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Award Winning Books for Kids

Created on October 14, 2021, 7:56 am

Last Updated April 25, 2022, 7:22 am

This list contains many of the books that have received the top or honor prize for the Caldecott, Newbery, Pura Belpre, Sibert Family, Dr. Seuss Geisel, and Coretta Scott King Awards. The titles included on this site vary widely as to their intended audience—children anywhere from birth up to 14 years of age. We encourage parents and caregivers to actively engage in the selection of media with their children, as reading skills, cognitive and maturity levels, and interests vary from child to child. When looking at older winners especially, please remember that they were selected as the best of THEIR time, not necessarily the best of ALL time, and may be quite dated for today's young readers.

1) The Arabic quilt: an immigrant story

Author

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

When her new classmates tease her, Kanzi finds comfort in wrapping up in a quilt from her teita and writing poetry.

2) Farah rocks fifth grade

Author

Darraj, Susan Muaddi

Series

Farah rocks volume 1

Formats:

Description

Fifth-grader Farah Hajjar and her best friend Allie Liu are hoping to go to the Magnet Academy for their middle school years, instead of Harbortown Elementary/Middle School; but when a new girl Dana Denver starts tormenting Farah and her younger brother, Samir, she decides she can not leave Samir to face the bully alone, especially since the adults and even Allie do not seem to be taking the matter seriously--so Farah comes up with a plan, one which...

3) A kind of spark

Author

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

When she discovers that her small Scottish town used to burn witches simply because they were different, a neurodivergent girl who sees and hears things others cannot refuses to let them be forgotten.

4) Temple alley summer

Author

Kashiwaba, Sachiko

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"One rainy night, Kazu sees a strange figure in a white kimono sneak out of his house--was he dreaming? Did he see a ghost? The next day at school, the very same person is sitting in his class--and all his friends are convinced that the ghost-girl Akari has been their friend for years. If that isn't weird enough, Kazu learns that his house is in the exact location of an ancient temple called KimyM, which, legend has it, could bring the dead back to...

5) in the meadow of fantasies

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

6) beak and ally 1 unlikely friends

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

7) The Christmas mitzvah

Author

Gottesfeld, Jeff

Description

Al Rosen, a Jewish man, takes on the jobs of his Christian neighbors on Christmas Eve and day so they can spend the holiday with their families, starting a tradition that lasts for decades.

Author

Formats:

Book, eAudiobook, eBook, Kindle

Description

"Link, Michael, and Dana live in a quiet town. But it's woken up very quickly when someone sneaks into school and vandalizes it with a swastika. Nobody can believe it. How could such a symbol of hate end up in the middle of their school? Who would do such a thing? Because Michael was the first person to see it, he's the first suspect. Because Link is one of the most popular guys in school, everyone's looking to him to figure it out. And because Dana's...

9) The genius under the table: growing up behind the Iron Curtain

Author

Yelchin, Eugene

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle

Description

"Drama, family secrets, and a KGB spy in his own kitchen! How will Yevgeny ever fulfill his parents' dream that he become a national hero when he doesn't even have his own room? He's not a star athlete or a legendary ballet dancer. In the tiny apartment he shares with his Baryshnikov-obsessed mother, poetry-loving father, continually outraged grandmother, and safely talented brother, all Yevgeny has is his little pencil, the underside of a massive...

10) Dear Mr. Dickens

Author

Formats:

Description

"In Eliza Davis's day, Charles Dickens was the most celebrated living writer in England. But some of his books reflected a prejudice that was all too common at the time: prejudice against Jewish people. Eliza was Jewish, and her heart hurt to see a Jewish character in Oliver Twist portrayed as ugly and selfish. She wanted to speak out about how unfair that was, even if it meant speaking out against the great man himself. So she wrote a letter to Charles...

11) bird will soar

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

12) Nicky & Vera: a quiet hero of the Holocaust and the children he rescued

Author

Description

"Caldecott Honoree and Sibert Medalist Peter Sís honors a man who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis. In 1938, twenty-nine-year-old Nicholas Winton saved the lives of almost 700 children trapped in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia-a story he never told and that remained unknown until an unforgettable TV appearance in the 1980s reunited him with some of the children he saved. Czech-American artist, MacArthur Fellow, and Andersen Award winner Peter...

13) Amina's song

Author

Series

Amina's voice volume 2

Formats:

Book, Book on CD, eBook, Kindle, Large Print

Description

Feeling pulled between two cultures after a month with family in Pakistan, Amina shares her experiences with Wisconsin classmates through a class assignment and a songwriting project with new student Nico.--

14) The Passover guest

Author

Description

In Washington, D.C., during the Great Depression, Muriel and her family have no money to prepare the seder meal until a mysterious stranger performs a Passover miracle. Includes notes on the Passover holiday, the Great Depression, and the history of the D.C. Jewish community.

15) Finding Junie Kim

Author

Formats:

Book, Book on CD, eBook, Kindle

Description

A tale based on true events follows the coming-of-age of a girl who is motivated by an act of racism at school to learn about her ancestral heritage and her grandparents' experiences as lost children during the Korean War.

16) A boy named Isamu: a story of Isamu Noguchi

Author

Description

Imagines a day in the boyhood of Japanese American artist, Isamu Noguchi, while wandering through an outdoor market, through the forest, and then by the ocean, seeing things Isamu sees through the eyes of a young artist.

17) how to find what you re not looking for

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

18) The sea in winter

Author

Formats:

Book, Book on CD, eBook, Kindle

Description

"It's been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt her leg and could not keep up with her ballet training and auditions. Her blended family is loving and supportive, but Maisie knows that they just can't understand how hopeless she feels. With everything she's dealing with, Maisie is not excited for their family midwinter road trip along the coast, near the Makah community where her mother grew up. But soon, Maisie's anxieties and dark...

19) I sang you down from the stars

Author

Spillett-Sumner, Tasha

Description

A Native American woman describes how she loved her child before it was born and, throughout her pregnancy, gathered a bundle of gifts to welcome the newborn.

20) Indigenous Peoples' Day

Author

Phillips, Katrina M

Series

Traditions and celebrations

Formats:

Description

"Indigenous Peoples' Day is about celebrating! The second Monday in October is a day to honor Native American people, their histories, and cultures. People mark the day with food, dancing, and songs. Readers will discover how a shared holiday can have multiple traditions and be celebrated in all sorts of ways"--