The Cook Prize

Past Winners

2026 Cook Prize

Gold Medal
 Silver Medal Silver Medal Silver Medal
  • Hurricane, written and illustrated by Jason Chin (Neal Porter/Holiday House)
  • Plight of the Pelican: How Science Saved a Species by Jessica Stremer, illustrated by Gordy Wright (Holiday House)
  • Rewriting the Rules: How Dr. Kathleen Friel Created New Possibilities for Brain Research and Disability by Danna Zeiger, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon (Millbrook Press/Lerner)
  • We Carry the Sun by Tae Keller, illustrated by Rachel Wada (Norton)
  • 2026

    2026 Cook Prize

    Gold Medal
    		 Silver Medal Silver Medal Silver Medal
    • Hurricane, written and illustrated by Jason Chin (Neal Porter/Holiday House)
    • Plight of the Pelican: How Science Saved a Species by Jessica Stremer, illustrated by Gordy Wright (Holiday House)
    • Rewriting the Rules: How Dr. Kathleen Friel Created New Possibilities for Brain Research and Disability by Danna Zeiger, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon (Millbrook Press/Lerner)
    • We Carry the Sun by Tae Keller, illustrated by Rachel Wada (Norton)
  • 2025

    2025 Cook Prize

    Silver Medal
    		 Silver Medal Gold Medal Silver Medal
    • Cactus Queen by Lori Alexander, illustrated by Jenn Ely (Calkins Creek)
    • The Iguanodon’s Horn, written and illustrated by Sean Rubin (Clarion/HarperCollins)
    • Life After Whale, written by Lynn Brunelle and illustrated by Jason Chin (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House)
    • Yasmeen Lari, Green Architect: The True Story of Pakistan’s First Woman Architect by Marzieh Abbas, illustrated by Hoda Hadadi (Clarion)
  • 2024

    2024 Cook Prize

    cook prize cover 2024Gold Medal
    		 cook prize cover 2024Silver Medal
    		 cook prize cover 2024Silver Medal
    		 cook prize cover 2024Silver Medal
    • The Book of Turtles by Sy Montgomery, illustrated by Matt Patterson (Clarion)
    • Great Carrier Reef by Jessica Stremer, illustrated by Gordy Wright (Holiday House)
    • Santiago Saw Things Differently: Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Artist, Doctor, Father of Neuroscience by Christine Iverson, illustrated by Luciano Lozano (Mit Kids Press an imprint of Candlewick Press)
    • We Go Way Back by Idan Ben-Barak, illustrated by Philip Bunting (Roaring Brook)
  • 2023

    2023 Cook Prize

    Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep
    Gold Medal    		 Infinity: Figuring Out Forever
    Silver Medal    		 The Mystery of the Monarchs
    Silver Medal
    • Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep by Elaine M. Alexander; illustrated by Fiona Fogg (Candlewick)
    • Infinity: Figuring Out Forever by Sarah C. Campbell; photographed by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell (Astra Young Readers)
    • The Mystery of the Monarchs by Barb Rosenstock; illustrated by Erika Meza (Alfred A. Knopf)
  • 2022

    2022 Cook Prize

    Cook Prize Book Cover
    Winner
    		 Cook Prize Book Cover
    Honor Book
    		 Cook Prize Book Cover
    Honor Book    		 Cook Prize Book Cover
    Honor Book
    • Cougar Crossing: How Hollywood’s Celebrity Cougar Helped Build a Bridge for City Wildlife  by Meeg Pincus; illustrated by Alexander Vidal (Beach Lane Books)
    • Butterfly for a King by Susan Roth and Cindy Trumbore; illustrated by Susan L. Roth (Lee & Low Books)
    • The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London’s Poop Pollution Problem by Colleen Paeff;  illustrated by Nancy Carpenter (Margaret K. McElderry/S & S)
    • Nano: The Spectacular Science of the Very (Very) Small by Dr. Jess Wade, illustrated by Melissa Castrillón (Candlewick) by Jason Chin (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House)
  • 2021

    2021 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books


    Honor Book
    Honor Book
    Honor Book
    Winner
    • Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohman (Neal Porter Books Holiday House Publishing)
    • If You Take Away the Otter by Susannah Buhrman-Deever; illustrated by Mathew Trueman (Candlewick Press)
    • Perkin’s Perfect Purple by Tami Lewis Brown and Debbie Loren Dunn; illustrated by Francesca Sanna (Little, Brown)
    • Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House)
  • 2020

    2020 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    Mario and the Hole in the Sky
    Winner    		 Hedy Lamarr's Double Life
    Honor Book    		 Flower Talk
    Honor Book    		 Secret Engineer
    Honor Book
    • Mario and the Hole in the Sky: How a Chemist Saved Our Planet by Elizabeth Rusch; illustrated by Teresa Martínez (Charlesbridge)
    • Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life by Laurie Wallmark; illustrated by Katy Wu (Sterling Children’s Books)
    • Flower Talk: How Plants Use Color to Communicate by Sara Levine; illustrated by Masha D’Yans (Millbrook Press: A Division of Lerner Publishing Group)
    • Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge, by Rachel Dougherty (Roaring Brook Press)
  • 2019

    2019 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    Counting on Katherine
    Winner    		 Fossil by Fossil
    Honor Book    		 If Polar Bears Disappeared
    Honor Book    		 Nothing Stopped Sophie
    Honor Book
    • Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker; illustrated by Dow Phumiruk (Christy Ottaviano Books, Henry Holt and Company)
    • Fossil by Fossil: Comparing Dinosaur Bones by Sara Levine, illustrated by T.S. Spookytooth (Millbrook Press/Lerner)
    • If Polar Bears Disappeared by Lily Williams (Roaring Brook Press)
    • Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie German by Cheryl Bardoe; illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
  • 2018

    2018 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    Beauty and the Beek
    Winner
    Honor Book
    Honor Book
    Honor Book
  • 2017

    2017 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    Journey
    Winner    		 Follow the Moon Home
    Honor Book    		 Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea
    Honor Book    		 Whoosh
    Honor Book
  • 2016

    2016 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    Mesmerized
    Winner    		 High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs
    Honor Book    		 Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine
    Honor Book
  • 2015

    2015 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    Galapagos George
    Winner    		 Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle
    Honor Book    		 Mr. Ferris and His Wheel
    Honor Book    		 Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature
    Honor Book
  • 2014

    2014 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos
    Winner    		 Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons
    Honor Book    		 No Monkeys, No Chocolate
    Honor Book    		 Toilet: How It Works
    Honor Book
  • 2013

    2013 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    How Many Jelly Beans?
    Winner    		 Busy Builders
    Honor Book    		 Infinity and Me
    Honor Book    		 Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas
    Honor Book    		 Timeless Thomas: How Thomas Edison Changed Our Lives
    Honor Book
  • 2012

    2012 Cook Prize Winner & Honor Books

    Balloons Over Broadway
    Winner    		 About Hummingbirds
    Honor Book    		 The Honeybee Man
    Honor Book    		 Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story
    Honor Book