Book challenges and awards
Caldecott Honor Books, 2022 to 2026
Honor books are the Caldecott committee's runners-up, and many of them are the ones children ask to hear again. Here are twenty from the last five award years.
Taken from ALSC's Caldecott Medal and Honor Books list (PDF dated 2026), by year, Oct 2026. Checked 2026-10-25. Nobody paid to be here. The buy links are plain search links, not affiliate links, so Peabody earns nothing from them.
Every Monday Mabel
Jashar Awan · Ages 3-7
2026 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Our Lake
Angie Kang · Ages 4-8
2026 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave
Drew Beckmeyer · Ages 4-8
2026 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Sundust
Zeke Peña · Ages 4-8
2026 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Home in a Lunchbox
Cherry Mo · Ages 4-8
2025 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
My Daddy Is a Cowboy
Stephanie Seales, illustrated by C.G. Esperanza · Ages 3-7
2025 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Noodles on a Bicycle
Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Gracey Zhang · Ages 4-8
2025 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains
Anita Yasuda, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu · Ages 5-9
2025 honor. A picture-book biography of the first woman to climb Everest.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
In Every Life
Marla Frazee · Ages 4-8
2024 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Mexican Freedom Fighter
Aida Salazar, illustrated by Molly Mendoza · Ages 5-9
2024 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
There Was a Party for Langston
Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey · Ages 5-9
2024 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
The Truth about Dragons
Julie Leung, illustrated by Hanna Cha · Ages 4-8
2024 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Ain't Burned All the Bright
Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Jason Griffin · Ages 8-12
2023 honor. A long, single-sentence poem about 2020.
Watch for: Written for older readers than most picture books; names police violence and the pandemic.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Berry Song
Michaela Goade · Ages 4-8
2023 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement
Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington · Ages 7-11
Knight Owl
Christopher Denise · Ages 3-7
2023 honor. Also on Common Sense Media's must-read list.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Have You Ever Seen a Flower?
Shawn Harris · Ages 3-7
2022 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Mel Fell
Corey R. Tabor · Ages 3-7
2022 honor. Tabor also won Geisel medals (see the Geisel list).
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre
Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper · Ages 8-12
Wonder Walkers
Micha Archer · Ages 3-7
2022 honor.
Buy: Bookshop.org · Amazon
More lists
Caldecott Medal winners, 2017 to 2026
The Caldecott Medal honors the most distinguished American picture book for children, judged on the illustrations.
Newbery Medal winners, 2017 to 2026
The Newbery Medal goes each year to the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children, chosen by a committee of librarians.
Newbery Honor Books, 2023 to 2026
Honor books are the runners-up the Newbery committee also names.
Newbery Medal winners worth reading before middle school
Newbery winners go back to 1922, and many older ones feel dated.
Caldecott Medal winners from 1980 to 2016 that are still shelf favorites
Older Caldecott winners are the ones many families already own.
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winners, 2019 to 2026
The Geisel Award goes to the best book for beginning readers each year.
Geisel Honor Books, 2023 to 2026
The Geisel committee also names honor books, which is where many of the funniest early readers show up.
Coretta Scott King and Pura Belpré awards, 2026 winners and honors
The Coretta Scott King Awards honor Black authors and illustrators; the Pura Belpré Awards honor Latino authors and illustrators.