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Award Winning

Award Winning Books for Children

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.

2023 Winner

Hot Dog

2023 Honor Books

Ain’t Burned All the Bright

Berry Song

Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement

Knight Owl

Goldfinch Award

The Goldfinch Award gives children an opportunity to choose the award winning book and to suggest books for the yearly reading list. Books chosen are fiction or nonfiction titles appropriate for children in preschool through 3rd grade.

2023-2024 Nominees

A Thousand White Butterflies

Aaron Slater, illustrator

Bear is a Bear

Change Sings: a children’s anthem

Click Clack Good Night

Different – a great thing to be!

If You Come to Earth

Mars!: Earthlings Welcome

Mel Fell

Nano: the spectacular science of the very (very) small

Norman Didn’t Do It!: (yes, he did)

Our Table

Ten Beautiful Things

The Couch Potato

The Elephants Come Home: a true story of seven elephants, two people, and one extraordinary friendship

The Perfectly Perfect Wish

The Year We Learned to Fly

This Very Tree: a story of 9/11, resilience, and regrowth

This Way, Charlie

When Langston Dances

Iowa Children's Choice Award (ICCA)

The Iowa Children’s Choice Award gives children an opportunity to choose the award winning book and to suggest books for the yearly reading list. Books chosen are fiction or nonfiction titles appropriate for children in 3rd through 6th grade.

2023-2024 Nominees

365 Days to Alaska

A Place to Hang the Moon

A Soft Place to Land

Amari and the Night Brothers

Barakah Beats

Better With Butter

Clarice the Brave

Dear Student

Just Harriet

Maya and the Robot

Once Upon a Tim

Rez Dogs

Sunshine

The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas

The Comeback

The Elephant in the Room

The Lion of Mars

What Lives in the Woods

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie

Where We Used to Roam

Willodeen

Newbery Medal

newbery medal logo
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.

2023 Newberry Award Winner

Freewater

2023 Newberry Honor Books

Iveliz Explains It All

Maizy Chen’s Last Chance

The Last Mapmaker

Coretta Scott King Award

The Coretta Scott King Book 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. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.

2023 Award Winner

Freewater

2023 Illustrator Award Winner

Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual

2023 Honor Books

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

The Talk

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice

2023 Illustrator Honor Books

Me and the Boss: A Story about Mending and Love

Swim Team

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice

Pura Belpré 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 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. It 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, an ALA affiliate.

2023 Award Winner

Frizzy

2023 Illustrator Award Winner

Where Wonder Grows

2023 Honor Books

The Coquíes Still Sing

Tumble

2023 Illustrator Honor Books

A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters

The Coquíes Still Sing

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.

2023 Award Winner

I Did It!

2023 Honor Books

A Seed Grows

Fish and Wave

Gigi and Ojiji

Owl and Penguin

Award Winning Books for Teens

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 the previous year’s publishing. The Alex Awards were first given annually beginning in 1998 and became an official ALA award in 2002.

2023 Winners

A Lady’s Guide to to Fortune-Hunting

Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution

Chef’s Kiss

Daughter of the Moon Goddess

I’m Glad My Mom Died

Solito: A Memoir

The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere.

The Kaiju Preservation Society

True Biz

Wash Day Diaries

Iowa High School Book Award

IHSBA Logo
In March, high school students across Iowa take part in the nomination of books for the Iowa High School Book Award. These books are reviewed by the IHSBA committee and teacher librarian volunteer readers and the list is narrowed. During the summer, the readers read and rate the titles. The committee members finalize the list in the fall. The list for the next school year is released in January for the following school year.

2023-2024 Nominees

All My Rage

Billy Summers

Bluebird

Firekeeper’s Daughter

Indivisible

Kneel

That Weekend

The Girls I’ve Been

The Last Thing He Told Me

Today Tonight Tomorrow

We Are Not From Here

You’ll Be the Death of Me

Iowa Teen Award

In March, teens across Iowa take part in the nomination of books for the Iowa Teen Award. These books are reviewed by the ITA committee and volunteer readers and the list is narrowed. During the summer, the adult readers read and rate the titles. In March, teens also vote for their favorite book from that year’s list.

2023-2024 Nominees

A-Okay

Ain’t Burned All the Bright

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna

Dress Coded

Fallout : spies, superbombs, and the ultimate Cold War showdown

Huda F Are You?

I Must Betray You

Long Lost

The Canyon’s Edge

The List of Unspeakable Fears

The Shape of Thunder

The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights

War Stories

When You Get the Chance: A Novel

Morris Award

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. The award’s namesake is William C. Morris, an influential innovator in the publishing world and an advocate for marketing books for children and young adults.

2023 Winner

The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen

2023 Finalists

Hell Followed with Us

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

Wake the Bones

Printz Award

The Michael L. 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. The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association.

2023 Winner

All My Rage

2023 Finalists

Icebreaker

Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): The Natural World of Animal Sexuality

Scout’s Honor

When the Angels Left the Old Country

YALSA Nonfiction Award

YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.

2023 Winner

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice

2023 Finalists

A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome

Abuela, Don’t Forget Me

American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South

Unequal: A Story of America

YALSA Teen Top Ten

TALSA Teens' Top Ten

Vote for the 2023 Teen Top Ten!

The Teens’ Top Ten is a “teen choice” list, where teens nominate and choose their favorite books of the previous year! Nominators are members of teen book groups in fifteen school and public libraries around the country. Nominations are announced the Thursday of National Library Week, and teens across the country vote on their favorite titles each year. Readers ages twelve to eighteen vote online between August 15 and October 15; the winners are announced during October (TeenTober).

2023 Nominees

A Million Quiet Revolutions

All My Rage

Alone Out Here

Blackwater

Crumbs

Dig Two Graves

Don’t look back : a memoir of war, survival, and my journey from Sudan to America

Five Survive

Gallant

Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

Gleanings: Stories from Arc of a Scythe

Gold Mountain

I Must Betray You

Icebreaker

Lakelore

Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School

Lia and Beckett’s Abracadabra

Lightlark

Messy Roots: a graphic memoir of a Wuhanese American

My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding

Nothing Burns as Bright as You

Nothing More to Tell

Some Mistakes Were Made

The Ivory Key

The Rumor Game