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 literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

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 The University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education is a school within the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Although teacher education was offered at the university's founding in 1848, the School was officially started in 1930 and today is ...

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 higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

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 Kevin Henkes (born November 27, 1960) is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for ''Kitten's First Full Moon'' (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, ''Olive's Ocea ...

and Bob Graham 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 Street'' ...

, and

Jacqueline Woodson Jacqueline Woodson (born February 12, 1963) is an American writer of books for children and adolescents. She is best known for ''Miracle's Boys'', and her Newbery Honor-winning titles ''Brown Girl Dreaming'', ''After Tupac and D Foster'', ''Feat ...

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 Kate Banks (born February 13, 1960) is an American children's writer who lives in France. Her books, ''The Night Worker,'' won the 2001 Charlotte Zolotow Award, ''And If the Moon Could Talk'' won the 1998 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for best pic ...

, Maribeth Boelts, Monica Brown,

Elisha Cooper Elisha Cooper is an American writer and children's book author. Cooper went to Foote School and Hopkins School in Connecticut. After graduating from Yale, he worked for ''The New Yorker'' as a messenger. In 2016 he was a Maurice Sendak Fellow, ...

, Robin Cruise, Greg Foley, George Ella Lyon,

Patricia C. McKissack Patricia C. "Pat" McKissack (''née'' Carwell; August 9, 1944 – April 7, 2017) was a prolific African American children's writer. She was the author of over 100 books, including Dear America books ''A Picture of Freedom, A Picture of Freedom: ...

, Mary Lyn Ray,

Joyce Sidman Joyce Sidman (born June 4, 1956) is an American children's writer. She was a runner-up for the 2011 Newbery Medal. She graduated from Wesleyan University, with a B.A. in German. She is married and lives in Wayzata, Minnesota with her husband and ...

, 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