and illustarted by Kate Gardiner

“In the wake of two devastating world wars, Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady and U.S. delegate to the newly formed United Nations, drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Signed on December 10, 1948, the declaration marked the first time that countries agreed on a comprehensive statement of inalienable human rights. Created in honor of the seventy-fifth anniversary of that historic agreement, this . . . adaptation for children, reminds us that universal rights begin in small places, close to home”

Stickler Loves the World by Lane Smith

Stickler, an original character covered in sticks and with multiple ever-changing eyes, loves its little world. With best friend Crow, it shares the wonders of all the amazing things the world has to offer. Stickler is astonished by the ordinary, such as the sun and the stars, as well as fascinated by those things in nature that are often overlooked, such as swirling seed pods falling from the sky. The two pals wander about the world, stopping to appreciate the many marvels along the way, especially its beloved sticks, each one unique.

There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey

Back in the day, there was a heckuva party, a jam, for a word-making man. The King of Letters. Langston Hughes. His ABCs became drums, bumping jumping thumping like a heart the size of the whole country. They sent some people yelling and others, his word-children, to write their own glory.

Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, and more came be-bopping to recite poems at their hero’s feet at that heckuva party at the Schomberg Library, dancing boom da boom, stepping and stomping, all in praise and love for Langston, world-mending word man. Oh, yeah, there was hoopla in Harlem, for its Renaissance man. A party for Langston.

The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

In an alternate past–or possible future–a mighty tree stands on the banks of a winding river, bearing silent witness to the flow of time and change. A family farms the fertile valley. Soon, a village sprouts, and not long after, a town. Residents learn to harness the water, the wind, and the animals in order to survive and thrive. The growing population becomes ever more industrious and clever, bending nature itself to their will and their ambition: redirecting rivers, harvesting lumber, reshaping the land, even extending daylight itself. . . .

A Walk in the Woods by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Confused and distraught after the death of his father, a boy opens an envelope he left behind and is surprised to find a map of the woods beyond their house, with one spot marked in bright red. But why? The woods had been something they shared, why would his father want him to go alone?

My Top 3 Picks:

• An American Story
• In the Night Garden
• Big

Update – Winner is Big by Vashti Harrison

Check out my Caldecott Medal activity pack. Includes a PowerPoint introduction to the Caldecott, materials to host a mock Caldecott and activities for past winners.