Orbis Pictus Award Books

The NCTE Orbis Pictus Award is named not for a person but for a book: Orbis Pictus — The World in Pictures, published in 1658 by Johannes Amos Comenius and generally considered the first book actually planned for children. The National Council of Teachers of English established the award in 1989 and gave the first one in 1990, to Jean Fritz's The Great Little Madison. It goes annually to one American book that represents excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children.

Because the judges are classroom teachers, the criteria are unusually practical: accuracy in both text and illustration with the sources documented, organization that makes the material findable, a writing style with a voice of its own, and a design suited to the subject and to grades K–8. Textbooks, historical fiction, folklore, and poetry are ineligible; biography counts. Each year the committee names a winner, up to five honor books, and up to eight recommended titles, so a single year yields a sizable vetted list — useful for a child who prefers facts to plots, and for a school report that needs a source an adult can stand behind.

Information from the National Council of Teachers of English.