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