On Monday, January 24, the American Library Association announced the winners of many awards and honors, including the Newbery, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King and more. Let’s take a look at the books we have in our collection. Follow the link and place a hold if you see something you like. You can see the complete list of winners and honor titles on the ALA website. Congrats to all the winners!
John Newbery Medal
The Newbery Medal 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. – ala.org
The Last Cuentista – by Donna Barba Higuera
A chapter book about the importance of storytelling, set in a science fiction future far from Earth, suggested for age 10 (grade 5) and up. Also won the Pura Belpré Children’s Author Award.
Newbery Honor Books:
- Red, White, and Whole – by Rajani LaRocca
- Too Bright to See – by Kyle Lukoff
- Watercress – by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin
Randolph Caldecott Medal
The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually 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. – ala.org
Watercress – by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin
Watercress is a realistic picture book that deals with feelings about family. Although reviewers recommended it for ages 4 to 8 or kindergarten and up, readers might appreciate a heads up that the story deals with the loss of a loved one. This title also won the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in the Picture Book category.
Caldecott Honor Books:
- Have You Ever Seen a Flower? – illustrated and written by Shawn Harris
- Mel Fell – illustrated and written by Corey R. Tabor
- Wonder Walkers – illustrated and written by Micha Archer
- Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre – illustrated by Floyd Cooper and written by Carole Boston Weatherford
Coretta Scott King Book Awards
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, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. – ala.org
Author & Illustrator Award Winner: Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre – illustrated by Floyd Cooper and written by Carole Boston Weatherford
Many of us learned about the history of the Tulsa Race Massacre only recently, as the 100th anniversary was commemorated in 2021. While it is the size and shape of a picture book, it is suggested for middle-grade graders.
Author Honor Books:
- The People Remember – written by Ibi Zoboi, illustrated by Loveis Wise
Illustrator Honor Books:
- Nina: A Story of Nina Simone – illustrated by Christian Robinson, written by Traci N. Todd
- We Wait for the Sun – illustrated by Raissa Figueroa, written by Dovey Johnson Roundtree & Katie McCabe
- Soul Food Sunday – illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, written by Winsome Bingham
Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award for New Talent
The award is established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration, which otherwise might be formally unacknowledged within a given year within the structure of the two awards given annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee. These books affirm new talent and offer visibility to excellence in writing or illustration at the beginning of a career as a published book creator. – ala.org
The Me I Choose to Be – illustrated by Regis and Kahran Bethencourt, written by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton.
Poet Nikki Grimes has been widely recognized for her distinguished contribution to children’s and young adult literature, winning numerous major awards. After more than 77 books, she has sealed her legacy by weaving poetry and novels in verse into an impressive body of work. Find Nikki Grimes’ books at Fountaindale.
Schneider Family Book Award
The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. – ala.org
Young Children Award Winner: My City Speaks – written by Darren Lebeuf, illustrated by Ashley Barron
In this charming ode to city life, a visually impaired young girl travels around the city she loves, enjoying all it has to offer.
Schneider Family Book Award Honor Books:
- A Sky-Blue Bench – written by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Peggy Collins (ages 0 to 8)
- Stuntboy, in the Meantime – written by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Raúl the Third (ages 9 to 13)
- A Kind of Spark – by Elle McNicoll (ages 9 to 13)
Mildred L. Batchelder Award
This award, established in Mildred L. Batchelder’s honor in 1966, is a citation awarded to an American publisher for a children’s book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States. – ala.org
Temple Alley Summer – by Sachiko Kashiwaba, illustrated by Miho Satake (originally published in Japanese as Kimyōji Yokochō no Natsu)
From renowned Japanese children’s author Sachiko Kashiwaba, Temple Alley Summer is a fantastical and mysterious adventure filled with the living dead, magical pearls and a suspiciously nosy black cat named Kiriko featuring beautiful illustrations from Miho Satake.
Batchelder Honor Books:
- Coffee, Rabbit, Snowdrop, Lost – by Betina Birkjær, illustrated by Anna Margrethe Kjærgaard
- In the Meadow of Fantasies – written by Hadi Mohammadi, illustrated by Nooshin Safakhoo
- The Most Beautiful Story – by Brynjulf Jung Tjønn, illustrated by Øyvind Torseter
- Sato the Rabbit – written and illustrated by Yuki Ainoya
- The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas – by María García Esperón, illustrated by Amanda Mijangos
Pura Belpré Award
The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. – ala.org
Youth Illustration Award Winner: ¡Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge – written and illustrated by Raúl Gonzalez
Gonzalez’s character Little Lobo returns in a picture book about having to wait in a big traffic jam, and the pictures are jam-packed with lots of details to find and enjoy.
Children’s Author Award Winner: The Last Cuentista – by Donna Barba Higuera
There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her Abuelita. But Petra’s world is ending. A comet has destroyed Earth, and only a few hundred scientists and their children – among them Petra and her family – have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.
Youth Illustration Honor Books:
- Boogie Boogie, Y’all – illustrated and written by C. G. Esperanza
- Bright Star – illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales
- De aquí como el coquí – illustrated and written by Nomar Perez
Children’s Author Honor Books
- Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna – by Alda P. Dobbs
- Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua – written by Gloria Amescua, illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh (available on hoopla)
- De aquí como el coquí – written and illustrated by Nomar Perez
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
The Sibert Award honors the most distinguished informational book published in English in the preceding year for its significant contribution to children’s literature. – ala.org
The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art – written by Cynthia Levinson and illustrated by Evan Turk
A picture book biography of a 20th-century painter and photographer exploring themes like immigration, workers’ rights and Jewish life.
Sibert Honor Books
- Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown – by Steve Sheinkin
- We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know – by Traci Sorell (available on hoopla)
- Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre – by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award
Presented to English language books with exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience. – ala.org
Too Bright to See – by Kyle Lukoff
A middle-grade chapter book featuring friendship, a haunted house and figuring out transgender identity.
Stonewall Honor Books
- Almost Flying – by Jake Maia Arlow
- Grandad’s Camper – written and illustrated by Harry Woodgate
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, established in 2004, is given annually (beginning in 2006) to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year. – ala.org
Fox at Night – written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor
In this book for beginning readers. Fox overcomes his fear of monsters when he meets real nocturnal animals.
Geisel Honor Books
- Beak & Ally #1: Unlikely Friends – written and illustrated by Norm Feuti
- I Hop – written and illustrated by Joe Cepeda
- Nothing Fits a Dinosaur – written and illustrated by Jonathan Fenske
American Indian Youth Literature Awards
The American Indian Youth Literature Awards identifies and honors the very best writing and illustrations by Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of North America. Books selected to receive the award present Indigenous North American peoples in the fullness of their humanity. – ailanet.org
Middle-Grade Book Award: Healer of the Water Monster – by Brian Young
Nathan, a young Navajo boy from Phoenix, Arizona, goes on an epic hero’s journey in this middle-grade chapter book.
American Indian Youth Honor Books:
- Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Gold Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer – by Traci Sorell (available on hoopla)
- I Sang You Down from the Stars – by Tasha Spillet-Sumner (Picture Book)
- We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know – by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac (available on hoopla)
- Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend – by Dawn Quigley, illustrated by Tara Audibert
- The Sea in Winter – by Christine Day
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
The goal of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature is to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage based on literary and artistic merit. – apalaweb.org
Picture Book Winner: Watercress – by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin
A realistic picture book dealing with feelings about family. Although reviewers recommended it for ages 4 to 8 or kindergarten and up, readers might appreciate a heads up that the story deals with the loss of a loved one.
The Sydney Taylor Book Award
The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience. Presented by the Association of Jewish Libraries since 1968, the award encourages the publication and widespread use of quality Judaic literature. – jewishlibraries.org
Picture Book Winner: The Passover Guest – by Susan Kusel, illustrated by Sean Rubin
A picture book story of a Passover miracle set in Washington, D.C., during the Great Depression.
Middle-Grade Winner: How to Find What You’re Not Looking For – by Veera Hiranandani
Middle schooler Ariel Goldberg must find her voice and define her own beliefs after her big sister elopes with a young man from India following the Supreme Court decision that strikes down laws banning interracial marriage.
Sydney Taylor Honor Books:
- Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued – written and illustrated by Peter Sis (Picture Book)
- The Genius Under the Table: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain – written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin (Middle Grade)
- Linked – by Gordon Korman (Middle Grade)
The Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award
Recognizes an author or entity who has made a substantial contribution over time to the genre of Jewish children’s literature. This year’s winner is Jane Yolen.