The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

2010 Caldecott Medal Winner:
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
In award-winning artist Jerry Pinkney's wordless adaptation of one of Aesop's most beloved fables, an unlikely pair learn that no act of kindness is ever wasted. After a ferocious lion spares a cowering mouse that he'd planned to eat, the mouse later comes to his rescue, freeing him from a poacher's trap. With vivid depictions of the landscape of the African Serengeti and expressively-drawn characters, Pinkney makes this a truly special retelling, and his stunning pictures speak volumes.

The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery.  It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.

2009 Newbery Medal Winner:
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
When You Reach Me captures the interior monologue and observations of kids who are starting to recognize and negotiate the complexities of friendship and family, class and identity. Set in New York City in 1979, the story takes its cue from beloved Manhattan tales for middle graders like E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy, and Norma Klein's Mom the Wolfman and Me. Like those earlier novels, When You Reach Me will stir the imaginations of young readers curious about day-to-day life in a big city.

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.  The award is named for the world-renowned children’s author, Theodor Geisel.  “A person’s a person no matter how small,” Theodor Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss, would say.  “Children want the same things we want: to laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted.”

2009 Theodor Seuss Geisel Winner
Benny and Penny in The Big No-no! by Geoffrey Hayes
In this delightful sequel to Benny and Penny in Just Pretend (2008), the mouse siblings have a new neighbor whom they suspect might be a thief, because Benny’s pail is missing. When they look over the fence into the backyard, they see strange footprints. Then Benny falls into the yard, Penny follows, and they find a pail, mudpies, and a hedgehog girl wearing swim goggles and fins on her feet. They accuse each other, the hedgehog girl flings mud at the others, and the two mice go back to their yard—where Penny finds Benny’s pail in their sandbox. Now they have to go back and apologize.