ALA's 2026 Youth Media Awards

This morning, the American Library Association announced the Youth Media Awards. The most popular being the Caldecott and Newbery Awards. But, in actuality, there are over 20 award announcements this morning! Today, I’m sharing the winners and honors and a little note about what each award is for and what it all means. While most people are talking about the Emmy’s and the Oscar’s, I’m anxiously awaiting this Monday morning to see all the news about kids’ books.

But, as a reminder, and one I give every year, this is just the smallest sample of titles that were published over the course of last year. If your book never gets on an award list or acknowledged in any way, but a child connects with it, then it’s a winner in my book! For more information or to view the awards announcements, visit the ALA website.

This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost. Please read the full disclosure for more information.

John Newbery Medal Winner:

“The Newbery Medal honors the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”

Winner

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

Honors

The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser
A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila
The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman

Randolph Caldecott Medal

“The Caldecott Medal honors the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.”

Winner

Fireworks by Cátia Chen

Honors

Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan
Our Lake by Angie Kang
Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave by Drew Beckmeyer
Sundust by Zeke Peña

Alex Awards

“The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.”

The Favorites by Layne Fargo
The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen
Hole in the Sky by Daniel H. Wilson
Insectopolis: A Natural History by Peter Kuper
Plum by Andy Anderegg
Sonita: My Fight Against Tyranny and My Escape to Freedom by Sonita Alizada
These Heathens by Mia McKenzie
What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown
The White Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy

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, of any country, who shall prepare a paper considered to be a significant contribution to the field of children’s literature.”

Winner – Kwame Alexander

American Indian Youth Literature Awards

“The American Indian Youth Literature Awards are presented every two years (even years). The awards were established as a way to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians. Books selected to receive the award will present American Indians in the fullness of their humanity in the present and past contexts.”

Picture Book Winner

Chooch Helped by Andrea L. Rogers, illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz

Honor Books

Braided Roots: The Interweaving of History, Family, and a Father’s Love by Pasha Westbrook, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight
Fierce Aunties! by Laurel Goodluck, illustrated by Steph Littlebird
For a Girl Becoming by Joy Harjo, illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia
Raven’s Ribbons by Tasha Spillett, illustrated by Daniel Ramirez
We Weave by Daniel W. Vandever

Middle Grade Winner

Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan

Honor Books

Jo Jo Makoons: The Super-Scary Sleepover by Dawn Quigley, illustrated by Tara Audibert
Lost at Windy River: A True Story of Survival by Trina Rathgeber, illustrated by Alina Pete, and colored by Jillian Dolan
Outfoxed by Elise McMullen-Ciotti
Red Bird Danced by Dawn Quigley
The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa
The Summer of the Bone Horses by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Steph Littlebird

Young Adult Winner

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Honor Books

Sheine Lende: A Prequel to Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, illustrated by Rovina Cai
Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
Super Indian, Volume Three by Arigon Starr
The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs
Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

“The goal of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature is to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit.”

Pasifika Picture Book Winner

Kaho’Olawe: The True Story of an Island and Her People by Kamalani Hurley, illustrated by Harinani Orme

Pasifika Picture Book Honor Books

Filo’s Butterflies by Litea Fuata, illustrated by Myo Yim
White Sunday by Litea Fuata, illustrated by Myo Yim

Picture Book Winner

Many Things at Once by Veera Hirananadani, illustrated by Nadia Alam

Honor Books

Every Peach is a Story y David Mas Masumoto and Nikiko Masumoto, illustrated by Lauren Tamaki
A Vaisakhi to Remember by Simran Jeet Singh, illustrated by Japneet Kaur

Children’s Literature Winner

Hungry Bones by Louise Hung

Honor Books

Queen Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu
Fresh Start by Gail Galligan

Youth (Young Adult) Literature Winner

The Red Car to Hollywood by Jennie Liu

Honor Books

Tall Water by SJ Sindu, illustrated by Dion MBD

Children’s Literature Legacy Award

“The 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.”

Winner – Candace Fleming

Coretta Scott King Award

“The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values.”

Author Award

Winner

Will’s Race for Home by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Honor Books

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes
The Library in the Woods by Calvin Alexander Ramsey, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Split the Sky by Marie Arnold

Illustrator Award

Winner

The Library in the Woods, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, written by Calvin Alexander Ramsey

Honor Books

André: André Leon Talley – A Fabulously Fashionable Fairy Tale illustrated by Lamont O’Neal, by Carole Boston Weatherford and Rob Sanders
City Summer, Country Summer illustrated by Alexis Franklin, by Kiese Laymon

Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe New Talent Author Award

“The John Steptoe New Talent Award is established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration which otherwise might be formally unacknowledged within a given year within the structure of the two awards given annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee.”

Author Award Winner – Arriel Vinson, Under the Neon Lights

Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement

“The Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement is named in memory of beloved children’s author Virginia Hamilton. The annual award is presented in even years to an African American author, illustrator or author/illustrator for a body of published books for children and/or young adults, and who has made a significant and lasting literary contribution.”

Winner – Kadir Nelson

Excellence in Early Learning Digital Media Award

Winner

Weather Hunters produced by WeatherHunters, Inc. and Silver Creek

Honor

Reading Rainbow by Buffalo Toronto Public Media, PBS
Terrestrials produced by WYNC, Radiolab

Margaret A. Edwards Award

“The Margaret A. Edwards Award, established in 1988, honors an author, as well as a specific body by that author, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.”

Winner – Candace Fleming

Michael L. Printz Award

“The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year.”

Winner

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Honor Books

Cope Field by T. L. Simpson
The House That No One Sees by Adina King
Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

Mildred L. Batchelder Award

“The Batchelder Award is given to an American publisher for a children’s book considered to be the most outstanding of those books originally published in a language other than English in a country other than the United States, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States.”

Winner

Croco by Azul López, translated by Kit Maude

Honor Book

The Adventures of Cipollino by Gianni Rodari, illustrated by Rasha Tolstikova, translated by Antony Shugaar
From Memen to Mori by Shinsuke Yoshitake, translated by Ajani Oloye
Picking Tea with Baba by Xu Bin, illustrated by Yu Yin, translated by Shan Chen
Pilgrim Codex by Vivian Mansour, illustrated by Emmanuel Valtierra, translated by Carlos Rodríguez Cortez

Odyssey Award

“The Odyssey Award will be awarded annually to the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States.”

Winner

Children’s (0-14) – Clack! Clack! Smack! A Cherokee Stickball Story by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Joseph Erb, narrated by the author and a full cast
Young Adult (12-18) – Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett, narrated by the authors and a full cast

Honor Books

The Dead of Summer by Ryan La Sala, narrated by the author and a full cast
Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith, narrated by a full cast
Soundtrack by Jason Reynolds, narrated by a full cast
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson, illustrated by Brian Rea (ages 13-18)

Pura Belpré Awards

The Belpré Award honors a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose works best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.”

Illustrator Awards

Winner

Popo the Xolo illustrated Abraham Matias, by Paloma Angelina Lopez

Honor Books

A-Ztec: A Bilingual Alphabet Book by Emmanual Valtierra
The Invisible Parade illustrated by John Picacio, written by Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio

Children’s Author Awards

Winner

The Pecan Sheller by Lupe Ruiz-Flores

Honor Books

A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation by Pablo Cartaya
The Island of Forgotten Gods by Victor Piñeiro
A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila

Young Adult Award

Winner

On the Wings of la Noche by Vanessa L. Torres

Honor Books

Rosa by Any Other Name by Hailey Alcaraz
Silenced Voices: Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan by Pablo Leon
The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award

“The Sibert Medal honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published during the preceding year.”

Winner

Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa by Sara Andrea Fajardo, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

Honor Books

At Last She Stood: How Joey Guerrero Spied, Survived, and Fought for Freedom by Erin Entrada Kelly
Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer by Quartez Harris, illustrated by Gordon C. James
The History of We by Nikkolas Smith
Silenced Voices: Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan by Pablo Leon
A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Yas Imamura

Schneider Family Book Award

“The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.”

Winners

Wanda Hears the Stars: A Blind Astronomer Listens to the Universe by Amy S. Hansen and Wanda Díaz Merced, illustrated by Roccio Arreola Mendoza (ages 0-8)
Where Only Storms Grow by Alyssa Colman(ages 9-12)
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson, illustrated by Brian Rea (ages 13-18)

Honor books for Young Children (ages 0-8)

Bat and the Business of Ferrets by Elana K. Arnold
I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea by Janice Milusich, illustrated by Chris Raschka

Honor books for Middle Grades (ages 9-12)

Octopus Moon by Bobbie Pyron
The Strongest Heart by Saadia Faruqi

Honor books for Teens (ages 13-18)

The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar by Sonora Reyes
The Poetry of Car Mechanics by Heidi E. Y. Stemple

Stonewall Book Award

“The Stonewall Book Awards are presented to English language books that have exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQIA+ experience.”

Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Children’s Award

Winner

Halfway to Somewhere by Jose Pimienta

Honor Books

Call Me Gray by Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen, illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine
The Ink Witch by Steph Cherrywell
Ollie in Between by Jess Callans
Woods and Words: The Story of Poet Mary Oliver by Sara Holly Ackerman, illustrated by Naoko Stoop

Mike Morgan and Larry Romans Young Adult Literature Award

Winner

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller

Honor Books

Devils Like Us by L. T. Thompson
He’s So Possessed with Me by Corey Liu
Hick: The Trailblazing Journalist Who Captured Eleanor Roosevelt’s Heart by Sarah Miller
Sometimes the Girl by Jennifer Mason-Black

Sydney Taylor Book Award

“The Sydney Taylor Book Award is presented annually to outstanding books for children and teens that authentically portray the Jewish experience.”

Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award

Uri Shulevitz

Picture Book Winner

Shabbat Shalom: Let’s Rest and Reset by Suzy Ultman

Picture Book Honors

The Book of Candles: Eight Poems for Hanukkah by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Leanne Hatch
The Keeper of Stories by Caroline Kusin Pritchard, illustrated by Selina Alko
My Body Can by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo

Middle Grade Winner

Neshama by Marcella Pixley

Middle Grade Honors

Beinoni by Mari Lowe

Young Adult Winner

D. J. Rosenblum Becomes the G. O. A. T. by Abby White

Young Adult Honors

The Rebel Girls of Rome by Jordyn Taylor

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

“The Theodor Seuss Geisel Medal honors the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year.”

Winner

Stop That Mop! by Jonathan Fenske

Honor Books

Earl and Worm: The Big Mess and Other Stories by Greg Pizzoli
I Like Hoops by Juwanda G. Ford
The Tunneler Tunnels in the Tunnel by Michael Rex

William C. Morris Award

“The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first given in 2009, honors a book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.”

Winner

All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis

Finalists

All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis
First Love Language by Stephany Valentine
Love, Misha by Askel Aden
Red Flags and Butterflies by Sheryl Azzam
You and Me on Repeat by May Shyne

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

“YALSA’s Award for Excellence in Nonfiction honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a Nov. 1 – Oct. 31 publishing year.”

Winner

Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming

Finalists

American Spirits: The Famous Fox Sisters and the Mysterious Fad that Haunted a Nation by Barb Rosenstock
Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming
White House Secrets: Medical Lies and Cover-Ups by Gail Jarrow
White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War Then Rewrote the History by Ann Basum
A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Yas Imamura