Interested in knowing which children's books received awards and medals, or have been named on special "Best Book lists?  This page lists websites for many important awards, from Florida's Sunshine State Young Reader's Program annual lists through the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, to important awards given in Great Britain and Canada.

The Sunshine State Young Reader's Awards is a statewide reading motivation program for students in grades 3-8. Over 101,000 students read enough books to qualify for voting in the statewide balloting for the favorite book for the year.

Grades 3-5: Kate DiCamillo for The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
Grades 6-8: Rick Riordan for The Lightning Thief.

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English Illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The 2008 Caldecott Medal winner is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.  From an opening shot of the full moon setting over an awakening Paris in 1931, this tale casts a new light on the picture book form. Hugo is a young orphan secretly living in the walls of a train station where he labors to complete a mysterious invention left by his father. In a work of more than 500 pages, the suspenseful text and wordless double-page spreads narrate the tale in turns.

The Newbery Medal was named for the eighteenth-century British bookseller, John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Services to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The 2008 winner is Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz. Thirteenth-century England springs to life using 21 dramatic individual narratives that introduce young inhabitants of village and manor; from Hugo, the lord's nephew, to Nelly, the sniggler. Schlitz's elegant monologues and dialogues draw back the curtain on the period, revealing character and relationships, hinting at stories untold.

The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.  It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association. The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean, the 2008 wiinner, tells of fourteen-year-old Symone's exciting vacation to Antarctica turns into a desperate struggle for survival when her uncle's obsessive quest leads them across the frozen wilderness into danger.

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, established by the Association for Library Services to Children in 2001, is awarded annually to the author of the most distinguished informational book published in English during the preceding year.  The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois, and is sponsored by the company. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís. In his deeply felt memoir set in mid-20th century Prague, Sís contrasts the constrictive walls of the communist state with his personal quest for artistic freedom. Black & white drawings accentuated with sharp punches of red are brightened with splashes of color as hope gradually takes hold. Sís takes us from his childhood, when fear, suspicion and lies permeated everyday life, to the “Prague Spring” of 1968 nd beyond, a time when “everything seemed possible.”

The Batchelder Award honors Mildred L. Batchelder, a former executive director of the Association of Library Services to Children.  This award, established in her honor in 1966, is a citation awarded to an American publisher for a children's book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States. Brave Story, written by Miyuki Miyabe and translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith, tells the story of a boy named Wataru whose chaotic life leads him to enter the videogame-infused world of Vision to alter his fate. This complicated quest, with a real-world rival, and fierce and friendly creatures, unleashes a future Wataru could not have anticipated. The wisdom and power Wataru gains on his journey enables him to embrace the transformed reality to which he returns.

The Coretta Scott King Award is presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Committee of the American Library Association's Ethnic Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT). The 2008 winner is Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. The award (or awards) is given to an African American author and an African American illustrator for an outstandingly inspirational and educational contribution. Also, the John Steptoe New Talent Award 2008 Author is Sundee T. Frazier for Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It.

The Pura Belpré Award is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.  The award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian from the New York Public Library. The 2008 winner is The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano written by Margarita Engle. This a collection of haunting poems, uses multiple voices to illuminate the daily terror and hypocrisy of the slave system. Celebrating Manzano's irrepressible spirit and creativity, this book is based on Manzano's autobiographical notes and poems. After witnessing young Manzano's harsh punishments for reading and writing, readers will marvel at his enduring strength and persistence to attain freedom.

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards® for Mystery/Suspense Fiction (the "Edgars®) are named after the MWA's (Mystery Writer's Association) patron saint, Edgar Allan Poe, and are awarded to authors of distinguished work in various categories of the genre.  The Best Children's Mystery Award [2007 winner, right]  is given to the best mystery book from Preschool - age 11.  The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh tells the story of Jack, a lonely 14-year-old Classics prodigy, who travels to the New York City version of the Greek mythological underworld to search for his dead mom. His guide is a 14-year-old ghost who calls herself Euri. The Best Young Adult Mystery Award goes to the mystery book [2007 winner, left]  for young adult readers (ages 12 - up) is Rat Life by Tedd Arnold. The dead body found in the Chemanga River had nothing to do with Todd. He was busy making beds at the family motel and writing alien stories to entertain his friends. Then he met Rat. .