2023 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 2023, 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 Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson. Freewater tells the story of siblings Ada and Homer, who escape enslavement and find the secret swampland community of Freewater. Find it at your local Marin library.
The 2023 runner-up Newbery Honor Books are Iveliz Explains It All, by Andrea Beatriz Arango; The Last Mapmaker, by Christina Soontornvat, and Maizy Chen’s Last Chance, by Lisa Yee.
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 Hot Dog, illustrated and written by Doug Salati. Find it at the library.
The runner-up Caledecott Honor Books for this year are Ain’t Burned All the Bright, illustrated by Jason Griffin and written by Jason Reynolds; Berry Song, illustrated and written by Michaela Goade; Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement, illustrated by Janelle Washington and written by Angela Joy; and Knight Owl, illustrated and written by Christopher Denise.
Find our more about the ALSC 2023 youth media awards and see a complete list of winners at www.ala.org.
