RISD is excited to share the news of this exceptional accomplishment, which builds on a strong track record by our alumni. Selected by the Association for Library Service to Children and announced by the American Library Association (ALA), the Caldecott Medal is an honor awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. Wiesner won for his 2006 book Flotsam (Clarion Books), which was praised by the judges as a "cinematic unfolding of discovery" in which the inventive watercolor illustrations "tell his story with clever wit and lively humor."
Though collecting three medals is a (nearly) unheard-of feat, Wiesner is joined by several other RISD alumni on the roster of one- and two-time medalists and honor recipients. Chris Van Allsburg MFA ’75 SC has received two Caldecott medals – for Jumanji (1982) and The Polar Express (1986) – as well as a Caldecott honor recognition (a runner-up for the top award) for The Garden of Abdul Gasazi (1980). Ed Emberley (1959–60) was awarded the 1968 medal for Drummer Hoff, a year after receiving an honor for One Wide River to Cross. And several other RISD graduates have received Caldecott honors, including Christopher Bing ’83 IL (2001, Casey at the Bat), Holly Meade ’78 PT (1997, Hush! A Thai Lullaby), Marjorie Priceman ’81 IL (1996, Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin and 2006, Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride) and Brian Selznick ’88 IL (2002, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins).
Wiesner won his first Caldecott Medal in 1992 for Tuesday, a humorous account of a flying frog invasion, and his second in 2002 for his ingenious take on The Three Pigs. Among the more than 25 books he has written and illustrated, two have also been named Caldecott honor books – Sector 7 (2000) and Free Fall (1989). With Flotsam he continued in the fantastical, surrealistic style for which his work has become so widely known and loved: a young boy at the beach discovers a magical camera that shows him unbelievable things going on in the sea.
Wiesner’s award caps a recent spate of recognition for RISD-educated illustrators. David Macaulay ’69 AR, already a Caldecott Medal winner for Black and White (1991) and a Caldecott honoree for Cathedral (1974) and Castle (1978), has been selected to deliver the 2008 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, an annual address given by "an individual of distinction in the field of children’s literature"; and at the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards ceremony in June 2006, Steven Kellogg ’63 IL and author Faith McNulty were given the nonfiction award for their book If You Decide to Go to the Moon.
The winning work of these illustrators will be exhibited in the Fleet Library at RISD from April 1-30, in conjunction with National Library Week.
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