Instructor Katie McMullen leads Kids Yoga at Warsaw Community Public Library on Saturday, Feb. 1. Families are invited to join in the next session of Kids Yoga at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 1. Photo provided by Warsaw Community Public Library.

By Amy Mann
Youth Services Professional Assistant
Warsaw Community Public Library

WARSAW — A patron came in recently looking for books to read to a group of preschoolers. As the baby and toddler storyteller on Wednesday mornings, I had some ideas for her. When I handed her a book, which was a Caldecott Honor book, she drew in a breath. “Oh! I should have thought of that!”

Why did this woman react like this? What is a Caldecott Honor book? Does that mean it has won the yearly Caldecott award? Let’s dig a little and find out.

The Newbery Honor was first given in 1922 and was awarded for “the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.” Later, the same group decided that illustrators of children’s books should also be honored. The Caldecott Medal, named after English illustrator Randolph Caldecott, was first given out in 1938. The first-place book gets the medal, but so many good books are on the market from the previous year, books by U.S. citizens or residents, that between one and five Caldecott Honors are also awarded each year.

This year, the Newbery winner was “The First State of Being” by Erin Entrada Kelly. Honors were given to “Across So Many Seas” by Ruth Behar, “Magnolia Wu Unfolds it All” by Chanel Miller, “One Big Open Sky” by Lesa Cline-Ransome and “The Wrong Way Home” by Kate O’Shaughnessy.

This year’s Caldecott Medal was awarded to Rebecca Lee Kunz for “Chooch Helped.” Honors were extended to “My Daddy is a Cowboy” by CG Esperanza, “Noodles on a Bicycle” by Gracey Zhang, “Home in a Lunchbox” by Cherry Mo and “Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains” by Yuko Shimizu. Some of these books are already on the shelves here at Warsaw Community Public Library, and the rest have been ordered and should arrive soon. We try to have a robust, exciting collection for our patrons here at the library. We also have plenty of winners from past years and can help guide you to those, many of which you may have read.