Book Awards for Children's Literature

 I had a grade four student ask a wonderful question:  What is that round medal in the corner of the book that she was reading?  I looked at the book, and it was a Newbery Medal.   So, we discussed books we had read that had the medal, and we looked around the classroom to find other books with a medal on their front cover.

Another student asked, "What  other medals are there for books?".  Another great question!  A question that I needed to research!  That they needed to research...

But with a little google searching, I have discovered book medals and in turn, have found three fantastic web sites for teachers and students alike.  


1.  The American Library Association has a division called the Association for Library Service to Children where there are the Newbery Medal and Honor books listed from 1922.  As well as Newbery winners, there are a range of other medal winning categories:  the Caldecott Medal for the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children; The Wilder Award for an author or illustrator whose books, published in the US, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.  There are other medal awards as well, so please take a look.


2.  The Canadian Children's Book Centre has numerous awards for our Canadian writers!  They have a Canadian Awards Index which lists all the awards for Children's books in Canada.   There is the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, and the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction to name a few.  It is worthwhile to check out this website as it has great resources for librarians, teachers, and parents.


3.  Red Cedar Awards which is BC’s young readers’ choice award for students in grades 4 through 7.  It was launched by the Young Readers’ Choice Awards Society of BC in 1996 to encourage children to read, develop their ability to judge the quality of published works and create an awareness of the works of Canadian authors and illustrators.  Each year, 2 awards are given – 1 in the fiction category and 1 in the information book category.  Students vote for their favourite non fiction and fiction book, once they have read at least 5 in the category.


Check out these websites!   The ideas are endless:  I am thinking about organizing a book club around Canadian award winning books; or have students read 2-4 Newbery books and decide upon their favourite; or have them create  criteria for the Newbery books, or have them figure out an original award for  their favourite book.

PS: For the grade four readers in my book club, I just bought a huge selection of Newbery Award winning books which you will get to read for your next book selection.  Spring Break is near, so happy reading!

Finally, here is a link to a great website that discusses this year's winners of various book awards in the United States.