Kids Booklists
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Illinois award books
Every year, the state of Illinois nominates a plethora of books for 4 awards.
- The Monarch Award nominates books appropriate for kids in kindergarten through 3rd grade. A list of all current 2025 nominees can be found here. The 2024 winning title was "Chez Bob" by Bob Shea.
- The Bluestem Award nominates books appropriate for kids in 3rd through 5th grade. A list of all current 2025 nominees can be found here. The 2024 winning title was "Allergic" by Megan Wagner Lloyd.
- The Caudill Award nominates books appropriate for kids in 4th through 8th grade. A list of all current 2025 nominees can be found here. The 2024 winning title was "Alone" by Megan E. Freeman.
- The Lincoln Award nominates books appropriate for kids in 9th through 12th grade. A list of all current 2025 nominees can be found here. The 2024 winning title was "You'd Be Home Now" by Kathleen Glasgow.
2022 Youth Media Award Winners
The American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, digital media, video and audio books for children and young adults - including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Printz awards on January 24, 2022. This is the list of all the 2022 award winners.
- The Last Cuentista, written by Donna Barba Higuera is the 2022 John Newbery Medal winner
- Watercress, written by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin is the 2022 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner
- Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper is the 2022 Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award winner and the 2022 Coretta Scott King (Illustrator) Book Award winner
- Me (Moth), written by Amber McBride is the 2022 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award winner
- The Me I Choose To Be, written by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and illustrated by Regis and Kahran Bethencourt is the 2022 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award winner
- Nikki Grimes is the 2022 Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement winner
- The Firekeeper's Daughter, written by Angeline Boulley is the 2022 Michael L. Printz Award winner
- My City Speaks, written by Darren Lebeuf is the 2022 Schneider Family Book Award winner for young children
- A Bird Will Soar, written by Alison Green Myers is the 2022 Schneider Family Book Award winner for middle grades
- The Words in My Hands, written and illustrated by Asphyxia is the 2022 Schneider Family Book Award winner for teens
- Grace Lin is the 2022 Children's Literature Legacy Award winner
- Alma's Way is the 2022 Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award winner
- A. S. King is the 2022 Margaret A. Edwards Award winner
- Temple Alley Summer, written by Sachiko Kashwaba is the 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Award winner
- Boogie, Boogie, Y'all, written and narrated by C. G. Esperanza is the 2022 Odyssey Award winner for children
- When You Look Like Us, written by Pamela N. Harris and narrated by Preston Butler III is the 2022 Odyssey Award winner for young adults
- ¡Vamos! Let's Cross the Bridge, written and illustrated by Raúl Gonzalez is the 2022 Pura Belpré Youth Illustration Award winner
- The Last Cuentista, written by Donna Barba Higuera is the 2022 Pura Belpré Children's Author Award winner
- How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe, written by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is the 2022 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award winner
- The People's Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art, written by Cynthia Levinson and illustrated by Evan Turk is the 2022 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award winner
- Fox at Night, written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor is the 2022 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner
- The Firekeeper's Daughter, written by Angeline Boulley is the 2022 William C. Morris Award winner
- Ambushed! The Assassination Plot Against President Garfield, written by Gail Jarrow is the 2022 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults winner
- Herizon, written by Daniel W. Vandever is the 2022 American Indian Youth Literature Award winner for Picture Books
- Healer of the Water Monster, written by Brian Young is the 2022 American Indian Youth Literature Award winner for Middle Grade Books
- Apple (Skin to the Core), written by Eric Gansworth is the 2022 American Indian Youth Literature Award winner for Young Adult Books
- Watercress, written by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Jason Chin is the 2022 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature winner for Picture Books
- Amina's Song, written by Hena Khan is the 2022 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature winner for Children's Literature
- The Passover Guest, written by Susan Kusel is the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award winner for Picture Books
- How to Find What You're Not Looking For, written by Veera Hiranandani is the 2022 Sydney Taylor Book Award winner for Middle Grades
- Jane Yolen is the 2022 Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award winner
Anti-Racism Booklist for Kids
Available in print:
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (also on Libby/Overdrive app
- 42 Is Not Just A Number by Doreen Rappaport (also on Libby/Overdrive app
- Stella By Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
- Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh (also on Libby/Overdrive & Hoopla apps)
- Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down by Selina Alko
- My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith
- All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
- Happy To Be Nappy by Bell Hooks
- Desmond And The Very Mean Word by Desmond Tutu
- My Name is Bilal by Asma Mobi-Uddin
- Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
- You Can Be by Elise Gravel
- The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab And Family by Ibtiaj Muhammad
- Round Is A Tortilla: A Book Of Shapes by Roseanne Thong
- It’s Okay To Be Different by Todd Parr
Available as an ebook:
For more information on the Library's ebook apps, click here.
View Anti-Racism Reading List on Hoopla
- Different Days by Vicki Berger Erwin
- Let The Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor
- The Lions Of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
- Midnight Without A Moon by Linda Williams Jackson
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham
- The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes
- Diversity Is Key by Bryan Smith
- Wishtree by Kathrine Applegate
- Books on Martin Luther King Jr. available on Hoopla
- Books on Racism on Libby
Header image courtesy of Lissette Corirossi with Snowbunny Photography, Inc.