Randolph Cadic is one of the most important children's illustrators in19th century. The American Cadic Prize named after him represents the highest honor of book illustrations in the English-speaking world.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Beatrix Potter's The Story of Peter Rabbit was published in Britain. In contrast, the illustrated children's books published before, although combining words and pictures, are only "words+pictures". Miss Porter's The Story of Peter Rabbit conforms to the formula summarized by Mr. Song Juzhi: words × pictures = picture books.
This small picture book is recognized as the world's first picture book with the best combination of pictures and texts. A Jia also pointed out in the article The Beginning of Picture Books that The Story of Peter Rabbit is the first picture book with modern significance. Beatrix Potter is known as "the mother of modern picture books".
The selection process of Cadillac award
Every year, the American Library Association invites educators, professionals and librarians to form a review committee composed of 15 people. It selected the first prize and two or three excellent books from the tens of thousands of books (children's picture books) published in that year, and awarded the Cadic Gold Award and Silver Award. On the cover of the prize-winning books, there will be a medal printed with Cadic's famous illustration "John Riding a Horse". ?
Winners must be American citizens or residents, and their works must be original by artists and published in the previous year. When two artists jointly created a published work, they both won the prize. Such an artist doesn't have to write stories. This award emphasizes illustrations, not novels or text. The winner is announced every January.
GAI and innovation in the selection criteria of the American Cadcott Medal, as well as the emphasis on the artistic value and special creativity of the works, make this award the most authoritative picture book award in the United States, just like the highest honor picture book award in the United States. The award-winning works are recognized as excellent works, so the works that won this award immediately rise and have extraordinary value. Not only the media rushed to report, but also booksellers rushed to cheer for it.