Illustration Research
Award-winning styles, bestsellers, and unexplored territory for ages 3-5
Award-Winning Illustrations (Ages 3-5)
Caldecott Medal Winners 2015-2026
| Year |
Title |
Illustrator |
Style |
| 2026 | Fireworks | Catia Chien | Mixed media, painterly digital |
| 2025 | Chooch Helped | Rebecca Lee Kunz | Watercolor and ink |
| 2024 | Big | Vashti Harrison | Digital painting, warm palette |
| 2023 | Hot Dog | Doug Salati | Watercolor and gouache |
| 2022 | Watercress | Jason Chin | Watercolor |
| 2021 | We Are Water Protectors | Michaela Goade | Watercolor and digital |
| 2020 | The Undefeated | Kadir Nelson | Oil painting |
| 2019 | Hello Lighthouse | Sophie Blackall | Ink and watercolor on paper |
| 2018 | Wolf in the Snow | Matthew Cordell | Pen and ink with watercolor |
| 2017 | Radiant Child | Javaka Steptoe | Mixed media collage |
| 2016 | Finding Winnie | Sophie Blackall | Ink and watercolor on paper |
| 2015 | Beekle | Dan Santat | Digital illustration |
Key pattern: Dominant styles: watercolor/ink, collage, oil painting, mixed media. Zero CGI winners ever.
Carnegie/Greenaway Medal Winners 2015-2025
| Year |
Title |
Illustrator |
Style |
| 2025 | Clever Crow | Olivia Lomenech Gill | Printmaking/mixed media |
| 2024 | The Tree and the River | Aaron Becker | Watercolor and digital |
| 2023 | Saving Soyra | Jeet Zdung | Ink and watercolor |
| 2022 | Long Way Down | Danica Novgorodoff | Watercolor and digital |
| 2021 | Small in the City | Sydney Smith | Ink and watercolor |
| 2020 | Tales from the Inner City | Shaun Tan | Oil painting and mixed media |
| 2019 | The Lost Words | Jackie Morris | Watercolor and gold leaf |
| 2018 | Town Is by the Sea | Sydney Smith | Ink and watercolor |
| 2017 | There Is a Tribe of Kids | Lane Smith | Mixed media/collage |
| 2016 | The Sleeper and the Spindle | Chris Riddell | Pen and ink |
| 2015 | Shackleton's Journey | William Grill | Colored pencil |
All-Time Bestsellers
| # |
Title (Year) |
Author / Illustrator |
Copies Sold |
Style |
| 1 | The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969) | Eric Carle | 55M+ | Painted tissue paper collage |
| 2 | Goodnight Moon (1947) | Margaret Wise Brown / Clement Hurd | 48M+ | Gouache painting |
| 3 | Green Eggs and Ham (1960) | Dr. Seuss | 40M+ | Ink and watercolor |
| 4 | Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) | Martin & Archambault / Ehlert | 34M+ | Bold graphic collage |
| 5 | Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990) | Dr. Seuss | 30M+ | Ink and watercolor |
| 6 | Corduroy (1968) | Don Freeman | 20M+ | Watercolor and ink |
| 7 | Where the Wild Things Are (1963) | Maurice Sendak | 19M+ | Pen/ink and watercolor |
| 8 | Brown Bear, Brown Bear (1967) | Bill Martin Jr. / Eric Carle | 18M+ | Painted tissue paper collage |
| 9 | Guess How Much I Love You (1994) | McBratney / Jeram | 15M+ | Pen and ink with watercolor |
| 10 | The Snowy Day (1962) | Ezra Jack Keats | 10M+ | Collage |
3D Handmade / Diorama Direction
Physical construction techniques that produce illustration through photography of real objects, paper, fabric, and clay.
Paper Theatre / Backlit Paper Art
Elly MacKay
Inks on Yupo paper, cut into layers, arranged in miniature Victorian-style paper theatre (wooden lightbox). Lit with sunlight/lamplight, photographed. 30+ books. Featured in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Notable: Butterfly Park, Red Sky at Night (NYPL Best Books), Shadow Chasers, Frostfire.
Photographed Dioramas
Antje Damm
Cardboard dioramas (architect background), cut-out characters inside, photographed. The Visitor — NYT Best Illustrated 2018.
Soyeon Kim
Wood-framed dioramas with fabric, painted pieces suspended inside, photographed. You Are Stardust, Wild Ideas.
Lauren Child + Polly Borland
Miniature worlds from cornflake packets and dolls' house furniture, 2D cut-out characters, professionally photographed. The Princess and the Pea. Took 2 years.
Yuyi Morales
Stop-motion puppets + acrylic paint + photography. Viva Frida — Caldecott Honor 2015, Pura Belpre Award.
Plasticine / Clay
Barbara Reid
Plasticine clay on illustration board, relief style. Governor General's Award, Ezra Jack Keats Award.
Textile / Felt / Fabric
Salley Mavor (Wee Folk Studio)
Bas-relief sculptural needlework. Wool felt, chenille stems, embroidery. Pocketful of Posies — Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Golden Kite Award. 40+ years in this style.
Paper Sculpture / Silhouette
Jan Pienkowski
Paper cut silhouettes inspired by Polish folk art. Two Kate Greenaway Medals. Meg and Mog franchise.
Relief Collage
Jeannie Baker
Shallow-relief multimedia collages photographed. Window — CBCA Picture Book of the Year. Exhibited in galleries worldwide.
Mixed Media Masters
Collage Pioneers
Eric Carle
Hand-painted tissue paper collage. The Very Hungry Caterpillar — 50M+ copies. Museum in his honor.
Lois Ehlert
Cut paper + found objects (leaves, seeds, buttons). Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Color Zoo (Caldecott Honor), Leaf Man (Boston Globe-Horn Book Award).
Found Object / Street Art
Javaka Steptoe
Found objects from NYC streets — aluminum plates, paint tubes, wood panels. Radiant Child — 2017 Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award.
Painting + Collage + Digital Hybrid
Christian Robinson
Paint and collage. Last Stop on Market Street — Caldecott Honor 2016. Former Pixar and Sesame Street animator.
Oliver Jeffers
Watercolor, acrylic, gouache, oil, pencil, collage, digital. Here We Are — #1 NYT Bestseller, Time Best Book 2017.
Isabelle Arsenault
Gouache, ink, crayons, pencils mixed. 3x Governor General's Award.
Unusual Material Combinations
Sophie Blackall
Salvaged historical materials hand-collaged. Two Caldecott Medals.
Juana Martinez-Neal
Woodcut prints, ink, pencil on homemade banana leaf paper crafted by indigenous Ashaninka women. Caldecott Honor.
Rebecca Lee Kunz
Watercolor, gouache, printmaking, collage, digital. 2025 Caldecott Medal.
The Masters
Shaun Tan
Acrylic, oil, scratchboard, collage, assemblage, digital. Academy Award for The Lost Thing. Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.
Beatrice Alemagna
Never uses a computer. Collage, drawing, painting. Major European figure.
CGI / Hyperrealistic (Ranked Separately)
This style essentially does not exist in published children's books. Here is the closest the market has come.
Tier 1 — Physical 3D (Not CGI, but closest)
Viva Frida
Caldecott Honor — physical dioramas photographed.
Elly MacKay's books
Paper theatre photographed.
Tier 2 — Pixar Artists Who Chose NOT to Use CGI
Aaron Hartline (Pixar animator)
Box Meets Circle — deliberately flat, painterly 2D.
Mike Wu (Pixar animator)
Ellie — painted 2D, NOT 3D rendered.
Tier 3 — Self-Published / AI (No Success)
Alice and Sparkle (2022)
AI-generated, widely criticized.
Amazon KDP flood
Thousands of AI books, no notable successes.
Key insight: Even Pixar's own animators choose traditional illustration for their children's books. CGI in print is genuinely uncharted territory.
Key Insights Summary
| Factor |
3D Diorama |
Mixed Media |
CGI / Hyperrealistic |
| Award potential | Very high | Very high | Zero |
| Bestseller examples | Niche | Many | Zero |
| Production time | Very long (1-2+ years) | Moderate (6-12 months) | Unknown |
| AI-proof | Extremely | Very | Not at all |
| Reader engagement (3-5) | High | High | Unknown |
| Market trend | Growing interest | Dominant trend | Self-pub only |