Children's Literature

The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children's Video honored outstanding video productions for children released during the previous year. The annual award was given to the video's producer by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of ALA, through a Carnegie endowment. The award was terminated in 2017.

Committed to providing a broad selection of outstanding books that mixes popular appeal with literary excellence, the Books for Youth editorial staff has chosen the titles below as best-of-the-year fiction, nonfiction, and picture books.

The Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.

The award is established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration which otherwise might be formally unacknowledged within a given year within the structure of the two awards given annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee.

These books affirm new talent and offer visibility to excellence in writing or illustration at the beginning of a career as a published book creator.

Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the Award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators.

The Newbery Medal 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 Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body of his or her work, that have been popular over a period of time. 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.

Each year the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best of children's books on the Notable Children's Books list.

Each year the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children's recordings on the Notable Children's Recordings list.

Each year the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children's videos on the Notable Children's Videos list.

This annual award will be given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.

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 Sibert Award honors the most distinguished informational book published in English in the preceding year for its significant contribution to children’s literature.

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.

The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, established in 2004, is given annually (beginning in 2006) to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year.

The Volunteer State Book Award is sponsored annually by the Tennessee Library Association and the Tennessee Association of School Librarians. Each year, children across Tennessee are asked to read books from a list of nominated titles. The Volunteer State Book Award has four divisions--Primary (Grades K-2), Intermediate (Grades 3-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), and high school (Grades 9-12). In the spring, those students who have read or listened to at least three of the titles from the list are eligible to vote for their favorite titles. These votes are tabulated and sent to the state organization. The book with the most votes statewide wins the award.