The E.B. White Read Aloud Award, established in 2004, honors a book that reflects the universal read aloud standards that were created by the work of the author E.B White in his classic books for children: Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan.
Established in 1938, the Caldecott Medal and honors are awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picturebook for children. The award is sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children within the broader American Library Association.
Go to the booklist of the Caldecott Medal winners that are in print to order any of these titles.
The Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades are conferred annually by the Children's Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society upon English language books for children and young adults, both fiction and nonfiction.
Established in 1992.
The Children's Africana Book Awards were established in 1991 by the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association to encourage the publication and use of accurate, balanced children's books on Africa. The awards focus specifically on books published in the United States about Africa. Since 1991, 37 awards have been presented to the authors and illustrators of outstanding books. Awards are presented in two categories: Best Book for Young Children and the Best Book for Older Readers. Honor books receive special certificates. The awards are announced in the fall of the year.
Established 1991.
Annually, the Association for Library Service to Children chooses notable children's books, recordings, software, videos and websites. Awarded to: A group award given to 63-90 books (63 from 1999; 90 from 2002). Chapter books and picture books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (through age 14) of especially commendable quality and creativity, and must be published in the United States during the year preceding the Midwinter Meeting. ALA
Established 1996.
The Alex Awards were first given annually beginning in 1998, and became an official American Library Association award in 2002.
The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing.
The award is sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust and Booklist. Edwards was a young adult specialist for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. Her work is described in her book Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts, and over the years she has served as an inspiration to librarians who serve young adults. The Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.
Established in 1998.
The American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award is awarded to: "honor the 'hidden treasures' that ABA bookstore members most enjoyed recommending to their customers during the previous year." Began: 1991, but children's award added in 1993. Changed its name in 2000 to Book Sense. Children's award divided into illustrated and non-illustrated awards in 2001.
Established in 1993. Sponsored by the American Booksellers Association.
The American Instute of Physics Children's Science Writing Award is intended to promote effective science communication in print and broadcast media in order to improve the general public's appreciation of physics, astronomy, and allied science fields.
The 2007 prize will be awarded to a book, article, or booklet intended for children between preschool ages and fifteen of age, and published between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2006. The deadline for this prize is March 1, 2007.
The Américas Award is given in recognition of U.S. works of fiction, poetry, folklore, or selected non-fiction (from picture books to works for young adults) published in the previous year in English or Spanish that authentically and engagingly portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States. By combining both and linking the Americas, the award reaches beyond geographic borders, as well as multicultural-international boundaries, focusing instead upon cultural heritages within the hemisphere.
Established in 1993. Sponsored by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP).
The Anne Spencer Lindbergh Prize program honors Anne Spencer Lindbergh, eldest daughter of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who died of cancer in 1993 at the age of 53. Anne Spencer Lindbergh was an acclaimed author of juvenile fantasies which place ordinary children in extraordinary situations. Nick of Time, The People in Pineapple Place, Three Lives to Live and The Worry Week are a few of her more well-known books.
The Prize program offers a $5,000 award to the author whose children's fantasy novel is judged to be the best published in the English language over a two-year period. In addition, one or more Honor Books may be chosen, each receiving a $1,000 prize for the author.
Established in 1995. Sponsored by Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation.
The Henry Bergh Children's Book Award was established to honor books that promote the humane ethic of compassion and respect for all living things.
Henry Bergh was the champion of more than just one cause. In 1866, he founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®), the first humane organization in the Western Hemisphere granted the authority to enforce local animal protection laws. Today, the ASPCA has over 1,000,000 members and donors nationwide, and continues to create national programs to prevent cruelty to animals.
Established in 2000. Sponsored by the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
The National Council of Teachers of English wishes to recognize and foster excellence in children's poetry by encouraging its publication and by exploring ways to acquaint teachers and children with poetry through such means as publications, programs, and displays. As one means of accomplishing this goal, NCTE established its Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children in 1977 to honor a living American poet for his or her aggregate work for children ages 3–13.
Established in 1977. Sponsored by National Council of Teachers of English.
Named in honor of America's most cherished publisher/printer, the Benjamin Franklin Awards™ recognizes excellence in independent publishing. Publications, grouped by genre are judged on editorial and design merit by top practitioners in each field. The trophies are awarded to the best books in several categories and are presented to the publishers during a gala awards ceremony on the last evening of the Publishing University (just before the opening of Book Expo America). All entrants receive critique sheets with advice on how to improve their publications, as well as words of appreciation for the good work produced.
Established in 2001. Sponsored by the Independent Book Publishers Association.
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults - A compilation of the current year’s books with proven or potential appeal to teens.
Established in 1994. Sponsored by Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association.
First presented in 1967 and customarily announced in June, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners are selected in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. Two Honor Books may be named in each category. On occasion, a book will receive a special citation for its high quality and overall creative excellence. The winning titles must be published in the United States but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country. The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges who are annually appointed by the Editor of the Horn Book.
Established in 1967. Sponsored by the Boston Globe-Horn Book.
Blue Ribbons are chosen annually by the Bulletin staff and represent what we believe to be the best of the previous year's literature for youth.
Established in 1990. Sponsored by the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.
The Carol D. Reiser Book Award is given annually to the children’s book or books published the preceding year that most effectively inspires community service and volunteerism in children. This award was established by the Metro Atlanta Corporate Volunteer Council, where Carol was co-founder and past president, and is a living tribute to Carol Reiser’s lifelong commitment to community. Judges are national level experts in children's literature and in volunteerism.
Established in 2003. Sponsored by the Metro Atlanta Corporate Volunteer Council.
National Council for the Social Studies established the Carter G. Woodson Book Awards for the most distinguished social science books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States. First presented in 1974, this award is intended to "encourage the writing, publishing, and dissemination of outstanding social studies books for young readers that treat topics related to ethnic minorities and race relations sensitively and accurately." Books relating to ethnic minorities and the authors of such books rarely receive the recognition they merit from professional organizations. By sponsoring the Carter G. Woodson Awards, the National Council for the Social Studies gives wide recognition to and directly stimulates authors and publishers.
Established in 1974. Sponsored by National Council for the Social Studies.
The Charlotte Zolotow Award is given annually to the author of the best picture book text published in the United States in the preceding year. Established in 1998, the award is named to honor the work of Charlotte Zolotow, a distinguished children's book editor for 38 years with Harper Junior Books, and author of more than 70 picture books, including such classic works as Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (Harper, 1962) and William's Doll (Harper, 1972). Ms. Zolotow attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison on a writing scholarship from 1933-36 where she studied with Professor Helen C. White.
The award is administered by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, a children's literature library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Each year a committee of children's literature experts selects the winner from the books published in the preceding year.
Established in 1998. Sponsored by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, a children's literature library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award honors an author or author-illustrator whose total work has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children. Nonfiction is written or illustrated work which arranges and interprets documentable facts intended to illuminate, without imaginative invention, the following fields of knowledge: science, technology, social science, history, biography, and the arts.
Established in 1977. Sponsored by the Washington Post and the Children's Book Guild of Washington, D.C.
The mission of the Children's Gallery, the Children's Crown, and the Lamplighter Awards is to encourage elementary and junior high students to read wholesome and uplifting books by providing lists each year of the best literature.
In 1992 Sandra Morrow librarian at Brentwood Christian School in Austin, Texas, applied to the Texas Christian Schools Association for a grant to establish the Children's Crown Award (the Crown Classic is the runner-up) for children's books for third through sixth graders. The grant was awarded the following spring. In 2002 Sandra received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Lubbock Christian University. In 2005 she received the Distinguished Alumni Citation from Abilene Christian University. She was recognized for her distinctive professional achievement for the Triple Crown Awards.
Now students, teachers, parents, librarians and interested individuals are encouraged to nominate titles for this award from books that are published or reprinted within the last two years. At the center of the award process is the criteria developed at the time of the grant. Each year twenty books that convey wholesome values, uplifting characters, and edifying themes that inspire children toward positive goals are selected by a committee of readers from participating schools.
Established in 1992. Sponsored by Texas Christian Schools Association.
The Children's Literature Association, an organization of teachers, scholars, librarians, editors, writers, illustrators, and parents interested in encouraging the serious study of children's literature, created the Phoenix Award as an outgrowth of the Association's Touchstones Committee. The award, given to a book originally published in the English language, is intended to recognize books of high literary merit. The Phoenix Award is named after the fabled bird who rose from its ashes with renewed life and beauty. Phoenix books also rise from the ashes of neglect and obscurity and once again touch the imaginations and enrich the lives of those who read them.
The recipient of the Phoenix Award has been chosen each year since 1985 by an elected committee of ChLA members that considers nominations made by members and others interested in promoting high critical standards in literature for children. Honor books were instituted in 1989 but have not been named every year.
Established in 1985. Sponsored by the Children's Literature Association.
The Claudia Lewis Award, given for the first time in 1998, honors the late Claudia Lewis, distinguished children's book expert and longtime member of the Bank Street College faculty and Children's Book Committee. She conveyed her love and understanding of poetry with humor and grace. The award is given for the best poetry book of the year.
Established in 1998. Sponsored by the Children's Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education.
Given to African American authors and illustrator for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions, the Coretta Scott King Book Award titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream.
The award is designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.
Established in 1970. SPonsored by the American Library Association.
Since 1946, the annual presentation of the Edgar Allan Poe Awards® has been one of the most important and certainly the most publicly visible task undertaken by the Mystery Writers of America. The number of awards given out has grown from one (the very first award, given to Watchful at Night by Julius Fast, was for Best First Novel by an American Author) to twelve, with other awards given out on the same night. Of course, the actual presentation of these awards is the last step in a year-long process, with 68 judges considering over 1,000 books, 500 short stories, many television programs, several movies, and a few plays. It's an incredible amount of work, year in and year out, but without it the Edgar®, the most prestigious award in the mystery business, would be "nevermore."
The Ezra Jack Keats Book Award was established in 1985 to recognize and encourage authors and illustrators new to the field of children's books. Many past winners of the EJK Book Award have gone on to distinguished careers creating many books beloved by parents, children, librarians and teachers across the country.
The Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Awards are given annually to an outstanding new writer of picture books for children (age 9 and under) and are presented jointly by the New York Public Library and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. A distinguished selection committee consisting of early childhood education specialists, librarians, illustrators and experts in children’s literature review entries, seek books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. As of 1999, the Award is being given annually rather than with the previous biennial cycle
Established in 1985. Sponsored by the New York Public Library and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation.
The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award was established in 1994. It honors Flora Straus who led the committee for many years, and is presented annually for a distinguished work of nonfiction which fulfills her humanitarian ideals and serves as an inspiration to young people. Flora Straus stood for the values of courage, hard work, truth and beauty, while adapting to a changing world. She believed that books about varying cultures enrich and help all children in their growth. She championed diverse opinions and points of view. She was a person of high principles, unfailing courtesy and deep understanding, and was an inspiration to all who had the privilege of knowing her.
Established in 1994. Sponsored by the Children's Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education.
The Giverny Award is an annual award established in 1998 by Dr. James H. Wandersee and Dr. Elisabeth Schussler for the 15 Degree Laboratory, currently based at Louisiana State University. The Laboratory performs research on visual cognition in biology, visual approaches to learning biology, and the graphic represention of biological knowledge.
The name of the Giverny Award alludes to the renowned village that provides the site, setting, and inspiration for famous impressionist paintings synonymous with what we call "visual capture and explanation" of the floral esthetic experience. We think these paintings represent the exact visual opposite of humans' "Plant Blindness" (a current cause celebre of the Laboratory). These images allow us how to see in new ways--to see light, to see air, to see water--to see and experience vivid plant life outdoors--as if we were really there. We can contemplate populations of plants in breathtakingly natural light; like insects, we are to be drawn into the lifelike visualizations of floral panoramas. Note that the name "Giverny" is, in our minds, not only emblematic of the latent connection between art and science, but also of visual capture, visual explanation, and visual exemplification of botanical views of the world.
Established in 1998. Sponsored by 15 Degree Laboratory at Louisiana State University.
An award for excellence in the field of children’s books, the Golden Kite Awards are the only children’s literary award judged by a jury of peers. More than 1,000 books are entered each year.
Established in 1973. Sponsored by the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators.
The Spur Awards, given annually for distinguished writing about the American West, are among the oldest and most prestigious in American literature. In 1953, when the awards were established by WWA, western fiction was a staple of American publishing. At the time awards were given to the best western novel, best historical novel, best juvenile, and best short story.
Established in 1953. Sponsored by the Western Writers of America.
The Gryphon Award of $1,000 is given annually in recognition of an English language work of fiction or non-fiction for which the primary audience is children in Kindergarten through Grade 4. The title chosen best exemplifies those qualities that successfully bridge the gap in difficulty between books for reading aloud to children and books for practiced readers.
The Gryphon award was conceived as a way to focus attention an area of literature for youth that, despite being crucial to the successful transition of new readers to independent lifelong readers, does not get the critical recognition it deserves.
The award is sponsored by the Center for Children's Books at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
Established in 2004. Sposnored by the Center for Children's Books at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
The Heartland Award, created and directed by The Writing Conference, Inc., was established in 1996 to encourage the participation of young adults in the reading of young adult literature, to encourage the teaching of this literature in middle and secondary schools as supplemental and in-class reading, and to aid in the goal that all young adults become life-long readers.
Established in 1996. Sponsored by the Writing Conference.
Chosen annually by our editors, Fanfare is The Horn Book Magazine’s selection of the best children’s and young adult books of the year.
Established in 1938. Sponsored by Horn Book Magazine.
Irma Simonton Black was a writer and editor of children's books and a founding member (in the 1930s) of the Bank Street Writers Laboratory, which included such stars of children's literature as Margaret Wise Brown and Maurice Sendak.
The Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, which commemorates Irma's achievements, has been presented annually since 1973 by Bank Street College of Education. (The Award was presented in Irma's name only until 1992, when James Black's name was added in recognition of his ardent support of the Award.) The Award goes to an outstanding book for young children--a book in which text and illustrations are inseparable, each enhancing and enlarging on the other to produce a singular whole.
Established in 1973. Sponsored by the Bank Street College of Education.
The James Madison Book Award is given each July to the book that best represents excellence in bringing knowledge and understanding of American history to children in elementary school and to middle-schoolers.
It is made possible by a gift from Lynne Cheney, who has donated a portion of the proceeds from her bestselling books, America: A Patriotic Primer and A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women, to underwrite the award.
The award is named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, who loved books from the time he was a child and who changed history with the knowledge he gained from reading. Read Mrs. Cheney’s essay on James Madison.
Established in 2003. Sponsored by The Community Foundation of Jackson Hole.
The Jefferson Cup honors a distinguished biography, historical fiction or American history book for young people. Presented since 1983, the Jefferson Cup Committee’s goal is to promote reading about America's past; to encourage the quality writing of United States history, biography and historical fiction for young people and to recognize authors in these disciplines.
Established in 1983. Sponsored by the Virginia Library Association.
The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.
Established in 1922. Sponsored by the American Library Association.
Go to the booklist of the Newbery Medal winners that are in print to order any of these titles.
The Josette Frank Award has been given annually since 1943. From 1943 to 1997 it was called the "Children's Book Award." Josette Frank, the editor of many anthologies for children, served for many years as the Executive Director of the Child Study Association of America of which this committee was a part. This award for fiction honors a book or books of outstanding literary merit in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally. The prize to the author of the award book has been generously provided by the Florence L. Miller Memorial Fund.
Established in 1947. Sponsored by the Children's Book Committee Bank Street College of Education.
Administered by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award was first given to its namesake in 1954. The award, a bronze medal, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.
Established in 1954. Sponsored by the American Library Association.
Established in 2000, the New Voices Award encourages writers of color to submit their work to a publisher who takes pride in nurturing new talent.
Established in 2000. Sponsored by Lee & Low publishers.
The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, that have been popular over a period of time. The annual award is administered by YALSA and sponsored by School Library Journal magazine. It recognizes an author's work in helping adolescents become aware of themselves and addressing questions about their role and importance in relationships, society, and in the world.
Established in 1988. Sponsored by the American Library Association and the School Library Journal.