We in Cleveland know an awful lot about “close, but no cigar.” Consider “The Fumble” or “The Drive” or the seventh game of the 1997 World Series against the Marlins (sports analogies that will go over the heads of 99% of our readership, but still bring tears to the eyes of Clevelanders everywhere).

Thankfully, the same emotional distress that goes hand-in-hand with sports doesn’t really translate well to the world of publishing. Still, the annual decisions of a handful of seasoned librarians and the announcement of the Newbery and Caldecott medals each January help determine the commercial fates of both the Award-Winners and the also-ran Honor Books for generations.

For the Newbery (since 1922) and the Caldecott (since 1938), a gold seal on the front of the dust jacket virtually guarantees a long, often endless, life in print while the silver seal awarded to Honor Books promises no such outcome. And while a list of the gold-sealed titles constitutes a remarkably credible rendering of 20th century children’s literature and illustration, one cannot help compare some of the award-winners to those that didn’t quite make the mark and wonder why the committee tilted one way or the other.

Human beings are fallible and no list is perfect. Such 20th century literary icons as Curious George never received ANY mention from either committee and neither have such modern day stand-outs as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie or Miss Nelson is Missing. Was the 1939 Newbery Medal-winner Thimble Summer really a better book than the Honoree, Mr. Popper’s Penguins? How about the 1953 winner Secret of the Andes…better than Charlotte’s Web? Was the 1940 Caldecott Medal awarded to Abraham Lincoln more deserving than the runner-up, Madeline? Should the 1949 Caldecott Medal have gone to Blueberries for Sal rather than to The Big Snow? You get the idea (and notice how assiduously I’ve avoided using modern examples!).

Of the thousands and thousands of new children’s and young adult titles issued every year, an unbelievably small number…sometimes as many as half-a-dozen and sometimes none…achieve the rank of Caldecott and Newbery Honor-winners. Not all are still in print or even worthy of note; some older Newbery-related titles dealt with social issues in ways no longer deemed appropriate or relevant and some Caldecott-related titles sported racial and ethnic caricatures viewed as harmful (see the newly out-of-print Dr. Seuss Honor Books such as McElligot’s Pool and If I Ran the Zoo). Regardless, a book’s selection as an Honoree elevates it above countless others and should…in a fair world…identify it as a significant and collection-worthy item.

Interestingly, many of the Caldecott and Newbery Honor Books are still remarkably inexpensive. Some of this is due, as with all collectibles, to supply. Books issued by popular and established authors and illustrators by major publishers tend to achieve larger print runs than those by first-timers. Despite the awards received or demand from collectors, there are still a lot of them floating around. Others have simply never gained the traction of the award-winners and exist in a nether land of familiar but not assiduously sought-after titles. To my mind, this is a big mistake! Cream rises, and not only were these honorees noted as among the best of the best at their release, but a remarkable number of them have passed the test of time for both exceptional writing and illustration and as favorites among children and the adults who nurture them.

I’m often asked for help shaping collections, especially by beginning collectors. My advice always revolves around three principles: collect what you love, collect items of intrinsic value, and focus on a specific target. A collection of Caldecott and Newbery Honor Books hits that trifecta nicely.