Award-Winning and Notable Kids’ Books

The American Indian Youth Literature Awards (opens in a new window) are announced in even years and were established to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians and Alaska Natives. Selected titles present American Indians in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.

The Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature (opens in a new window) celebrate Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and is awarded based on literary and artistic merit. The award offers three youth categories including Picture Book, Children’s Literature and Youth/Young Adult Literature. 

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards (opens in a new window) (opens in a new window) are awarded 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. One or more Honor books are recognized each year as well.

The Pura Belpré Awards (opens in a new window) are awarded annually by the American Library Association to honor writers and illustrators whose children’s and young adult books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience. One or more Honor books are recognized each year as well.

• Children’s Literature Legacy Award (opens in a new window) (ALSC) honors an author or an illustrator whose work published in the U.S. has made a lasting contribution to literature for children. Formerly called the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal.
• (Theodor Seuss) Geisel Award (opens in a new window) (ALSC) honors the author and illustrator of the best American book for beginning readers.
• Mildred L. Batchelder Award (opens in a new window) (ALSC) honors the publisher for a children’s book considered to be an outstanding contribution to translated literature.
• Early Learning Digital Media Award (opens in a new window) (ALSC) honors a producer who has created distinguished digital media for an early learning audience.
• Odyssey Audiobooks Awards (opens in a new window) (ALA) honors the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the U.S.
• Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal (opens in a new window) (ALA) honors the author and illustrator of the most distinguished informational book published in English in the U.S.
• Schneider Family Book Award (opens in a new window) (ALA) honors the best books representing the disability experience.
• Margaret A. Edwards Award (opens in a new window) (YALSA) honors an author, as well as a specific body of work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.
• Michael L. Printz Award (opens in a new window) (YALSA) honors a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.
• Sydney Taylor Book Award (opens in a new window) (ALA Affiliate) honors the best in Jewish literature, highlighting the Jewish experience, for young readers.

• American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books (opens in a new window)
• Bank Street College of Education’s Irma Black Award (opens in a new window)
• Blueberry Awards focusing on nature and the environment (Evanston Public Library)
• Boston Globe’s Horn Book Awards (opens in a new window)
• Charlotte Zolotow Awards (opens in a new window)
• Children’s Africana Book Awards (opens in a new window)
• Children’s Literature Association’s Phoenix Award (opens in a new window)
• Comstock-Gág Read Aloud Book Awards Winners (opens in a new window)
• IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Awards (opens in a new window)
• Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Award (opens in a new window)
• Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature (opens in a new window)
• National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (opens in a new window)
• NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children (opens in a new window)
• NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children (opens in a new window)
• NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (opens in a new window)
• Notable Books for a Global Society (opens in a new window)
• Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities (opens in a new window) (IBBY)
• Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award (opens in a new window)
• Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction (opens in a new window)
• South Asia Book Award (opens in a new window)
• Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award (opens in a new window)
• We Need Diverse Books’ Walter Dean Myers Award (opens in a new window)

International English-language children’s book awards

• Book of the Year Awards by the Children’s Book Council of Australia (opens in a new window)
• Children’s Books Ireland (CBI) Book of the Year Awards (opens in a new window)
• Yoto Carnegie Medals (opens in a new window) (formerly the U.K. Carnegie Greenaway Medal)
• New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults (opens in a new window)

“Best of” annual lists

• Notable Children’s Books (opens in a new window), American Library Association
• Best Children’s Books of the Year (opens in a new window), Bank Street College of Education
• Best Children’s Picture Books (opens in a new window), Publishers Weekly

Additional booklists

• Recommended Books by Theme, Reading Rockets
• 100 Great Children’s Books (opens in a new window), New York Public Library
• Hot Off the Press (opens in a new window), Children’s Book Council
• Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (opens in a new window), National Council for the Social Studies
• Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (opens in a new window), Capitol Choices
• Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12 (opens in a new window), National Science Teachers Association