2025 Caldecott Predictions

by Amber Miller

January 24, 2025

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. I have selected 10 of the best (in my opinion) illustrated picture books this year to share with you, along with my predictions for the 2025 Caldecott Award and honors!

You can watch the announcements of the 2025 Newbery, Caldecott, and many more from the comfort of your own (possibly homemade) computer. Here’s the info from ALA:

The 2025 Youth Media Award announcements will occur on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, at 8 a.m. MT in Phoenix during ALA LibLearnX 2025. A live video stream will be available at https://ala.unikron.com/

My Winner! My Favorite!

The Dark Horse

Millie Fleur's Poison Garden

by Christy Mandin

Wednesday Addams meets The Curious Garden in this delightfully peculiar story. Millie Fleur's Poison Garden reminds us to embrace everything that makes us wonderfully weird.

Garden Glen is a very bland place. Every house and every garden looks exactly like the other. That is… until Millie Fleur La Fae comes to town.

Up on a scruffy hill, beside a ramschackle house, Millie Fleur plants her marvelously strange garden, filled with Sneezing Stickyweed, Fanged Fairymoss, and Grumpy Gilliflower. Millie Fleur finds it enchanting, but the townspeople of Garden Glen call it poison! But Millie Fleur is proud of her beloved little garden. So if some townspeople want to be sticks in the mud, she'll take matters into her own hands and find the kindred spirits who appreciate everything the garden has to offer.

Millie Fleur's Poison Garden encourages readers to embrace what makes them wonderfully weird! Millie Flueur's garden may not have been poisonous. Still, the story for this book took root after author Christy Mandin learned about a very real, very poisonous garden at a castle in the town of Alnwick, Northumberland, in England.

About the Author/Illustrator

Christy Mandin is the author and illustrator of multiple picture books. She’s grown many interesting plants in her garden over the years but, so far, none with teeth or tentacles. She currently lives in Georgia with her husband and four children. Visit Christy online at christymandin.com.

The Favorite

Being Home

by Traci Sorell

This book isn’t just a story — it’s a warm embrace that lingers long after the final page. Every element invites you to pause and savor, from the lyrical cadence of Sorell’s prose to the depth and richness of Goade’s breathtaking artwork and the seamless way words and images unite to ignite thought and stir feelings. Although we are familiar with Goade’s remarkable body of work, there is always something new she brings to each project — taking the storytelling to the next level with nuance, emotion, and mastery. Being Home embodies emotional depth, cultural significance, and artistic brilliance.

Illustrator Michaela Goade isn’t just any old artist. She’s already won the Caldecott once before. That’s no small thing. And winners tend to stay winners, at least regarding ALA awards. The color pink is the entire point of this book. Watch where it appears. Follow it. Pay attention to where it goes. It’s one of those marvelous mixes of text and image where one element quickly plays off the other. It’s hard to be clever and subtle, but this book pulls it off.

And the Honor Goes to....

Chooch Helped

by Andrea L. Rogers

A Cherokee girl begrudgingly introduces her younger brother to their family's traditions! This picture book, written by Walter Award-winner Andrea L. Rogers, features gorgeous collage illustrations by debut artist Rebecca Lee Kunz.

Sissy’s younger brother, Chooch, isn’t a baby anymore. They just celebrated his second birthday, after all. But no matter what Chooch does — even if he’s messing something up! Which is all the time! — their parents say he’s just “helping.” Sissy feels that Chooch can get away with anything! When Elisi paints a mural, Chooch helps. Chooch helps when Edutsi makes grape dumplings. When Oginalii gigs for crawdads, Chooch helps. When Sissy tries to make a clay pot, Chooch helps . . .“Hesdi!” Sissy yells. Quit it! And Chooch bursts into tears. What follows is a tender family moment that will resonate with anyone who has welcomed a new little one. Chooch Helped is a universal story of an older sibling learning to make space for a new child. It is told gracefully by Andrea L. Rogers, and stunning art by Rebecca Lee Kunz shows one Cherokee family practicing their cultural traditions.

Poetry

In Praise of Mystery

by Ada Limón

From U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón and Caldecott Honoree Peter Sís: a transcendent picture book featuring the poem that will travel into space aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper.

NASA invited U.S. poet laureate Ada Limón to write a poem to be engraved on the Europa Clipper spacecraft. That poem, “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa," launched to Jupiter and its moons on October 14, 2024. Reimagined as In Praise of Mystery, Limón’s debut picture book, this luminous poem is illustrated by celebrated and internationally renowned artist Peter Sís.

The Thrill of the Chase

Jump for Joy

by Karen Gray Ruelle

Kid seeks dog. Dog seeks kid.

In this charming and imaginative tale of friendship, picture book readers will delight in what it means to have a furry best friend.

For as long as she can remember, Joy has wanted a dog. It doesn’t matter what kind: big, tiny, spotted, curly. She wants one so fiercely that she makes dogs out of snow, seashells, or whatever’s at hand! However, none of the dogs Joy makes are pretty what she yearns for. The seashell dog washes away, and the snow dog melts into a puddle. Little does Joy know that her perfect dog friend is just around the corner—wishing just as fiercely for a kid—and waiting to be discovered.

Award-winning artist Hadley Hooper creates a timeless and magical world as she weaves ink, paint, and collages made from vintage etchings together in a style that perfectly complements the classic feel of Jump for Joy. Readers will rejoice in this satisfying kid-meets-dog story and will repeatedly savor returning to this world.

For the Young Activist

Solar Bear

by Beth Ferry

If you are looking for a call to action, Solar Bear will undoubtedly motivate the youngest readers. Shining a light on endangered species worldwide, and join the cause with your mighty roar in this hopeful love letter to planet Earth and those who inhabit it.

In this beautifully written and illustrated text, Ferry and Wenzel build awareness of the emptiness that would be felt on Earth without creatures like pangolins, rhinos, manatees, and sea turtles. The call to action—"we'll ask you for your mighty roar, to show us we are worth fighting for"—is aided by the stirring artwork, inviting children to reflect on the human causes of wildlife extinction and encouraging them to work together for a better future.

Compassion & Caring

The Last Zookeeper

by Aaron Becker

The Earth has flooded. The only signs of humankind are the waterlogged structures they left behind. Peeking out from the deluge are the remnants of a zoo, home to rare and endangered animals, survivors of long neglect. Tender-hearted NOA is a construction robot who’s found a new purpose as the caretaker of the zoo’s beleaguered inhabitants. Bracing for the next storm, NOA builds an ark from the wreckage, searching for new land and a new home, only to discover something even more profound. With boundless compassion and sweeping scenes of sea and sky punctuated by detailed wordless panels to pore over, Caldecott Honor-winning creator Aaron Becker delivers a timely and concrete message about the rewards of caring in even the most difficult of times that is sure to inspire the dreamers among us.

Using Creativity to Cope with Difficult Emotions

Sashiko's Stitches

by Sanae Ishida

Sashiko is a young girl with immense feelings. When her mother teaches her about her namesake—the traditional Japanese practice of mending through embroidery—she finds an outlet for some of those emotions. With each stitch, the dark cloud around her lightens until her big fears feel less scary. As she heals tears in the fabric, she finds a sense of calm and hope.

This profoundly resonant picture book explores the transformative power of creative expression as Sashiko finds threads of peace in her newfound craft. Children and parents alike will take away an appreciation for this beautiful artistic tradition and the tremendous potential creative practices have to help us cope with difficult emotions.

Friendship

The Shadow and the Ghost

by Cat Min

Shinbi is not a particularly ghosty ghost. At night, she likes making tiny bouquets of things and gazing at the faraway stars. Haunting? Not so much. Even if that’s what the other ghosts like.

In the daytime, a single rock named Greem casts a shadow in a meadow. He’d like someone to talk to. But who? He writes one word on his lonely rock: “Hi” and hopes someone will see it. Sure enough, in the darkness of night, Shinbi finds the note! But who could have written it? In a profound exploration of how friendship can break through barriers of time and circumstance, Cat Min introduces us to two unforgettable characters we’d all love to know.

Community, Tradition & Family

Joyful Song: A Naming Story

by Lesléa Newman

Zachary’s baby sister will have her naming ceremony. In the temple! With his moms, the congregation, and all their friends! He’s so excited he can barely contain it. On the walk from their home, they meet neighbor after neighbor who want to know the baby’s name. But – not yet! – his mothers tell him. The tradition is to have a great reveal at the ceremony. So they invite each neighbor to come along. A colorful, diverse parade blooms along the route, until…At last it’s time, and Zachary gets to reveal his sister’s name…What is it? A truly joyful moment for everyone.