Literacy in the Elementary School (62-221)

The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award, administered by the Youth Services Community of Interest of Missouri Library Association (MLA), is presented annually to the author and illustrator of the picture book voted most popular by preschool children in Missouri’s public libraries.
Designed to encourage reading aloud to children from birth through kindergarten age, the award was first given in 1996. Activity sheets are also included for each nominee.

The (Laura Ingalls) Wilder 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. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

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. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The vision of the Missouri Denny O’Neil Graphic Novel List is to provide children of Missouri with a recommended reading list of graphic novels that will interest them and enrich their lives.

The Gateway Readers Award is an annual young adult book award which recognizes one book selected by vote of Missouri schoolchildren from a list prepared by librarians and volunteer readers. (Winners and nominees located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

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 Task Force. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Mark Twain Award is an annual children's book award which recognizes one book selected by vote of Missouri schoolchildren from a list prepared by librarians and volunteer readers. (Winners and nominees located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Michael L. Printz Award annually honors the best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit, each year. In addition, the Printz Committee names up to four honor books, which also represent the best writing in young adult literature. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

Newbery "runners-up" (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

This annual award is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. (Odyssey Award Winners and Honors)

The NCTE [National Council of Teachers of English] Orbis Pictus Award was established in 1989 for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children. The name Orbis Pictus, commemorates the work of Johannes Amos Comenius, Orbis Pictus—The World in Pictures (1657), considered to be the first book actually planned for children. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Pura Belpré Award is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year. (Robert F. Silbert Award Winners and Honor Books)

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. Books are selected in the Children's, Middle School, and Teen categories. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Show Me Readers Award is an annual children's book award which recognizes one book selected by vote of Missouri schoolchildren from a list prepared by librarians and volunteer readers. (Winners and nominees located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Geisel Award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The Truman Readers Award is an annual early teen's book award which recognizes one book selected by vote of Missouri schoolchildren from a list prepared by librarians and volunteer readers. (Winners and nominees located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award, first awarded in 2009, honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. (Winners located in B.D. Owens Library and Horace Mann Library)

Each year over 12,500 school children from all over the United States read newly published children’s and young adults’ trade books and vote for the ones they like best. These Children’s Choices, selected from more than 500 titles, can be counted on as books children really enjoy reading.

Since 1987, the Young Adults’ Choices project has developed an annual list of new books that will encourage adolescents to read. The books are selected by the readers themselves, so they are bound to be popular with middle and secondary school students.

Since 1989, the Teachers’ Choices project has developed an annual annotated reading list of new books that will encourage young people to read. These are books that kids will enjoy—and that contribute to learning across the curriculum.