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The worst Caldecott winning book — Rumpelstiltskin [1]

['Ellsworth Toohey']

Date: 2026-07-03  

Andrew Judson has read every Caldecott Medal winner and honor book his local library owns, mostly out loud to his daughter, and ranked the worst ones by their words, not their art — since the Caldecott is awarded "based solely on the art," even the most troubling books look gorgeous.

His pick for worst: the 1996 picture-book version of Rumpelstiltskin, which retells the fairy tale straight, coercion and all — a woman threatened with death by a king ends up marrying him with no reflection on how they got there. "It is a pity she could not have promised Rumpelstiltskin her future husband instead of her future child," Judson writes. Close behind is Robert Lawson's 1941 "They Were Strong And Good," which celebrates ancestors' accomplishments while skating past their slaveholding, Confederate service, and role in Native American expulsion. His recommendation for parents who want a genuinely good Caldecott book: "Ferdinand."

Previously:

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