Josette Frank Award facts for kids
The Josette Frank Award is a special prize given every year to amazing children's books. It's presented by a group called the Children's Book Committee at Bank Street College of Education. This award celebrates books that show children or young people dealing with tough situations in a positive and real way. It honors stories where characters grow stronger and learn important lessons.
Gary D. Schmidt, who won the 2024 Josette Frank Award for his book The Labors of Hercules Beal, shared his thoughts. He said that awards like this one truly support children. He believes Bank Street College has always encouraged writers and artists. They want stories that show the real world kids live in, even if it's sometimes difficult. Schmidt feels these books remind children that their lives are important and wonderful. He hopes these stories help young readers feel like they can grow too.
This award was known as the Children's Book Award from 1943 until 1997. It was then renamed to honor Josette Frank. She was an editor of many children's books and a former leader of the Child Study Association of America. The money for the prize comes from the Florence L. Miller Memorial Fund.
The Josette Frank Award is one of several important awards given by the Children's Book Committee each year. The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award, started in 1994, honors great nonfiction books that inspire young people. The Claudia Lewis Award, first given in 1998, celebrates the best poetry book of the year. The Margaret Wise Brown Board Book Award, which started in 2023, is given every two years to published board books.
Award Winners
Children's Book Award Winners (1943-1996)
| Award Year | Award Distinction | Book Title (Year Published) | Author | Illustrator | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Keystone Kids (1943) | John R. Tunis | Harcourt Brace | ||
| 1944 | The House (1944) | Marjorie Hill Allee | Helen Blair | Houghton Mifflin | |
| 1945 | The Moved-Outers (1945) | Florence Cranell Means | Houghton Mifflin | ||
| 1946 | Heart of Danger (1946) | Howard Pease | Doubleday | ||
| 1947 | Judy's Journey (1947) | Lois Lenski | J. B. Lippincott & Co. | ||
| 1948 | The Big Wave (1948) | Pearl S. Buck | Utagawa Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai | John Day Company | |
| 1949 | Paul Tiber: Forester (1949) | Maria Gleit | Ralph Ray | Charles Scribner's Sons | |
| 1950 | Partners: The United Nations and Youth (1950) | Eleanor Roosevelt and Helen Ferris | Junior Literary Guild/Doubleday | ||
| 1951 | No Award | ||||
| 1952 | Jareb (1952) | Miriam Powell | Marc Simont | Thomas Y. Crowell | |
| Twenty and Ten (1952); later republished with minor edits as The Secret Cave (1969, 1973 Scholastic) | Claire Huchet Bishop | William Pène du Bois | Puffin | ||
| 1953 | In a Mirror (1953) | Mary Stolz | Harper | ||
| 1954 | High Road Home (1954) | William Corbin | Coward-McCann/Junior Literary Guild | ||
| The Ordeal of the Young Hunter (1954) | Jonreed Lauritzen | Hoke Denetsosie | Little, Brown and Company | ||
| 1955 | Crow Boy | Taro Yashima | |||
| Plain Girl | Virginia Sorenson | ||||
| 1956 | The House of Sixty Fathers | Meindert DeJong | Maurice Sendak | Harper & Row | |
| 1957 | Shadow Across the Campus | Helen Roney Sattler | Dodd Mead | ||
| 1958 | South Town | Lorenz Graham | |||
| 1959 | Jennifer | Zoa Sherburne | |||
| 1960 | Janine | Robin McKown | Messner | ||
| 1961 | Winner | The Road to Agra (translated from Norwegian by Evelyn Ramsden) | Aimee Sommerfelt | Ulf Aas | Criterion |
| Special Citation | The Girl From Puerto Rico | Hila Colman | |||
| 1962 | The Trouble With Terry | John Lexau | |||
| 1963 | Winner | The Peaceable Revolution | Betty Schechter | ||
| Special Citation | The Rock and the Willow | Mildred Lee | |||
| 1964 | The High Pasture | Ruth Peabody Harnden | Vee Guthrie | ||
| 1965 | The Empty Schoolhouse | Natalie Savage Carlson | John Kauffman | ||
| 1966 | Winner | Queenie Peavy | Robert Burch | ||
| Special Citation | Curious George Goes to the Hospital | Margret Rey and H. A. Rey | Margret Rey and H.A. Rey | Houghton Mifflin | |
| 1967 | The Contender | Robert Lipsyte | |||
| 1968 | Winner | What It's All About (translated from Russian by Joseph Barnes) | Vadim Frolic | Macmillan | |
| Special Citation | Where's Daddy? A Story about Divorce | Beth Goff | Susan Perl | Beacon Press | |
| 1969 | The Empty Moat | Margaretha Shemin | Coward-McCann | ||
| 1970 | Migrant Girl | Carli Laklan | |||
| Rock Star | James Lincoln Collier | ||||
| 1971 | Winner | John Henry McCoy | Lillie D. Chaffin | Emanuel Schongut | |
| Special Citation | The Pair of Shoes | Aline Glasgow | Symeon Shimin | Dial BFYR | |
| 1972 | A Sound of Chariots | Mollie Hunter | |||
| 1973 | A Taste of Blackberries | Doris Buchanan Smith | |||
| 1974 | Luke Was There | Eleanor Clymer | Diane DeGroat | ||
| 1975 | The Garden is Doing Fine | Carol Farley | Lynn Sweat | ||
| 1976 | Somebody Else's Child | Roberta Silman | Chris Conover | ||
| 1977 | The Pinballs | Betsy Byars | |||
| 1978 | The Devil in Vienna | Doris Orgel | |||
| 1979 | The Whipman is Watching | T. A. Dyer | |||
| 1980 | A Boat to Nowhere | Maureen Wartski | |||
| 1981 | A Spirit to Ride the Whirlwind | Athena Lord | |||
| 1982 | Homesick: My Own Story | Jean Fritz | Margot Tomes | Putnam | |
| 1983 | Winner | The Sign of the Beaver | Elizabeth George Speare | ||
| Special Citation | The Solomon System | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | |||
| 1984 | One-Eyed Cat | Paula Fox | |||
| 1985 | Winner | With Westie and the Tin Man | C.S. Adler | Macmillan | |
| Special Citation | Ain't Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America's Peace Seekers | Milton Meltzer | Harper and Row | ||
| 1986 | Journey to Jo'burg | Beverley Naidoo | |||
| 1987 | Rabble Starkey | Lois Lowry | |||
| 1988 | Winner | The Most Beautiful Place in the World | Ann Cameron | Thomas Allen | Knopf |
| Special Citation | December Stillness | Mary Downing Hahn | |||
| 1989 | Shades of Gray | Carolyn Reeder | |||
| 1990 | Secret City, USA | Felice Holman | |||
| 1991 | Shadow Boy | Susan E. Kirby | |||
| 1992 | Blue Skin of the Sea | Graham Salisbury | |||
| 1993 | Make Lemonade | Virginia Euwer Wolff | |||
| 1994 | Earthshine | Theresa Nelson | |||
| 1995 | Winner | Music from a Place Called Half Moon | Jerrie Oughton | ||
| Special Citation | The Watsons Go to Birmingham: 1963 | Christopher Paul Curtis | Delacorte Press | ||
| 1996 | The Cuckoo's Child | Suzanne Freeman | |||
Josette Frank Award Winners (1997-Present)
| Award Year | Book Title (Year Published) | Author | Illustrator | Publisher | Award Distinction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | No Turning Back: A Novel of South Africa | Beverley Naidoo | |||
| 1998 | My Louisiana Sky | Kimberly Willis Holt | |||
| 1999 | None | ||||
| 2000 | Figuring Out Frances | Gina Willner-Pardo | |||
| 2001 | Because of Winn-Dixie | Kate DiCamillo | |||
| 2002 | Amber Was Brave, Essie Was Smart | Vera B. Williams | |||
| 2003 | Goddess of Yesterday | Caroline B. Cooney | Winner | ||
| Jericho Walls | Kristi Collier | Special Citation | |||
| 2004 | The Goose Girl | Shannon Hale | |||
| 2005 | Ida B and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World | Katherine Hannigan | |||
| 2006 | Each Little Bird That Sings | Deborah Wiles | |||
| 2007 | Clementine | Sara Pennypacker | Marla Frazee | Winner | |
| The Manny Files | Christian Burch | Special Citation | |||
| 2008 | Home of the Brave | Katherine Applegate | |||
| 2009 | After Tupac and D Foster | Jacqueline Woodson | |||
| 2010 | The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate | Jacqueline Kelly | Winner | ||
| Where the Mountain Meets the Moon | Grace Lin | Special Citation | |||
| 2011 | Out of My Mind | Sharon Draper | |||
| 2012 | Bluefish | Pat Schmatz | |||
| 2013 | Wonder | R. J. Palacio | |||
| 2014 | Rose Under Fire | Elizabeth Wein | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | ||
| 2015 | Rain Reign | Ann M. Martin | Feiwel & Friends | for younger readers | |
| I'll Give You the Sun | Jandy Nelson | Dial BFYR | for older readers | ||
| 2016 | The War That Saved My Life | Kimberly Brubaker Bradley | Dial BFYR | ||
| 2017 | The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones (2016) | Wendelin Van Draanen | Knopf Books for Young Readers | ||
| 2018 | Piecing Me Together (2017) | Renée Watson | Bloomsbury USA Children's | ||
| 2019 | A Heart in a Body in the World (2018) | Deb Caletti | Atheneum Books for Young Readers | ||
| 2020 | When the Ground Is Hard (2019) | Malla Nunn | G. P. Putnam's Sons | ||
| 2021 | When Stars Are Scattered (2020) | Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed | Victoria Jamieson (illustrator) and Imam Geddy (color) | Dial BFYR | |
| 2022 | Milo Imagines the World (2021) | Matt de la Peña | Christian Robinson | G. P. Putnam's Sons | for younger readers |
| Firekeeper's Daughter (2021) | Angeline Boulley | Macmillan | for older readers | ||
| 2023 | I Must Betray You (2022) | Ruta Sepetys | Philomel Books | ||
| 2024 | The Labors of Hercules Beal (2023) | Gary D. Schmidt | Clarion/HarperCollins |
