Randolph Caldecott Medal and Honor Books 2023

The 2023 edition includes 4 Caldecott Honor Books and 1 Randolph Caldecott Medal recipient. It records one year of the Caldecott program for distinguished American picture-book illustration. The award centers on artistic technique and how the pictures convey story, theme, character, setting, mood, or information.

2023 Randolph Caldecott Medal and Honor BooksSee the original list
About this book list
Selections5
Published byAssociation for Library Service to Children (ALA)
SectionsAll readers

All readers

5 selections

Cover of Hot DogHot DogDoug SalatiAn overheated city dog and its owner leave New York City’s oppressive summer heat for the beach. Their journey uses a taxi, train, and ferry before the dog reaches the sand and sea. Away from the crowded, noisy city, the dog has space to run and cool down. The illustrations shift from hot oranges associated with the city to tranquil greens and blues at the beach, where the pair spend time relaxing together.All readersLexile Text Measure NPWord Count 131View book details
Cover of Ain’t Burned All the BrightAin’t Burned All the BrightJason ReynoldsA Black teenager narrates his family’s experience during the first months of COVID-19. The family faces the pandemic alongside racism and violence in the United States, with the struggle to breathe serving as a central concern. Jason Reynolds tells the story through sparse prose, while Jason Griffin’s notebook-style artwork forms much of the book’s visual narrative.All readersATOS Book Level 5.2AR Interest Level UGView book details
Cover of Berry SongBerry SongMichaela GoadeOn an island beside a wide sea, a Tlingit grandmother teaches her granddaughter how to live with the land. Together they gather herring eggs, seaweed, salmon, and forest berries through the seasons. Their journey includes songs of gratitude for the ocean, forest, and land that sustain them, as well as answers to the voices of their ancestors in song and Native language. A rhythmic list of berries appears alongside the main narrative.All readersLexile Text Measure 740LATOS Book Level 2.9View book details
Cover of Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights MovementChoosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights MovementAngela JoyThis picture-book biography tells of Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till. In 1955, Emmett, then fourteen, was murdered while visiting the South. The book follows how Mamie Till-Mobley turned her grief after his death into a call for action within the civil rights movement. It places her story in the history of racial violence and the movement for civil rights.All readersLexile Text Measure 680LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details