Yesterday was the day that children’s literature world waits for every year: the #ALAYMA announcements. Having been in this business for a while now, it’s one of my favorite days of the year because so many of my favorite people are being honored for their beautiful work. And my goofy way of celebrating the biggest award in picture books is… EXTREME CALDECOTT PLACEMENT!

For those of you who are new to this tradition (which has become my one and only blogpost of the year), the basic idea is: With such a noteworthy achievement, why stop at placing the Caldecott sticker on the book's cover? Why not go all in and insert it inside the book itself? (For those interested in checking out past years, here is exclusive access to the archives: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015… my oh my I’ve been doing this for a long time.)

Now, without further ado, your distinguished 2024 Caldecott Honorees:

IN EVERY LIFE illustrated and written by Marla Frazee (Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster)

JOVITA WORE PANTS: THE STORY OF A MEXICAN FREEDOM FIGHTER, illustrated by Molly Mendoza, written by Aida Salazar (Scholastic)

THERE WAS A PARTY FOR LANGSTON illustrated by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey, written by Jason Reynolds (Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)

THE TRUTH ABOUT DRAGONS illustrated by Hanna Cha, written by Julie Leung (Henry Holt/Macmillan)

and the winner of this year’s Caldecott Medal, the one and only VASHTI HARRISON!!! (Cheers, friend!)

BIG written and illustrated by Vashti Harrison (Little, Brown)

CONGRAAATS to all of this year’s amazing winners and cheers to the Caldecott committee for selecting such a stellar cohort of picture books!