Award-Winning Books

Tulsa Awards & Honors

Books to Treasure – Every November the Tulsa City-County Library celebrates Books to Treasure. A special program aimed at promoting the beauty of children’s literature by bringing a prominent illustrator to Tulsa. Every 2nd grader in Tulsa County receives a copy of a featured book by the illustrator and the chance to get a special Books to Treasure Library card. This program is sponsored by the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation. Past winners include Marla Frazee, Arthur Howard, Janet Stevens, Lisa Campbell Ernst, Floyd Cooper, Jim Arnosky, Brad Sneed, and Steve Jenkins. The 2011 featured author/illustrator was Grace Lin. The 2012 featured author/illustrator will be announced in April 2012.

Zarrow Award for Young Readers' Literature – Started in 1991, the Award for Young Readers' Literature is given annually by the Tulsa Library Trust. In 1992, it was permanently named in honor of Anne V. Zarrow. Its purpose is to give formal recognition, on behalf of the Tulsa County community, to nationally acclaimed authors who have made a significant contribution to the field of literature for children and young adults. The 2011 recipient was award winning author Kathryn Lasky. The 2012 award recipient will be announced in early 2012.

Oklahoma Books Awards

Donna Norvell Oklahoma Book Award - The Donna Norvell Book Award honors a book that has made a significant contribution to the field of literature for children grades 3 and under. These works are defined as those written and illustrated to present, organize and interpret material for children. The 2011 Award Winner is Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer with illustrations by Dan Santat.

Sequoyah Children's Book Award - The Sequoyah Book Awards program encourages the students of Oklahoma to read books of literary quality. Students in grades 3-6 who have read or listened to at least three titles from the Children's Masterlist are eligible to vote for the Children's Sequoyah Book Award. Criteria for selection include: published three years prior to the award date, author lives in the United States, originality, literary quality, interest, appeal, and developmentally appropriate for the designated age level. The 2011 Children's Award Winner is All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn.
See the 2012 Sequoyah Children’s Book List
See past Sequoyah Children's Award Winners & Masterlist

National Book Awards

	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. The 2012 Medal winner is A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka.
	Newbery Medal - 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. The 2012 Medal winner is Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos.
	Coretta Scott King Book Awards - The Coretta Scott King Awards are presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Task Force of the American Library Association's Social Responsibilities Round Table. Recipients are authors and illustrators of African descent whose distinguished books promote an understanding and appreciation of the "American Dream." The Coretta Scott King Book Awards include an author award, an illustrator award, and a new talent author award.The 2012 author award winner is Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson and the 2012 illustrator award winner is Underground by Shane W. Evans.
	Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement - This award is presented every two years to an African American author, illustrator, or author/illustrator for a body of his or her published books for children and/or young adults who has made a significant and lasting literary contribution. Author, illustrator and poet Ashley Bryan is the 2012 recipient of theVirginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.
	The Pura Belpré Awards - The Pura Belpré Awards, established in 1996, are 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. The 2012 Author Award winner is Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall and the 2012 Illustrator Award winner is Diego Rivera: His World and Ours by Duncan Tonatiu.
	The Geisel Award – This award is named for the world-renowned children’s author, Theodor Geisel. Better known as Dr. Seuss. The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is given annually to the authors and illustrators of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. The 2012 Geisel Medal winner is Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider.
	The Odyssey Award– This annual award is given by the by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the producer of the best audio book produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. The 2012 Odyssey Award Audiobook is Rotters written by Daniel Kraus and narrated by Kirby Heyborn.
	Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal - This annual award is given by the by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year. The 2012 Medal winner is Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet.
	The Wilder Medal – This award, named for author Laura Ingalls Wilder, is given every two years to an author or illustrator whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. This award is given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. Author and illustrator Tomie de Paola is the 2011 recipient of the Wilder Medal.
	The Carnegie Medal – The Andrew Carnegie Medal honors the most outstanding video productions for children released during the previous year.This award is given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. The 2012 Medal winner is Children Make Terrible Pets, based on the book by Peter Brown.
	The Mildred L. 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. The 2012 Award winner is Soldier Bear written by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Philip Hopman and translated by Laura Watkinso.
	The Schneider Family Book Award - The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. There was no 2012 winner in the children's category. The 2012 middle school award winning books are Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures by Brian Selznick and Close to Famous by Joan Bauer.

Children’s Notable Lists – Every year the Association for Library Service to Children publishes lists of the best children's books, recordings, videos, and computer software. According to the ALSC website, a notable item is “worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding.”