LibGuides: ACRL/EBSS Resources for Curriculum Materials Professionals: Awards & Booklists

About Awards/Booklists

The following is a selected list of book awards for children's literature. Each Curriculum Materials Center (CMC) should develop a core list of awards and booklists that it will collect based on the needs of its library users.

The content is organized into the following categories:

American Library Association Awards
Long-standing book awards which are awarded by sections or committees within the American Library Association with one or more awards intended for children or young adult.
Additional Children's and Young Adult Literature Awards
Book awards for children's and young adult literature that come from entities not directly affiliated with the American Library Association such as universities, non-profits, and other organizations.
American Library Association Booklists
Booklists published annually by the American Library Association or affiliates which recognize exceptional titles of a genre or theme but do not rank them or identify winners or honorees specifically.
Additional Booklists
Booklists published by entities not directly affiliated with the American Library Association such as universities, non-profits, and other organizations which recognize exceptional titles of a genre or theme but do not rank them or identify winners or honorees specifically.

American Library Association Awards

Alex Awards 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 books published in the previous year by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
American Indian Youth Literature Award This identifies and honors the very best writing and illustrations by and about Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of North America. It is awarded biennially in even-numbered years by the American Indian Library Association.
Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature These awards are given annually by the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association. There are awards for individual works about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit. The five award categories are Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, Children’s Literature, Young Adult Literature, and Picture Books. Works must be written by an Asian/Pacific Islander American who has resident status in the US or Canada and published in the US, its territories, or Canada.
Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults The Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults recognizes exceptional nonfiction intended for young adults (12-18) as designated by publishers which are published in the prior Nov. 1 - Oct. 31 year. It requires excellence in writing, research, presentation, and readability.
Caldecott Medal The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.
Coretta Scott King Book Awards These awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. Awards are also given for an author and illustrator showing new talent. The Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement is given annually to an African-American author or illustrator who has made a significant and lasting literary contribution, and in recognition of the body of his or her published books for children and/or young adults. They are awarded by the Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT), a Roundtable of ALA.
Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award The Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award recognizes the most distinguished digital media created for an early learning audience by a producer based in the United States. Digital media is defined as “Any real-time, dynamic, and interactive media content or product that is available via electronic device across multiple platforms.”
John Newbery Medal The Newbery Medal is awarded annually to the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.
Margaret A. Edwards Award The annual award is administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and sponsored by School Library Journal magazine and honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. 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.
Michael L. Printz Award The (Michael L.) Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit. It is awarded by Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and sponsored by Booklist.
Mildred L. Batchelder Award The Batchelder Award is awarded to a United States publisher for a children’s book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originating in a country other than the United States and in a language other than English and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States during the preceding year. ALSC gives the award to encourage US publishers to seek out superior children's books abroad and to promote communication among the peoples of the world.
Odyssey Award This annual award is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. It is awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of ALA, and is sponsored by Booklist magazine.
Pura Belpré Medal The Pura Belpré Award 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. This award is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking.
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal The (Robert F.) Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children to informational books originally published in English in the US by US citizens or residents which were published in the preceding year of the award.
Schneider Family Book Award The Schneider Family Book Award is awarded annually by the American Library Association to books published in English which portray the disability experience of a protagonist or secondary character and are intended for children and adolescent audiences (does not include books with death as the main theme). Winners are identified based on the interest levels: birth to grade school (0-10); middle school (11-13); teen (13-18).
Stonewall Book Awards The Stonewall Book Awards are awardedannually by ALA’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table to English language books for children and young adults with exceptional merit relating to LGBTQIA+ experiences published in the prior year.
Sydney Taylor Book Award The Sydney Taylor Book Award is given to books published in the current year which have positive/authentic Jewish religion or cultural content. Categories include Young readers (picture books), Older Readers (juvenile novels/nonfiction), and Teen (grades 7-12). It is awarded annually by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. It is awarded by the Association for Library Services to Children.
William C. Morris Award The (William C.) Morris Award honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. It is awarded by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

Additional Children's and YA Awards

Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades Awarded annually by a committee of the Children’s Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society since 1993, this recognizes exceptional books, for children or young adults, that are based on folklore. The folklore must be accurately presented in the text and illustrations and add to the reader’s understanding of folklore.
Américas Award The Américas Award given annually by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP) since 1993 encourages and commends authors, illustrators and publishers who produce quality children’s and young adult books that portray Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos in the United States, and provides teachers with recommendations for classroom use. Books are judged for: 1) distinctive literary quality; 2) cultural contextualization; 3) exceptional integration of text, illustration and design; and 4) potential for classroom use.
Anna Dewdney Read Together Award This award is given to a picture book that is both a superb read-aloud and also sparks compassion, empathy, and connection. The award commemorates the life and work of author/illustrator Anna Dewdney, and celebrates her commitment to reading with young children and putting books into as many little hands as possible. The award has been given annually by Penguin Young Readers, the Children’s Book Council, and Every Child a Reader since 2017.
Arab American Book Awards The Arab American Book Awards is a literary program created to honor books written by and about Arab Americans. The program generates greater awareness of Arab American scholarship and writing through an annual award competition and educational outreach.
Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children Awarded annually by the National Council of Teachers of English to honor a living American poet for his or her aggregate work for children ages 3–13.
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards This recognizes and rewards excellence in literature for children and young adults. Books in the categories of fiction and poetry, nonfiction, and picture books are selected from those published in the US during the previous year. Winners are determined by a 3-member committee selected by the editor of the Horn Book
CALA Annual Best Book Award This award is designed to promote awareness of the best books of Chinese topics or literature written by authors of Chinese descent, in English or Chinese language, that are originally published in North America.
Carter G. Woodson Book Awards The Carter G. Woodson Book Award is given for the most distinguished social science books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States. The purpose of this award is to encourage the writing, publishing, and dissemination of outstanding social science books for young readers that treat topics related to ethnic minorities and relations sensitively and accurately. The award is given by the National Council for the Social Studies.
Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children This award was established to promote and recognize excellence in the writing of fiction for children. This award recognizes fiction that has the potential to transform children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder. It is awarded annually by the National Council of Teachers of English.
Charlotte Zolotow Award 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. It recognizes the author of the best picture book text published in the United States in the preceding year.
Children’s Africana Book Awards This award is designed to share books published in the US that educate the public about Africa, and facilitates the exchange of ideas, information and research findings on Africa. Bilingual books that include English are eligible. Translations are eligible in the year first published in English. It is awarded annually by the Africa Access and the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (ASA)
CILIP Carnegie Medal The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded annually by CILIP, the United Kingdom’s library and information association to recognize a children's and young adult book that creates an outstanding reading experience through writing.
CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is the only prize in the United Kingdom to solely reward outstanding illustration in a children’s book.
Cook Prize An award given for the best STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) books for children, ages 8-10. It is administered annually by the Bank Street College of Education (New York) with support from School Library Journal.
Dolly Gray Children’s Book Award This award is decided in even years by a committee of the Division on Autism and Developmental Disabilities (DADD) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) in collaboration with Brigham Young University. It recognizes authors, illustrators, and publishers of high quality fictional and biographical children, intermediate, and young adult books that authentically portray individuals with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disabilities, and Down syndrome.
E.B. White Read Aloud Award This honors books that reflect the universal read aloud standards that were created by the work of the author E.B. White in his classic books for children. It is chosen by a committee of independent booksellers who are members of The Association of Booksellers for Children
Ezra Jack Keats Book Award This award is given annually to an outstanding new writer and new illustrator for books that portray the universal qualities of childhood, a strong and supportive family, and the multicultural nature of our world. It is awarded annually by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Giverny Book Award The Giverny Book Award is given to a children’s science picture book written in English and published within five years of the award date. The book must teach its young reader at least one important scientific principle well, or encourage the reader toward specific science-related attitudes, pursuits, or inquiries. It is awarded annually by the15º Laboratory's Award Selection Committee.
Green Earth Book Award The Green Earth Book Award is awarded annually by The Nature Generation, a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit that inspires and empowers youth to make a difference to books that best convey the message of environmental stewardship.
Irma Simonton Black and James H. Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature While this is awarded by Bank Street College of Education’s Center for Children’s Literature, the Irma Black Award is unusual in that children are the final judges of the winning book.The outstanding book for young children is a book in which text and illustrations are inseparable, each enhancing and enlarging on the other to produce a singular whole.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award The Jane Addams Children's Book Award is determined by the Jane Addams PEace Association and Identifies children’s books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people.
Mathical Book Prize An annual award for fiction and nonfiction books that inspire children of all ages to see math in the world around them. Winners are in five grade-level categories: PreK, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. It is awarded by the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute.
Middle East Book Award An honor selected by the Middle East Outreach Council to recognize books for children and young adults that contribute meaningfully to understanding of the Middle East.
National Book Award The National Book Award celebrates the best writing in America for the categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. It is awarded by the National Book Foundation.
Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels are selected by the National Council of Teachers of English Award for Excellence in Children’s Poetry Committee. Any poetry title for children ages 3-13 is eligible. This includes all forms of poetry including individual poetry, anthologies, narratives, biographical poems, and verse novels.
Orbis Pictus Award The Orbis Pictus Award is awarded annually by the National Council of Teachers of English to promote and recognize excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children.
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction This award recognizes exceptional works of historical fiction published by a US publisher and by a US citizen with a setting in South, Central or North America in the prior year and intended for children or young adults.
Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award The Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award is awarded annually by Texas State University College of Education Books to books published in the last two years which authentically reflect the lives and experiences of Mexican Americans in the United States.
Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature This recognizes books published for specified age groups during the prior year by a diverse author while featuring diverse main characters. It is awarded annually by We Need Diverse Books.

American Library Association Booklists

Best Fiction for Young Adults A list compiled annually since 1997 by the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults Blogging Team of fiction titles published for young adults in the past 14 months that are recommended reading for ages 12 to 18. The purpose of the annual list is to provide librarians and library workers with a resource to use for collection development and reader’s advisory purposes.
Great Graphic Novels Great Graphic Novels for Teens is a list of recommended graphic novels and and illustrated nonfiction for those ages 12-18 prepared annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association.
Notable Children’s Books Since 1940, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) has identified notable children's literature. According to the Notables Criteria, "notable" is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children's books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children's interests in exemplary ways. The current year's Newbery, Caldecott, Belpré, Sibert, Geisel, and Batchelder Award and Honor books automatically are added to the Notable Children's Books list.
Rainbow Book List Awarded annually by ALA’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table since 2008, this list recognizes books published within the assigned calendar year or between July 1 and December 31 of the previous calendar year which portray authentic LGBTQIA+ experiences and are recommended for young readers (between bith and age 18).
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 (Formally the Amelia Bloomer Award) Awarded annually by a committee of the Feminist Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association since 2002, this annotated booklist highlights well-written and well-illustrated books with significant feminist content for young readers, ages birth through 18. A book must have a copyright date during the current calendar year or have been published from July to December of the previous calendar year to be considered for the list. A book originally published outside the United States will be considered according to its U.S. publication year.
Teens’ Top Ten Awarded annally since 2003 by the Young Adult Library Services Association, this recognizes any book of teen interest published during the prior year as determined by national teen voting.

Additional Booklists

Bank Street College of Education, Children’s Book Committee The list includes more than 600 titles for children and young adults through age 16 chosen by reviewers for literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.The Children’s Book Committee of the Bank Street College of Education was founded more than 100 years ago to help parents, teachers, and librarians choose books that children will find captivating and transforming. Booklists are created annually and three awards are given: The Josette Frank Award (begun in 1943), The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award (begun in 1994), and The Claudia Lewis Award (begun in 1998).
Best STEM Books Since 2017, each year books for children in grades K-12 are selected to reflect the practices of science and engineering by members of the National Science Teaching Association in collaboration with the Children’s Book Council.
Children’s Choices Reading List Children’s Choices, Teachers’ Choices, and Young Adult Choices Reading Lists are compiled annually by readers and teachers to share their choices of the best children and young adult books in a given year with other readers. These lists are sponsored by the International Literacy Association and the Children’s Book Council.
Notable Books for a Global Society Twenty-five outstanding trade books for K-12 of all genres are chosen annually. Criteria include enhancing student understanding of people and cultures throughout the world. Established in 1996, the list is complied by the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group, a nonprofit organization chartered by the International Literacy Association (ILA).
Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts This is awarded to thirty books each year by a seven-member national committee affiliated with the Children’s Literature Assembly. Titles must be published the year preceding the award year, have an appealing format; be of enduring quality; meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written; and meet one or more of the following criteria: deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language; demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style; and/or invite child response or participation. Titles may be works of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry for grades K-8.
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People The selection committee looks for fiction and non-fiction books for K-8 that emphasize human relations, represent a diversity of groups and are sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences, present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic, are easily readable and of high literary quality, and have a pleasing format and, when appropriate, illustrations that enrich the text. Each book is read by several reviewers, and books are included on the list by committee assent; annotations do not necessarily reflect the judgment of the entire committee. The books that appear in these annotated book lists were evaluated and selected by a Book Review Committee appointed by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and assembled in cooperation with the Children’s Book Council (CBC). NCSS and CBC have cooperated on this annual bibliography since 1972.
Outstanding International Books List International books for children that are deemed most outstanding of those published during the calendar year. For the purposes of this honor list, the term "international book" is used to describe a book published or distributed in the United States that originated or was first published in a country other than the U.S. Established in 2006, it is awarded by the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), which serves as the U.S. national section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), which was founded to promote international understanding and good will through books for children and adolescents.
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 The books that appear in these lists were selected as outstanding children's science trade books for K-12 students. Titles are chosen by a book review panel appointed by the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) and assembled in cooperation with the Children's Book Council (CBC). NSTA and CBC have joined forces on this bibliographic project since 1973, when the list was known as Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children and was primarily targeted at grades K through 8. Beginning in 2002, the list has been expanded to include high school as well.