2008: Invention of Hugo Cabret (J Selznick)
2007: Flotsam (E Wiesner)
2006: Hello, Goodbye Window (E Lester)
2005: Kitten’s First Full Moon ( E Henkes)
2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers (J-B Petit )
2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann ( E Rohmann)
2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (E Three)
2001: So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small; text by Judith St. George (J 973 St. George)
2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback ( E Taback)
1999: Snowflake Bentley, illustrated by Mary Azarian; text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (E Martin)
1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky (J 398 Zelinsky)
1997: Golem by David Wisniewski (J 398 Wisniewski)
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann ( E Rathmann)
1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting (E Bunting)
1994: Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine (E Say)
1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully ( E McCully)
1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner ( E Wiesner)
1991: Black and White by David Macaulay (E Macaulay)
1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young (J 398 Young)
1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman ( E Ackerman)
1988: Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen ( E Yolen)
1987: Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks ( E Yorinks)
1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg (E-H Van Allsburg)
1985: Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text: retold by Margaret Hodges (J 398 Hodges)
1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen (J 629.13 Provensen)
1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars (J 841 Cendrars)
1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg (E Van Allsburg)
1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel (J 398 Lobel)
1980: Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall (E Hall)
1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble ( E Goble)
1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier ( E Spier)
1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove (J 960 Musgrove)
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema (J 398 Aardema)
1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott ( E McDermott)
1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach (J 398 Zemach)
1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel ( E Mosel)
1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian ( E Hogrogian)
1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley (J 398 Haley)
1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig ( E Steig)
1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; text: retold by Arthur Ransome (J 398 Ransom)
1968: Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; text: adapted by Barbara Emberley ( E Emberley)
1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness ( E Ness)
1966: Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text: Sorche Nic Leodhas, pseud. [Leclair Alger] ( E Leodhas)
1965: May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (E De Regni)
1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak ( E Sendak)
1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (E Keats)
1962: Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown (J 398 Brown)
1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text: Ruth Robbins (J 398 Robbins)
1960: Nine Days to Christmas, illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida (J-H 394.266 Ets)
1959: Chanticleer and the Fox, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text:adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney
( E Cooney)
1958: Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey (E McCloskey)
1957: A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry ( E Udry)
1956: Frog Went A-Courtin', illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text: retold by John Langstaff) ( E Langstaff)
1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown; text: translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown
(J 398 Perrault)
1954: Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans (E Bemelmans)
1953: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward (E Ward)
1952: Finders Keepers, illustrated by Nicolas, pseud. (Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will, pseud. [William Lipkind] (E Will)
1951: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous (J-H Milous)
1950: Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi ( E Politi)
1949: The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader (E Hader)
1948: White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text: Alvin Tresselt ( E Tresselt)
1947: The Little Island, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text: Golden MacDonald, pseud. [Margaret Wise Brown] (E MacDonald)
1946: The Rooster Crows by Maude & Miska Petersham ( E Petersham)
1945: Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field (J 242 Field)
1944: Many Moons, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text: James Thurber (E Thurber)
1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton ( E Burton)
1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey (E McCloskey)
1941: They Were Strong and Good, by Robert Lawson (J 929 Lawson)
1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire (J-B Lincoln)
1939: Mei Li by Thomas Handforth ( E Handfort)*
1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text: selected by Helen Dean Fish (J 220.8 Fish)