Andrea Rogers' children's book Chooch Helped has won the 2025 Randolph Caldecott Medal for Distinguished Illustrative Excellence.

The award is given each year by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, "to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children."

Chooch Helped was published by Levine Querido and is illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz.

Rogers, a doctoral candidate with the Department of English, has already garnered acclaim for her previous books, including Mary and the Trail of Tears (2020) and Man Made Monsters (2024).

She recently answered several questions about Chooch Helped's receiving one of the country's highest honors for a children's book.

When did you learn that Chooch Helped had won this year's Randolph Caldecott Medal for Distinguished Illustrative Excellence? How did you feel when you heard the news?

I got a surprise Facetime call I couldn't answer because we were hiking at Lake Fort Smith. Then my editor texted to ask if I could pick up. I figured it was important so I found internet and took a call from Rebecca Kunz, the winner and illustrator; my editor, Nick Thomas; and Antonio Gonzalez Cerna, Levine Querido's head of marketing. Even though winning a Caldecott was definitely on my list of goals, I was pretty stunned that it happened. Rebecca's work deserves all the awards, but every committee is different, so you can't really predict what will or won't win. You just have to keep putting the best work out there you can.

Why did you decide to write this as a picture book for children?

I wanted a book that my kids would feel included them. So, I wrote it for children, first, then parents, then communities where children are growing up. I could see the images in my head, so a picture book was the best fit. I wanted it to be beautiful and informative, but, also, funny and heartwarming. Rebecca was exactly the right artist to be able to do all that, while honoring our families and our tribe.

What kind of an impact were you hoping the book would have on young audiences?

I hoped that kids would want their parents to read it to them over and over. I wanted siblings to bond over the story. I wanted parents to know I see us all trying to do better every day. I wanted to remind myself to be more intentional in all my actions.

What picture books inspired you when you were little?

My mom ordered us books through the mail when I was a kid and took us to the library fairly often. We had the Harry the Dirty Dog series and Gus Was a Friendly Ghost. Of course, I loved so many of the Caldecott winners growing up, like Where the Wild Things Are, The Snowy Day and Make Way for Ducklings. Later, for my kids we had Apples and Pumpkins, which was created by a mother-daughter team, which I thought was pretty cool, and a pair of books called Reptiles Are My Life and Insects are My Life. They loved This Is Not My Hat. I still buy picture books. I love anything by Jerry Pinkney or Carole Boston Weatherford. There Was a Party for Langston by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey is pretty great. Authors Traci Sorell and Carole Lindstrom, also, write picture books that are beautiful.

Did you know the book's illustrator, Rebecca Lee Kunz, before you wrote the book?

We met at Cherokee Holiday in September 2022. I had a table at Spider Art Gallery in Tahlequah trying to encourage pre-orders of Man Made Monsters and selling copies of Mary and the Trail of Tears. Rebecca is from Tulsa, like me, but she has lived in Santa Fe since college. She came up and asked how one gets to illustrate picture books. I had a whole stack of cards by her I was about to buy and was already sending pictures to my editor because I knew we were going to be looking for an illustrator soon for Chooch Helped. Her work is fantastic. She loved the manuscript and did a few samples, and we knew she was perfect for the story.

What is one of your favorite illustrations, by Kunz, in your book? Why does it stand out to you?

I love the night gigging scene. The moon is hanging over the water and the characters are in silhouette. That liminal space, between light and dark, what Rebecca does in those spaces is magic.