Golden Kite Award Books

The Golden Kite Award is one of the few major children's book prizes with no namesake author behind it. It has been given since 1973 by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and it is judged exclusively by peers — working children's book writers, illustrators, and translators, rather than librarians, teachers, or reviewers. More than a thousand books are submitted each year across eight categories, and category winners receive $2,500, with honor recipients receiving $500.

The peer judging shows up in what gets rewarded: craft that other practitioners notice, sometimes in books that never reach a library display. The category structure is equally telling — Picture Book Text and Picture Book Illustration are judged separately, so a title on one list is being praised for its sentences and a title on the other for its pictures, with Translation, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Illustrated Older Reader, and two nonfiction categories filling out the rest. Announced alongside the Sid Fleischman Humor Award, it is a good list for finding a well-made book that has not already appeared on every recommended-reading handout.

Information from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.