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January 19, 20262026 ALA Award-Winners List + FREE Award-Book Explore Pane
THIS YEAR'S 2026 AWARD-WINNERS reminded us a lot about the talented creatives that produce books: the authors and illustrators (and those who do both), as well as the agents and editors that get behind books and rally them to the bookshelf.
Our Newbery Winner, Renée Watson is a top talent to watch as is our 2026 Caldecott Medalist, Cátia Chien, who is best known for her work in Boy and A Jaguar.
I'm excited for everyone who will hear the awesomeness of a Kwame Alexander ALSC Lecture. And it's a true as true day to celebrate with grand applause to the gal who has been giving up books for decades; Candace Fleming's Margaret A. Edward's Award and Children's Literature Legacy Award are a well-deserved tribute to all she has contributed to children's literature. And, it is beyond time to really give that standing ovation to Kadir Nelson for his Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement as his shelf of stories have more than proved the staying power of a great story—long after those covers close.
Nonetheless, enjoy this list of excellent reads:
Celebrating A Year of Powerful Word-Image Creations
John Newbery Medal
John Newbery Medal
2025 Winner: The First State of Being, written by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow Books), is the 2025 Newbery Medal winner.
2026 Newbery Medal
Four Newbery Honor Books Selected
Randolf Caldecott Medal
2025 Winner: Chooch Helped, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz, written by Andrea L. Rogers (Levine Querido), is the 2025 Caldecott Medal winner.
2026 Randolph Caldecott Medal
Four Caldecott Honor Books Selected
2026 Geisel Award
2025 Winner: Chooch Helped, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz, written by Andrea L. Rogers (Levine Querido), is the 2025 Caldecott Medal winner.
Geisel Award
Geisel Award Book
Four Geisel Honor Books Selected
2026 Coretta Scott King Author
Coretta Scott King Author Awards
2025 Award Winner: 24 Seconds From Now, written by Jason Reynolds, is the King Author Book winner (Caitlyn Dloughy Books, Simon & Schuster).
Coretta Scott King Author Book
Three Coretta Scott King Author Honor Books Selected
2026 Coretta Scott King Illustrator
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
2025 Award Winner: My Daddy is a Cowboy, illustrated by C.G. Esperanza, written by Stephanie Seales (Abrams Books for Young Readers) is the King Illustrator Book winner.
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
Three Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Books Selected
2026 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent
Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent - Author Award
2025 Award Winner: Kwame Crashes the Underworld by Craig Kofi Farmer, is the Steptoe author award winner (Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan).
2026 Coretta Scott King Lifetime
2026 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Kadir Nelson is the winner of the 2026 Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award pays tribute to the quality and magnitude of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton.
2026 Mararet A. Edwards Award
Margaret A. Edwards Award
Candace Fleming is the winner of the 2026 Margaret A. Edwards Award.
2026 Michael L. Printz Award
Michael L. Printz Award
2025 Winner: Brownstone, written by Samuel Teer, illustrated by Mar Julia, co-published by Versa and HarperAlley, HarperColllins Publishers.
Michael L. Printz Book Award
Four Michael L. Printz Honor Books Selected
2026 Schneider Book Award - Middle Grade
2025 Award Winner: Popcorn, written and illustrated by Rob Harrell (Dial Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House) is the winner in the Middle Grade category (ages 9 to 13).
Schneider Family Book Award (Middle Grades)
Schneider Middle Grade Book Award
Two Schneider Middle Grade Honor Books Selected
2026 Schneider Family Book Award - Young Adult
2025 Award Winner: Chronically Dolores, written by Maya Van Wagenen (Dutton Books, Penguin Random House), is the winner in the Young Adult category (ages 14-18)
Schneider Family Books Award (Young Adult)
Two Schneider Older Honor Books Selected
Alex
Alex Awards
Alex Awards for the 10 best adult books that appeal to teen audiences named and the 2025 Alex Award winners are:
Ten Best Teen to Adult Crossover Books Selected
2026 ALSC Children's Literature Lecture Award
Kwame Alexander - ALSC Lecturer
Kwame Alexander will deliver the 2026 ALSC Children’s Literature Lecture. The ALSC Children's Literature Lecture is an annual event featuring an author, critic, librarian, historian or teacher of children’s literature.
2026 Children's Literature Legacy Award
Candace Fleming Literature Legacy Award
This year’s winner is Candace Fleming. Children’s Literature Legacy Award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children through books that demonstrate integrity and respect for all children’s lives and experiences.
2026 Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Mildred L. Batchelder Award
Mildred L. Batchelder Award for an outstanding children’s book originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English for publication in the United States.
Four Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Books Selected
2026 Pura Belpré Illustrator Awards
Pura Belpré - Illustrator
Honors Latinx writers and illustrators whose children's and young adult books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
Pura Belpré Youth Illustrator Award Book
Pura Belpré Youth Illustrator Honor Books Selected
2026 Pura Belpré - Author
2025 Winner: Lola by Karla Arenas Valenti, written by Pedro Martín (Knopf Books for Young Readers), is the 2024 Pura Belpré Children’s Author Award winner.
Pura Belpré Author Awards
Three Pura Belpré Children's Author Honor Books Selected
2026 Pura Belpré - Young Adult Author
Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award
2025 Winner: Shut Up This Is Serious, written by Carolina Ixta (Quill Tree Books) is the 2024 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award winner.
Three Pura Belpré Youth Author Honor Books Selected
2026 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
2025 Winner: Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle and illustrated by Jason Chin, is the 2025 Sibert Award winner (Neal Porter Books, Holiday House).
The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award for most distinguished informational book for children.
Four Sibert Honor Books Selected
2026 Stonewall Book Children's Award
Stonewall Book Children's Awards
Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Literature Award given annually to English-language works of exceptional merit for children or teens relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender experience.
2025 Winner: Lunar Boy, written and illustrated by Jes and Cin Wibowo (HarperAlley, HarperCollins Publishers)
Four Stonewall Children's Honor Books Selected
2026 Stonewall Book Young Adult Award
Stonewall Book Young Adult Awards
The Stonewall Book Awards – Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award
2025 Winner: Canto Contigo, written by Jonny Garza Villa (Wednesday Books, St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
Four Stonewall Young Adult Literature Honor Books Selected
2026 Excellence in Nonfiction Award
Excellence in Nonfiction Award
Three Excellence in Nonfiction Finalists Selected
2026 William C. Morris Award
William C. Morris Award
2025 Winner: Not Like Other Girls, written by Meredith Adamo (Bloomsbury YA, Bloomsbury Publishing) is the Morris Award winner.
The 2026 William C. Morris Award for a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens:
William C. Morris Honor Books Selected
2026 Sydney Taylor Book Awards
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Picture Book
Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
2025 Winner: An Etrog from Across the Sea, written by Deborah Bodin Cohen and Kerry Olitzky, illustrated by Stacey Dressen McQueen (Kar-Ben Publishing, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group Inc).
Four Picture Book Honor Titles selected
2026 Sydney Taylor Book Awards
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Middle Grade
Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
2025 Winner: The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival, written by Estelle Nadel and Sammy Savos with Bethany Strout, illustrated by Sammy Savos (Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing).
One Middle Grade Honor Titles selected
2026 Sydney Taylor Book Award
Sydney Taylor Book Award - Young Adult
Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.
2025 Winner: Night Owls, written by A.R. Vishny (Harper, HarperCollins Publishers)
One Young Adult Honor Titles selected
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