Frederic G. Melcher
Melcher proposed the Caldecott Medal in 1937 to honor children's picture books. Named for British illustrator Randolph Caldecott, the medal is presented annually for the "most distinguished picture book for children".
2019 Youth Media Awards
HarperCollins and Penguin-Random House each won the most recognition with 11 citations each. Fourty-seven of the award winners were women, while 30 were men. The Newbery and Caldecott winners were considered surprising as they were not on many of the lists of predicted winners. The omission of Dreamers, winner of the Belpre Illustrator award, from the Caldecott was also criticised. Newbery winner Meg Medina, who serves on the advisory board of the advocacy organization We Need Diverse Books was pleased to see the diversity of the winners. Elizabeth Acevedo whose The Poet X won recognition for both the Printz and Belpre awards was "shaking" after hearing about her Printz win and was shocked at her Belpre win, "To get that honor is so special." Sophie Blackall said she was "weeping" when she learned she had won her second Caldecott Medal while visiting Myanmar.