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Vermont Golden Dome Book Award facts for kids

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The Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award) annually recognizes one new American children's book selected by the vote of Vermont schoolchildren. It was inaugurated in 1957.

The award is co-sponsored by the Vermont State PTA and the Vermont Department of Libraries and was originally named after the Vermont writer Dorothy Canfield Fisher. In 2020, it was temporarily renamed the "VT Middle-Grade Book Award" before schoolchildren voted to officially call it the "Vermont Golden Dome Book Award".

Selection process and award

Each spring a committee of eight adults selects a "Master List" of thirty books first published during the previous calendar year. The list is announced at the annual Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference, usually in May, and is available at Vermont school and public libraries for children who wish to participate over the next eleven months. The following spring, those children who have read at least five of the thirty books are eligible to vote for the award, with a deadline in mid-April. The award ceremony is scheduled after the end of the school year, usually late June. Thus the award is always for books published two years previously.

The winning writer is invited to visit Vermont to speak with children about the experience of writing for children.

Awards in other categories

Vermont sponsors two other statewide book awards determined by the votes of younger and older students.

The Red Clover Book Award recognizes a picture book published two years earlier. Voters are children in grades K–4 who have read, or heard read aloud, all 10 books on the list. The Red Clover BA was established by 1997–98, if not earlier, and its 2014 winner was announced by May. It is the centerpiece of a one-day conference in October.

The Green Mountain Book Award is voted by high school students (grades 9–12, routinely ages 14–18) either through a school library or individually online, deadline May 31. Students are asked to vote only once and to read at least 3 from a list of 15 books (for 2014, published 2008–2012; for 2015, published 2011–2013). The Green Mountain BA was inaugurated in 2006.

Winners

One book by a single writer has won the Vermont Golden Dome Book Award every year since 1957.

Award winners
Year Author Title Ref.
1957 Pace, MildredMildred Pace Old Bones, the Wonder Horse
1958 Cleary, BeverlyBeverly Cleary Fifteen
1959 Leighton, Margaret CarverMargaret Carver Leighton Comanche of the Seventh
1960 Erickson, PhoebePhoebe Erickson Double or Nothing
1961 Bell, ThelmaThelma Bell Captain Ghost
1962 Lampman, Evelyn SibleyEvelyn Sibley Lampman City under the Back Steps
1963 Burnford, SheilaSheila Burnford The Incredible Journey
1964 Ball, ZacharyZachary Ball Bristle Face
1965 North, SterlingSterling North Rascal
1966 Cleary, BeverlyBeverly Cleary Ribsy
1967 Viereck, PhillipPhillip Viereck The Summer I Was Lost
1968 Jackson, JacquelineJacqueline Jackson The Taste of Spruce Gum
1969 Thompson, M. W.M. W. Thompson Two in the Wilderness
1970 Morey, WaltWalt Morey Kävik the Wolf Dog
1971 Erwin, Betty K.Betty K. Erwin Go to the Room of the Eyes
1972 Ellis, MelvinMelvin Ellis Flight of the White Wolf
1973 Caufield, Donald E.Donald E. Caufield Never Steal a Magic Cat
1974 Woods, GeorgeGeorge Woods Catch a Killer
1975 Byars, BetsyBetsy Byars The Eighteenth Emergency
1976 Merrill, JeanJean Merrill The Toothpaste Millionaire
1977 Pevsner, StellaStella Pevsner A Smart Kid Like You
1978 Duncan, LoisLois Duncan Summer of Fear
1979 Pfeffer, Susan BethSusan Beth Pfeffer Kid Power
1980 Budbill, DavidDavid Budbill Bones on Black Spruce Mountain
1981 Howe, JamesJames Howe Bunnicula
1982 Pascal, FrancineFrancine Pascal The Hand-Me-Down Kid
1983 Blume, JudyJudy Blume Tiger Eyes
1984 Mauser, Pat RhoadesPat Rhoades Mauser A Bundle of Sticks
1985 Cleary, BeverlyBeverly Cleary Dear Mr. Henshaw
1986 Smith, Robert KimmelRobert Kimmel Smith The War With Grandpa
1987 Winthrop, ElizabethElizabeth Winthrop The Castle in the Attic
1988 Hahn, Mary DowningMary Downing Hahn Wait Till Helen Comes
1989 Paulsen, GaryGary Paulsen Hatchet
1990 Ehrlich, AmyAmy Ehrlich Where It Stops, Nobody Knows
1991 Lowry, LoisLois Lowry Number the Stars
1992 Spinelli, JerryJerry Spinelli Maniac Magee
1993 Naylor, Phyllis ReynoldsPhyllis Reynolds Naylor Shiloh
1994 Coville, BruceBruce Coville Jennifer Murdley's Toad
1995 Cooper, SusanSusan Cooper The Boggart
1996 Hahn, Mary DowningMary Downing Hahn Time for Andrew
1997 Park, BarbaraBarbara Park Mick Harte Was Here
1998 Kehret, PegPeg Kehret Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio
1999 Levine, Gail CarsonGail Carson Levine Ella Enchanted
2000 Sachar, LouisLouis Sachar Holes
2001 Curtis, Christopher PaulChristopher Paul Curtis Bud, Not Buddy
2002 DiCamillo, KateKate DiCamillo Because of Winn-Dixie
2003 Creech, SharonSharon Creech Love That Dog
2004 Spinelli, JerryJerry Spinelli Loser
2005 DiCamillo, KateKate DiCamillo The Tale of Despereaux
2006 Hahn, Mary DowningMary Downing Hahn The Old Willis Place
2007 Hiaasen, CarlCarl Hiaasen Flush
2008 Kinney, JeffJeff Kinney Diary of a Wimpy Kid
2009 Lord, CynthiaCynthia Lord Rules
2010 Collins, SuzanneSuzanne Collins The Hunger Games
2011 Mass, WendyWendy Mass 11 Birthdays
2012 Telgemeier, RainaRaina Telgemeier Smile
2013 Van Draanen, WendelinWendelin Van Draanen The Running Dream
2014 Palacio, R. J.R. J. Palacio Wonder
2015 Grabenstein, ChrisChris Grabenstein Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
2016 Bell, CeceCece Bell El Deafo
2017 John, JoryJory John and Mac Barnett The Terrible Two
2018 Gratz, AlanAlan Gratz Projekt 1065
2019 Gratz, AlanAlan Gratz Refugee
2020 Arden, KatherineKatherine Arden Small Spaces

Multiple awards

Several writers have won more than one DCF Award: Beverly Cleary in 1958, 1966, and 1985; Mary Downing Hahn in 1988, 1996, and 2006; Jerry Spinelli and Kate DiCamillo and Alan Gratz twice each.

Seven times from 1985 to 2005 (‡), and no others, the schoolchildren selected the winner of the annual Newbery Medal (dated one year earlier, established 1922). That award by the Association for Library Service to Children recognizes the year's "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children". The first agreement of Vermont children with U.S. children's librarians was their 1985 selection of Dear Mr. Henshaw by Cleary and there were six more such agreements during the next twenty years to 2005.

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