The winner of the 2025 Caldecott Award is Chooch Helped, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz, written by Andrea L. Rogers, published by Arthur A. Levine, an imprint of Levine Querido. 

The Committee selected four 2025 Honor Books: 

Home in a Lunchbox, written and illustrated by Cherry Mo, published by Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

My Daddy Is a Cowboy, illustrated by C. G. Esperanza, written by Stephanie Seales, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Abrams.

Noodles on a Bicycle, illustrated by Gracey Zhang, written by Kyo Maclear, published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House. 

Up, Up, Ever!: Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu, written by Anita Yasuda, published by Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 

Congratulations to the winner and all the honor recepients!

The Randolph Caldecott Medal season always brings surprises, but this year’s winner, Chooch Helped, was an unexpected delight and a happy one at that! The book quietly flew under our radar during our discussions and predictions, although Betsy Bird included it in her fall predictions post. Now that it’s in the spotlight, it’s easy to see why the committee chose it as the 2025 Medal winner.

And what a picture book debut for Rebecca Lee Kunz, who is now the second Native artist (Cherokee) to win the gold after Michaela Goade’s win for We Are Water Protectors in 2021. Kunz’s art, “primarily watercolor, gouache, printmaking, collage, and digital illustration,” infuses this sibling story with cultural specificity. The Cherokee motifs and iconography are rich in significance and history. Her illustrations are both tender and commanding. The way she captures Chooch’s determination and heart is nothing short of masterful. Her artwork brings Andrea L. Rogers’ poignant storytelling to life in a way that feels both timeless and urgently relevant. This is the kind of book that grows on you, page by page, moment by moment, until you realize it’s stayed with you long after you’ve closed the cover. 

In addition to the winner’s Native representation, the Honor Books offer a wealth of diversity in terms of artists, authors, and subject matter. Three feature the work of Asian American artists (perhaps the most so honored in a single year?) and focus on uniquely Asian topics (Home in a Lunchbox definitely has relevance to the broader immigrant community). My Daddy Is a Cowboy centers the experience of a Panamanian American girl and is a tribute to Black dads everywhere. It’s also worth noting that C.G. Esperanza is the lone male illustrator in this slate of artists, and this book also received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award. 

What about you? Were you surprised by this year’s winner? Did Chooch Helped make your predictions list, or has it become a newfound favorite? Share your thoughts in the comments as we celebrate the joy of discovering new picture book treasures.