Children's and Young Adult Literature Awards and Lists

 Primary awards represented in our collection

The Curriculum Resource Center actively purchases books that have won these awards. Any title missing from these awards categories will be added to the collection via annual backfilling, subject to availability.  

American Indian Youth Literature Award
The American Indian Library Association (AILA) recognizes excellence in books by and about American Indians.  By identifying and honoring outstanding writing and illustrations in the field of children’s literature, AILA encourages authors, illustrators, editors, publishers and tribal entities to create materials that present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in present and past contexts.

Arab American Book Award
Awarded by the Arab American National Museum, the Arab American Book Award encourages the publication and excellence of books that preserve and advance understanding, knowledge, and resources of Arab Americans.

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
The Asian/Pacific Librarian Association honors and recognizes individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit through this award.

Batchelder Award
The Batchelder Award 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 language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.

Boston Globe/Horn Book Award
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. The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges who are annually appointed by the Editor of the Horn Book.

Buckeye Children’s & Teen Book Award
The Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award program is designed to encourage students in Ohio to read literature critically, to promote teacher and librarian involvement in young adult literature programs, and to commend authors of such literature. The Teen category was added to the existing Buckeye Children’s Book Award in 2003.

Caldecott Award
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.

Charlotte Huck Award
Administered by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the Charlotte Huck award commemorates exemplary fiction writing for children in grades K-8. In particular, the fiction should inspire compassion, inspiration, and wonder in the child reader.

Charlotte Zolotow Award
Administered by the Cooperative Children's Book Center and named after Charlotte Zolotow, a distinctive editor and author in the field of children's literature, the Charlotte Zolotow Award is awarded to the best text in a picture book. The book must be published in the United States in the preceding year.

Coretta Scott King Award
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 of a pluralistic society. 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.

Floyd's Pick
Developed and awarded by the Choose to Read Ohio Advisory Council, Floyd's Pick is awarded annually to an exemplary children's book written by an Ohio author or illustrated by an Ohio artist. The selected titles are those that Floyd himself would have enthusiastically shared with young people. Up to three honor books are selected each year.

Geisel Award
The Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal honors 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.

Golden Kite Award                                                                                                                                                          Presented by the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators the Golden Kite Awards, given annually to recognize excellence in children’s literature, grant cash prizes of $2,500 to author and illustrator winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration. These are the only children’s literary award judged by a jury of peers.

Jane Addams’ Children’s Book Award
The Jane Addams Children's Book Awards are given annually to the children's books published the preceding year that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence.

John Steptoe New Talent Award
Awarded by the Coretta Scott King Task Force, the John Steptoe New Talent Award is intended 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 Task Force.

Mathical Book Award
The Mathical Book Prize cultivates a love of mathematics in the everyday world. Each year’s winners and honor books join a selective and ever-growing list of new and previously published fiction and nonfiction titles for kids of all ages.

Morris Award
The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first awarded in 2009, honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.   

National Book Award
The Awards are given to recognize achievements in four genres: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature. The CRC collects winners and finalists in the Young People's Literature category.

Newbery Award
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.

Orbis Pictus Award
The Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children was established as an annual award for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children. The name Orbis Pictus, commemorates the work of Johannes Amos Comenius, Orbis Pictus—The World in Pictures (1657), considered to be the first book actually planned for children.  

Printz Award
The Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association.

Pura Belpre Award
The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented annually to a Latinx writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latinx cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

Schneider Family Book Award
This award is donated by Dr. Katherine Schneider, and honors an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. Three annual awards are presented for the best Teen, Middle School and Children’s Book. T

Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Established in 1982, the annual award of $5,000 goes to an author for a meritorious book published in the previous year for children or young adults.  Scott O'Dell established this award to encourage other writers--particularly new authors--to focus on historical fiction.  

Sibert Award
The Sibert Medal honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published for children during the preceding year.

Stonewall Book Award
The Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award honors LGBTQ* books for juvenile and young adult audiences. The award is sponsored by the ALA Rainbow Round Table.

Sydney Taylor 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 (AJL) since 1968, the Award encourages the publication and widespread use of quality Judaic literature. Gold medals are presented in three categories: Younger Readers, Older Readers, and Teen Readers. Honor Books are awarded silver medals, and Notable Books are named in each category.

Walter Award
Administered by We Need Diverse Books, the Walter Award, named after canonical Black author Walter Dean Myers, recognizes a diverse author whose story affirms the experience of a diverse character in a meaningful way. The award is given in two categories: Young Reader (ages 9-13) and Teen (13-18). 

YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award
Honors the best informational texts for young adults (ages 12-18). Each year, five shortlisted titles are announced, of which one title is awarded the medal.

Awards that may also be present in our collection

The Curriculum Resource Center selectively purchases titles that have won these awards.

Amelia Bloomer Book List
The Amelia Bloomer Project, a committee of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table, compiles the Amelia Bloomer List, an annual annotated book list (or bibliography) of well-written and well-illustrated books with significant feminist content, intended for young readers (ages birth through 18).

ALA Notable Books for Children 
Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children's books. Books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for ages birth to 14 that reflect and encourage children's interests in exemplary ways are considered for the list.

Alex Awards
This award, sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust, honors ten adult books with special appeal to teens. The Alex committee also publishes its official nomination list after the awards announcement.

Américas Awards
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. The award is sponsored by the national Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP).

Carter G. Woodson Awards
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.  

Children's Literature Legacy Award
The Children's Literature Legacy Award 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. (Formerly the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award)

Christopher Awards
First presented in 1949, the Christopher Awards were established by Christopher founder Father James Keller to salute media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” Award winners encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others.

Claudia Lewis Awards
This award is given for the best poetry book of the year for young readers. A longtime member of the Committee, Claudia Lewis was an esteemed poet, author, and teacher of children's literature. She served on the faculty at Bank Street College of Education.

Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award
Awarded by the Council for Exceptions Children’s Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities, the Dolly Gray award recognizes authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality literature that appropriately portrays individuals with developmental disabilities.

Edwards Award
Established in 1988, the award honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. The award 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.

Flora Stieglitz Straus Awards
This award is given for a nonfiction book that serves as an inspiration to young readers. Flora Stieglitz Straus chaired the Children's Book Committee for over sixty years.

Giverny Awards
The Giverny Award is an annual award established in 1998 by Dr. Jim Wandersee and Dr. Eisabeth E. Schussler for the 15º Laboratory, currently based at Louisiana State University.  It is awarded to the author and to the illustrator of a children's science picture book written in the English language and published within five years of the award date. The book must teach its young reader at least one important scientific principle, or encourage the reader toward specific science-related pursuits or inquiry.

Gryphon Awards
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.

Josette Frank Awards
This award is given each year to honor 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.  

Middle East Book Awards
Awarded by the Middle East Outreach Council, the Middle East Book Awards recognize quality books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to an understanding of the Middle East and its component societies and cultures.

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature (MFA) 
This award honors books for younger readers (from “Young Adults” to picture books for beginning readers), in the tradition of The Hobbit or The Chronicles of Narnia.

Notable Books for a Global Society
Awarded by the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association, the Notable Books for a Global Society honors books that enhance student understanding of people and cultures throughout the world.

Outstanding International Book List
The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBYP) selects an annual list of international books that are deemed most outstanding of those published during the calendar year.

Outstanding Science Trade Book Awards
The books that appear in these lists were selected as outstanding children's science trade books. They were selected by a book review panel appointed by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and assembled in cooperation with the Children’s Book Council (CBC). NSTA and CBC have cooperated on this bibliographic project since 1973.

Phoenix Awards
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.

Rainbow List
Rainbow Books presents an annual bibliography of quality books with significant and authentic GLBTQ content, which are recommended for people from birth through eighteen years of age. Rainbow Books is a joint project of the Rainbow Round Table and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association.

Sid Fleischman Humor Awards
The Sid Fleischman Humor Award is an award for authors whose work exemplifies the excellence of writing in the genre of humor. The SCBWI established the award to honor humorous work, so often overlooked in children’s literature by other award committees. Current winners are announced and listed with the Golden Kite awards.

South Asia Book Award
The South Asia Book Award, administered by the South Asia National Outreach Consortium, recognizes outstanding works of literature, from early childhood to secondary reading levels, which accurately and skillfully portray South Asia or South Asians in the diasporas.

Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award Winners
Texas State University College of Education developed the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award to honor authors and illustrators who create literature that depicts the Mexican American experience. The award was established in 1995 and was named in honor of Dr. Tomás Rivera, a distinguished alumnus of Texas State University.

YALSA Lists
The Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association prepares annual lists identifying the best titles within a category. What follows is a list of few of the lists:

• Best Fiction for Young Adults
• Great Graphic Novels for Teens
• Teens' Top Ten