The Charlotte Zolotow Award is an American

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded Literature, literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award c ...

presented annually for outstanding writing in a picture book published in the United States during the preceding year. By contrast, the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

is for outstanding illustration in a picture book. The Zolotow award was established in 1998 by the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education and named to honor the work of

Charlotte Zolotow Charlotte Zolotow (born Charlotte Gertrude Shapiro; June 26, 1915 – November 19, 2013) was an American writer, poet, editor, and publisher of many books for children. She wrote about 70 picture book texts. The writers she edited include Paul Fl ...

, an American children's book editor and author. Ms. Zolotow worked with Harper Junior Books for 38 years during which time she wrote more than 70 picture books. Zolotow attended the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in Madison on a writing scholarship from 1933 to 36. The Cooperative Children's Book Center is a children's literature library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Eligibility

* Any picture book for young children (birth through age seven) originally written in English, and published the United States between January 1 and December 31 is eligible for consideration. * The book may be fiction, nonfiction or folklore, as long as it is presented in picture book form and aimed at the birth through seven age range. * Translated books, poetry collections, and easy readers are not eligible. * The Committee selects one winner each year. * It may also designate up to five honor books and up to ten titles to be included on a highly commended list that will call attention to outstanding writing in a picture book. The winner is announced in January each year. A bronze medallion is formally presented to the winning author in the spring during an annual public event that honors the career of Charlotte Zolotow.

Recipients

Recipients of Multiple awards, honors, and commendations

Kevin Henkes and

Bob Graham Daniel Robert Graham (November 9, 1936 – April 16, 2024) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States Senate, United States senat ...

are the only two authors to receive all three citations and are the two authors who have received the most citations overall (10 and 8, respectively). No author has yet to receive multiple awards. Jonathan Bean is the only author to receive two citations in one year. In 2014 he received an honor for ''Building Our House'' and a commendation ''Big Snow''.

Multiple honors

Three authors have received two Zolotow Honors: Jonathan Bean, James Rumford,

Mo Willems Mo Willems (born February 11, 1968) is an American writer, animator, voice actor, and children's book author. His work includes creating the animated television series '' Sheep in the Big City'' for Cartoon Network, working on '' Sesame Stre ...

, and Jacqueline Woodson.

Multiple commendations

One author has received nine Zolotow commendations. * Kevin Henkes, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019 Two authors have received four Zolotow commendations. * Denise Fleming, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2013 * Bob Graham, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2016 Multiple authors have received two Zolotow commendations: Kate Banks, Maribeth Boelts, Monica Brown, Elisha Cooper, Robin Cruise, Greg Foley, George Ella Lyon, Patricia C. McKissack, Mary Lyn Ray, Joyce Sidman, Melissa Stewart,

, and Janet S. Wong.

References

{{Portal , Children's literature American children's literary awards Awards established in 1998 1998 establishments in Wisconsin Picture book awards Wisconsin education-related lists University of Wisconsin–Madison