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The American Library Association (ALA) this morning announced the winners of the 2021 Youth Media Awards, including the Newbery Medal, Caldecott Medal, Printz Prize, and Coretta Scott King Awards. A full list of winners and awardees can be found here.
The most featured authors on the list are Christina Soontornvat, an award winner or finalist in three categories, including two different books that have received Newbery awards, and the author and illustrator Cozbi A. Cabrera, an award winner in three different categories with two books . Tae Keller was awarded the Newbery Medal for When You Trap a Tiger, which also won the Asian / Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature.
Caldecott Medal
The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded to an artist of the “most prestigious American picture book for children”.
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We are water protection from Michaela Goade and Carole Lindstrom
The Caldecott Medal went to this picture book, which was inspired by the indigenous movements in North America to protect the earth’s water from poisoning.
Honors:
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually to “the author of the greatest contribution to American children’s literature”. With this award the 100th anniversary of Newbery begins.
If you catch a tiger from Tae Keller
The Newbery Medal 2021 is based on this story about a girl who faces a magical tiger from her grandmother’s Korean fairy tales, reveals family secrets and discovers the power of stories and the magic of the family.
Honors:
Michael L. Printz Award
The Michael L. Printz Prize, which was first awarded in 2000, is given to a book that represents “exemplary literary excellence in the literature of young adults”.
Everything sad is wrong by Daniel Nayeri
The 2021 Printz Award was given to this book about a boy named Khosrou (everyone calls him Daniel) who tries to tell his story in his middle school classroom in Oklahoma. But no one believes the story that goes back centuries, so Daniel weaves a story to claim the truth.
Honors:
Coretta Scott King Awards
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are presented each year in three categories to African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that “demonstrate an appreciation for African American culture and universal human values.”
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Prize
Award: Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
Honor books:
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Prize
Award: RESPECT: Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, illustrated by Frank Morrison, written by Carole Boston Weatherford
Honor books:
Coretta Scott King / John Steptoe New Talent Author Award
Award: Legendborn from Tracy Deonn
Stonewall Book Award
The Stonewall Book Award – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s and Youth Literature Prize is presented annually to “English-language works of exceptional value to children or youth related to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experiences”.
Award: We are little feminists: families by Archaa Shrivastav and designed by Lindsey Blakely
Honor books:
Alex Awards
The Alex Awards are given to ten adult crossover books that appeal to children ages 12-18.
The Odyssey Award
This award recognizes “the best audio book for children and / or young adults available in the US in English”.
Winner: Kent State by Deborah Wiles, narrated by Christopher Gebauer, Lauren Ezzo, Christina DeLaine, Johnny Heller, Roger Wayne, Korey Jackson and David de Vries
Honors
William C. Morris Award
This award has been honoring a debut book published by a debut author who writes for young people since 2009.
Winner: If Those Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley
Finalists:
YALSA Award for outstanding non-fiction books for young adults
Winner: Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming
Finalists:
Pura Belpré Awards
Named for the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library, this award is presented each year to a Latinx writer and illustrator. This is the first year for the YA category.
Illustration award: ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat illustrated and written by Raúl Gonzalez
Honor for illustration:
Children’s author award: Efrén shared by Ernesto Cisneros
Honor for texts for children:
Young Adult Award: Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez
Honor for YA:
Mildred L. Batchelder Award
This award is given to children’s books in translation.
Award: Telephone Tales by Gianni Rodari and Valerio Vidali, translated from the Italian by Antony Shugaar
Honor: Catherine’s War by Julia Billet and Claire Fauvel, translated from the French by Ivanka Hahnenberger
Robert F. Sibert Information Book Medal
Medal: Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann
Honor:
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award
According to Dr. Seuss named award is given each year to authors and illustrators “who are the most prestigious American book for beginners published in the US in English”.
Award: See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka
Honor:
Asian / Pacific American Award for Literature
Best Picture Book Award: Paper Son: The Inspirational Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist of Julie Leung and Chris Sasaki
Honor for picture book:
Children’s Literature Award: When You Catch a Tiger from Tae Keller
Honor for children’s literature:
Youth Literature Award: That Light Between Us by Andrew Fukuda
Honor for youth literature:
Sydney Taylor book
Since 1968 this award has been given to “outstanding books for children and young people that authentically portray the Jewish experience”.
Picture Book Award: Greeting Elijah: A Tailed Passover Story by Lesléa Newman and Susan Gal
Silver medal winner for picture book:
Award for middle class: Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein
Silver medal winners for the middle class:
Young Adult Award: Dancing at Tyler Feder’s Pity Party
Silver medal winners for young adults:
Schneider Family Book Award
This prize is awarded to books that represent “an artistic expression of the disability experience for the audience of children and young people”.
Toddlers (0-10): I Speak Like a River from Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith
Honor:
Middle Class (11-13 Years): Show me a mark from Ann Clare LeZotte
Honor books:
Teen (13-18 years): This is My Brain in Love, written by IW Gregorio
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement Award
The annual award is given to a “practitioner for substantial contributions through active engagement with youth using award-winning African-American literature for children and / or young adults” in odd years.
This year’s winner is Dorothy L. Guthrie, an award-winning retired librarian, district administrator, writer, and school council member. Guthrie is a respected advocate of children’s literature and promotes and affirms the rich perspectives of African Americans. Her work “Integrating Afro-American Literature in Library and Classroom” inspires educators with Afro-American literature. Guthrie founded the first African American museum in her home, Gaston County, North Carolina.
Margaret A. Edwards Award
Since 1988, the Margaret A. Edwards Award has recognized an author and a specific work that “helps young people to become self-aware and to answer questions about their role and significance in relationships, society and the world”.
This year’s winner: Kekla Magoon, author of X, How it Went Down, The Rock and the River and Fire in the Streets
Legacy Award for Children’s Literature
This award is presented to an author or illustrator in the United States for “making an essential and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for the lives and experiences of all children.”
This year’s winner is Mildred D. Taylor, whose award-winning works include Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, the 1977 Newbery Medalist, and the Coretta Scott King (CSK) Author’s Award. The Land, the 2002 CSK Author Award winner; and The Road to Memphis, the 1991 CSK Author Award winner.
Award for outstanding achievements in the field of early learning of digital media
This award will be presented for the first time in 2019 to a digital media producer for the production of digital media for an early learning audience.
Award: The Imagine Neighborhood, produced by the Committee for Children
Honor: Sesame Street Family game: Caring for one another produced by Sesame Workshop
For more information on each award, winners speeches, and previous winners, please visit the ALA website.
