* 2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window Illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster (Michael di Capua/Hyperion)
* 2005: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollinsPublishers)
* 2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press)
* 2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Brook Press/Millbrook Press)
* 2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin)
* 2001: So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small; text by Judith St. George (Philomel Books)
* 2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat Simms Taback (Viking)
* 1999: Snowflake Bentley, Illustrated by Mary Azarian; text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (Houghton)
* 1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky (Dutton)
* 1997: Golem by David Wisniewski (Clarion)
* 1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann (Putnam)
* 1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting (Harcourt)
* 1994: Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine (Houghton)
* 1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully (Putnam)
* 1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner (Clarion Books)
* 1991: Black and White by David Macaulay (Houghton)
* 1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young (Philomel)
* 1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman (Knopf)
* 1988: Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen (Philomel)
* 1987: Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks (Farrar)
* 1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton)
* 1985: Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text: retold by Margaret Hodges (Little, Brown)
* 1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen (Viking)
* 1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars (Scribner)
* 1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton)
* 1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel (Harper)
* 1980: Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall (Viking)
* 1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble (Bradbury)
* 1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier (Doubleday)
* 1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove (Dial)
* 1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema (Dial)
* 1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott (Viking)
* 1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach (Farrar)
* 1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel (Dutton)
* 1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian (Macmillan)
* 1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley (Atheneum)
* 1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig (Windmill Books)
* 1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; text: retold by Arthur Ransome (Farrar)
* 1968: Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; text: adapted by Barbara Emberley (Prentice-Hall)
* 1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness (Holt)
* 1966: Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text: Sorche Nic Leodhas, pseud. [Leclair Alger] (Holt)
* 1965: May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (Atheneum)
* 1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (Harper)
* 1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (Viking)
* 1962: Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
* 1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text: Ruth Robbins (Parnassus)
* 1960: Nine Days to Christmas, illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida (Viking)
* 1959: Chanticleer and the Fox, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney (Crowell)
* 1958: Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (Viking)
* 1957: A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry (Harper)
* 1956: Frog Went A-Courtin', illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text: retold by John Langstaff) (Harcourt)
* 1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown; text: translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown (Scribner)
* 1954: Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans (Viking)
* 1953: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward (Houghton)
* 1952: Finders Keepers, illustrated by Nicolas, pseud. (Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will, pseud. [William Lipkind] (Harcourt)
* 1951: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (Scribner)
* 1950: Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi (Scribner)
* 1949: The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader (Macmillan)
* 1948: White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text: Alvin Tresselt (Lothrop)
* 1947: The Little Island, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text: Golden MacDonald, pseud. [Margaret Wise Brown] (Doubleday)
* 1946: The Rooster Crows by Maude & Miska Petersham (Macmillan)
* 1945: Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field (Macmillan)
* 1944: Many Moons, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text: James Thurber (Harcourt)
* 1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton (Houghton)
* 1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (Viking)
* 1941: They Were Strong and Good, by Robert Lawson (Viking)
* 1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (Doubleday)
* 1939: Mei Li by Thomas Handforth (Doubleday)
* 1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text: selected by Helen Dean Fish (Lippincott)