2022 Best Books for Kids from the American Library Association

The beginning of the new year marks the start of another awards season, with familiar names like the Golden Globes and the Oscars. But did you know it was awards season for kids' books, too? The American Library Association (ALA) announced the winners of its annual Youth Media Awards for 2022, including the prestigious Newbery and Caldecott medals for children's books.

Since 1922, the John Newbery Medal has been awarded to the author of the most distinguished American children's book by the Association for Library Service for Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA. This year, the Newbury Medal goes to The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. The Last Cuentista is a  dystopian novel that follows Petra Peña who leaves Earth with her family and a group of others to continue the human race after a comet strikes the planet. Find it at a local Marin library.

The 2022 runner-up Newbery Honor Books are Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca, A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger, Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff, and Watercress by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin.

The ALSC began awarding the Caldecott Medal, named after 19th-century British illustrator Randolph Caldecott, to the artist of the most distinguished children's picture book in 1938. This year's medal winner is Watercress by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin. Find it at the library.

The runner-up Caledecott Honor Books for this year are Have You Ever Seen a Flower? illustrated and written by Shawn Harris, Mel Fell, illustrated and written by Corey R. Tabor, Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, illustrated by Floyd Cooper and written by Carole Boston Weatherford, and Wonder Walkers, illustrated and written by Micha Archer.

Find our more about the ALSC 2022 youth media awards and see a complete list of winners at www.ala.org.