Current Winners
Big
Vashti Harrison
2023
ISBN: 9780316353229
Praised for acting like a big girl when she is small, as a young girl grows, "big" becomes a word of criticism, until the girl realizes that she is fine just the way she is.
In every life
Marla Frazee
2023
ISBN: 9781665912488
A picture book celebrating both the highs and lows that everyone experiences in the course of a life.
Jovita wore pants : the story of a Mexican freedom fighter
by Aida Salazar ; art by Molly Mendoza
2023
ISBN: 9781338283419
"Jovita didn't want to cook and clean like her sisters, and she especially didn't want to wear the skirts her abuela gave her. She wanted to race her brothers and climb the tallest mesquite trees in Rancho Palos Blancos, ride horses, and wear pants! When her father and brothers joined the Cristeros War to fight for the right to practice religion, she wanted to help. She wasn't allowed to fight, but that didn't stop her from observing how her father strategized and familiarizing herself with the terrain. When tragedy struck, she did the only thing that felt right to her--cut her hair, donned a pair of pants, and continued the fight, commanding a battalion who followed her without question. Jovita Wore Pants is the story of a trailblazing revolutionary who fought for her freedom, told by her great niece, bestselling author Aida Salazar, and illustrated by Molly Mendoza"-- Provided by publisher
There was a party for Langston
by Jason Reynolds ; with art by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey
2023
ISBN: 9781534439443
A celebration of Langston Hughes and African American authors he inspired, told through the lens of the party held at the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 1991.
The truth about dragons
written by Julie Leung ; illustrated by Hanna Cha
2023
ISBN: 9781250820587
In a mix of Eastern and Western mythologies, a mother tells her child about two forests inhabited by different, but equally enchanting dragons that coexist within the child's heart.
Past Winners
Hot dog
Doug Salati
2022
ISBN: 9780593308431
This hot dog has had enough of summer in the city! Enough of sizzling sidewalks, enough of wailing sirens, enough of people's feet right in his face. When he plops down in the middle of a crosswalk, his owner endeavors to get him the breath of fresh air he needs. She hails a taxi, hops a train, and ferries out to the beach. Here, a pup can run! With fluid art and lyrical text that have the soothing effect of waves on sand, the author shows us how to find calm, and how to carry it back with us so we can appreciate the small joys in a day. -- Publisher's description.
Watercress
Andrea Wang ; illustrated by Jason Chin
2021
ISBN: 9780823446247
Embarrassed about gathering watercress from a roadside ditch, a girl learns to appreciate her Chinese heritage after learning why the plant is so important to her parents.
We are water protectors
written by Carole Lindstrom ; illustrated by Michaela Goade
2020
ISBN: 9781250203557
Water is the first medicine. It affects and connects us all... When a black snake threatens to destroy the Earth and poison her people's water, one young water protector takes a stand to defend Earth's most sacred resource. Inspired by the many indigenous-led movements across North America, this bold and lyrical picture book issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth's water from harm and corruption.
The undefeated
by Kwame Alexander ; illustrated by Kadir Nelson
2019
ISBN: 9781328780966
"The Newbery Award-winning author of The Crossover pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree. Originally performed for ESPN's The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world's greatest heroes. The text is also peppered with references to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others, offering deeper insights into the accomplishments of the past, while bringing stark attention to the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present. Robust back matter at the end provides valuable historical context and additional detail for those wishing to learn more."-- Provided by publisher.
Hello lighthouse
Sophie Blackall
2018
ISBN: 9780316362382
"Explores the life of one lighthouse as it beams its message out to sea through shifting seasons, changeable weather, and the tenure of its final keeper."-- Provided by publisher.
Wolf in the snow
Matthew Cordell
2017
ISBN: 9781250076366
When a wolf cub and little girl are lost in a snowstorm they must find their way home.
Radiant child : the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
Javaka Steptoe
2016
ISBN: 9780316213882
Jean-Michel Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocked to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art world had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers to the powerful message that art doesn't always have to be neat or clean--and definitely not inside the lines--to be beautiful.
Finding Winnie : the true story of the world's most famous bear
by Lindsay Mattick ; illustrated by Sophie Blackall
2015
ISBN: 9780316324908
A woman tells her young son the true story of how his great-great-grandfather, Captain Harry Colebourn, rescued and learned to love a bear cub in 1914 as he was on his way to take care of soldiers' horses during World War I, and the bear became the inspiration for A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh.
The adventures of Beekle : the unimaginary friend
Dan Santat
2018
ISBN: 9780316199988
This magical story begins on an island far away where an imaginary friend is born. He patiently waits his turn to be chosen by a real child, but when he is overlooked time and again, he sets off on an incredible journey to the bustling city, where he finally meets his perfect match and'at long last'is given his special name: Beekle. The #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Dan Santat'creator of After the Fall and Are We There Yet?'combines classic storytelling with breathtaking art in an unforgettable tale about friendship, imagination, and the courage to find one's place in the world.
Locomotive
Brian Floca
2013
ISBN: 9781416994152
Learn what it was like to travel on the transcontinental railroad in the 1860s.
This is not my hat
Jon Klassen
2012
ISBN: 9780763655990
A tiny minnow wearing a pale blue bowler hat has a thing or two up his fins in this underwater light-on-dark chase scene.
A ball for Daisy
Chris Raschka
2011
ISBN: 9780375858611
A wordless picture book showing the fun a dog has with her ball, and what happens when it is lost. This story is about what it is like to lose something special, and find a friend.
A sick day for Amos McGee
written by Philip C. Stead ; illustrated by Erin E. Stead
2010
ISBN: 9781596434028
Zookeeper Amos McGee always makes time to visit with his friends who live at the zoo until the day he stays home because he is sick.
The lion & the mouse
Jerry Pinkney
2009
ISBN: 9780316013567
In this wordless retelling of an Aesop fable set in the African Serengeti, an adventuresome mouse proves that even a small creature is capable of great deeds when she rescues the King of the Jungle.
The house in the night
written by Susan Marie Swanson ; pictures by Beth Krommes
2008
ISBN: 9780618862443
From the Publisher: A spare, patterned text and glowing pictures explore the origins of light that make a house a home in this bedtime book for young children. Naming nighttime things that are both comforting and intriguing to preschoolers-a key, a bed, the moon-this timeless book illuminates a reassuring order to the universe.
The invention of Hugo Cabret : a novel in words and pictures
by Brian Selznick
2007
ISBN: 9780439813785
When twelve-year-old Hugo, an orphan living and repairing clocks within the walls of a Paris train station in 1931, meets a mysterious toyseller and his goddaughter, his undercover life and his biggest secret are jeopardized.
Flotsam
David Wiesner
2006
ISBN: 9780618194575
The story of what happens when a camera becomes a piece of flotsam.
The hello, goodbye window
story by Norton Juster ; pictures by Chris Raschka
2005
ISBN: 9780786809141
A little girl describes the magic kitchen window in her grandparents' home.
Kitten's first full moon
Kevin Henkes
2004
ISBN: 9780060588281
When Kitten mistakes the full moon for a bowl of milk, she ends up tired, wet, and hungry trying to reach it.
The man who walked between the towers
Mordicai Gerstein
2003
ISBN: 9780761328681
A lyrical evocation of Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers.