rewarding excellence
The Youth Media awards were announced yesterday at the midwinter ALA convention. You can find a recap of all the winners and honorees at the ALA site. The Coretta Scott King Award recipients are listed below. I'm eager to see Kyra Hicks' analysis of the CSKs—each year she points to trends that force us to ask just what the award does to promote excellence in African American children's literature. If the same people win the award year after year, are we really making progress? If the pool of black-authored books isn't expanding, do we really know what excellence looks like? And are the CSKs making a difference? I'm still working on my analysis of black Canadian authors and it's clear that since 2000, despite some black authors winning major literary prizes, only TWO debut authors entered the publishing arena. This would seem to disprove the theory that recognizing excellence leads to greater opportunities for all writers of color…
Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award recognizing an African American author and illustrator of outstanding books for children and young adults:
Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of "Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans," is the King Author Book winner. The book is published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Two King Author Honor Book recipients were selected: Eloise Greenfield, author of "The Great Migration: Journey to the North," illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist and published by Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; and Patricia C. McKissack, author of "Never Forgotten," illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon and published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award:
Shane W. Evans, illustrator and author of "Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom," is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book is a Neal Porter Book, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership.
One King Illustrator Honor Book recipient was selected: Kadir Nelson, illustrator and author of "Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans," published by Balzar + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement:
Ashley Bryan is the winner of the Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime achievement. The award, which pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children's author Virginia Hamilton.
Storyteller, artist, author, poet and musician, Bryan created his first children's book in first grade. He grew up in the Bronx and in 1962, he became the first African American to both write and illustrate a children's book. After a successful teaching career, Bryan left academia to pursue creation of his own artwork. He has since garnered numerous awards for his significant and lasting literary contribution of poetry, spirituals and story.
