Awards
Children’s Book Committee Awards 2026
 Josette Frank |
 Flora Stieglitz Straus |
 Claudia Lewis (older readers) |
 Claudia Lewis (younger readers) |
Josette Frank Award
This award for fiction honors a book or books of outstanding literary merit in which children or young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties in their world and grow emotionally and morally. The award has been given annually since 1943. Josette Frank, the editor of anthologies for children, served for many years as the Executive Director of the Child Study Association of America of which this committee was a part.
Winner
- Where Only Storms Grow by Alyssa Colman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux/MacMillan)
The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
Established in 1994 to honor Flora Stieglitz Straus, who led the Children’s Book Committee for many years. This award is presented annually to a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves to inspire wonder, reflection, and/or action in young people. Flora Stieglitz Straus stood for the values of courage, hard work, truth, and beauty while adapting to a changing world. She believed that books about varying cultures enrich and help all children in their growth. She championed diverse opinions and points of view and was a person of high principles, unfailing courtesy, and deep understanding.
Winner
- The Black Mambas: The World’s First All-Woman Anti-Poaching Unit by Kelly Crull (Lerner)
The Claudia Lewis Award
The Claudia Lewis Award, given for the first time in 1998, honors the best poetry book of the year. The award commemorates the late Claudia Lewis, distinguished children’s book expert and longtime member of the Bank Street College faculty and Children’s Book Committee. She conveyed her love and understanding of poetry with humor and grace.
Older Poetry Winner
- The Poetry of Car Mechanics by Heidi E.Y. Stemple (Astra)
Younger Poetry Winner
- For a Girl Becoming by Joy Harjo, illustrations by Adriana M. Garcia (Norton)