Caldecott Medal
The award is named for Randolph Caldecott, a nineteenth-century English illustrator. Rene Paul Chambellan designed the Medal in 1937. The obverse scene is derived from Randolph Caldecott's front cover illustration for "The Diverting History of John Gilpin" (Routledge, 1878, an edition of the 1782 poem by William Cowper), which depicts Gilpin astride a runaway horse. The reverse is based on "Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie", one of Caldecott's illustrations for the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence".
Leila Rendel
Leila Rendel OBE (11 October 1882 – 16 March 1969) was an English social worker, suffragist, and children's campaigner. She was the co-founder of the Caldecott Community, a pioneering boarding school in Kent for distressed and vulnerable children, and served as its director for over 50 years.
Rendel was born in London to an upper-middle-class family active in liberal and radical causes. Her father, William Stuart Rendel, was a civil engineer. He was the son of Alexander Meadows Rendel and the nephew of Stuart Rendel. Her mother, Ruth Frances "née" Paul, was the daughter of the publisher Kegan Paul. Leila was the eldest of three siblings. Her sister, Olive, became an obstetrician and later wrote a book on the use of exercise in the post-war rehabilitation of children. Her brother, Robert, became a stage and film actor.