Crystal Kite Award

The Crystal Kite Award [1] (also known as 'Crystal Kite Members Choice Award) is given by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) each year to recognize great books from the 70 SCBWI regions around the world. Along with the SCBWI Golden Kite Awards, the Crystal Kite Awards are chosen by other children's book writers and illustrators, making them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers.

Each SCBWI member votes for their favorite book from a nominated author in their region that was published in the previous calendar year.

Winners

International Regions

Australia / New Zealand

Year Title Author
2011 There Was an Old Sailor Claire M. Saxby
2012 The Last Viking Norman Jorgensen
2013 Ten Tiny Things Meg McKinlay
2014 Zac and Mia AJ Betts
2015 Hello From Nowhere Raewyn Caisley and Karen Blair
2016 A is for Australia Frané Lessac
2017 Smile Cry Tania McCartney and Jess Racklyeft
2018 The Scared Book Debra Tidball
2019 At The End of Holyrood Lane Dimity Powell
2020 Catch a Falling Star Meg McKinlay[1]
2021 How to Make a Bird Meg McKinlay[1]
2022 Heroes of the Secret Underground Susanne Gervay[2]
2023 Bev and Kev Katrina Germein and Mandy Foot[3]
2024 Hanukkah Upside Down Elissa Weissman (Omer Hoffmann, illustrator)[4]

Canada

Year Title Author
2011 Stolen Child Marsha Skrypuch
2012 Witchlanders Lena Coakley
2013 The Stamp Collector Jennifer Lanthier
2014 I Dare You Not to Yawn Helene Boudreau
2015 Bog Karen Krossing
2016 A Brush Full of Colour Margriet Ruurs
2017 Dot to Dot in the Sky, Stories of the Aurora Joan Marie Galat
2018 My Beautiful Birds Suzanne Del Rizzo
2019 The Outlaw Nancy Vo
2020 Small World Ishta Mercurio-Wentworth
2021 Night Walk Ellie Arscott & Sara O'Leary
2022 Tough Like Mum Lana Button

Europe / Latin America / Africa

Year Title Author
2011 A Kite's Flight Maja Sereda
2012 Finding Aunt Joan Jenny Hatton and Joan Rankin
2013 The Magyar Conspiracy Neil Malherbe
2014 Chick-o-Sarus Rex Lenore Appelhans
2015 A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina’s Dream Kristy Dempsey
2016 The Safest Lie Angela Cerrito
2017 El Jardín Mágico Lemniscates
2018 Will You Read My Book with Me? Lawrence Schimel
2019 The Night Lion Sanne Dufft
2020 The Untold, Bloody, and Absolutely Real History of Switzerland Laurie Theurer
2021 The Hungry Ghost Helle Sidelmann Norup
2022 The Stuff Between the Stars Sandra Nickel

Middle East / India / Asia

Year Title Author
2011 Saraswati's Way Monika Schröder
2012 Orchards Holly Thompson
2013 Samurai Awakening Benjamin Martin
2014 Bonkers! Natasha Sharma
2015 Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles Arundhati Venkatesh
2016 The Adventures of Squirky the Alien #3: Who is the Red Commander? Melanie Lee
2017 Somewhere Among Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu
2018 Yossi and the Monkeys Jennifer MacLeod
2019 The Clever Tailor Srividhya Venkat
2020 Indigo Girl Suzanne Kamata
2021 The Last Garden Rachel Ip
2022 Temple Alley Summer Sachiko Kashiwaba

UK / Ireland

Year Title Author
2011 Tall Story Candy Gourlay
2012 Dark Parties Sara Grant
2013 Fifteen Days Without a Head Dave Cousins
2014 Shine Candy Gourlay
2015 The Year of the Rat Claire Furniss
2016 Mind Games Teri Terry
2017 More of Me Kathryn Evans
2018 Mold and the Poison Plot Lorraine Gregory
2019 Orphan Monster Spy Matt Killeen
2020 The Tide Clare Welsh
2021 Boy, Everywhere A. M. Dassu
2022 The Bear and her Book Frances Tosdevin

Regions in the United States

Atlantic (Pennsylvania / Delaware / New Jersey / Wash DC / Virginia / West Virginia / Maryland)

Year Title Author
2011 Mockingbird Kathryn D. Erskine
2012 The Absolute Value of Mike Kathryn D. Erskine
2013 BOY + BOT Ame Dyckman
2014 Flame in the Mist Kit Grindstaff
2015 Pandemic Yvonne Ventresca
2016 Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine Laurie Wallmark
2017 I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark Debbie Levy
2018 7 Ate 9: The Untold Story Tara Lazar
2019 Hawk Rising Maria Gianferrari
2020 Hedy Lamarr's Double Life: Hollywood Legend and Brilliant Inventor Laurie Wallmark
2021 Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away Meg Medina
2022 A Place to Hang the Moon Kate Albus

California / Hawaii

Year Title Author
2011 The Quiet Book Deborah Underwood
2012 Won Ton - A Cat Tale Told in Haiku Lee Wardlaw
2013 The One and Only Ivan Katherine Applegate
2014 The Kite That Bridged Two Nations Alexis O'Neill
2015 Bombs Over Bikini: The World’s First Nuclear Disaster Connie Goldsmith
2016 Under a Painted Sky Stacey Lee
2017 Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, a Life in Nature Cindy Jenson-Elliott and Christy Hale
2018 The Lost Boys Darcey Rosenblatt
2019 She Made a Monster: How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein Lynn Fulton
2020 The Downstairs Girl Stacey Heather Lee
2021 Efrén Divided Ernesto Cisneros
2022 Hello, Star Stephanie Lucianovic

Mid-South (Kansas / Louisiana / Arkansas / Tennessee / Kentucky / Missouri)

Year Title Author
2011 Selling Hope Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
2012 Between Shades of Gray Ruta Sepetys
2013 The Dark Unwinding Sharon Cameron
2014 The 13th Sign Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
2015 Faking Normal Courtney Stevens
2016 Top Secret Files of History – WWII Stephanie Bearce
2017 Salt to the Sea Ruta Sepetys
2018 A Dog Like Daisy Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
2019 A Hippy-Hoppy Toad Peggy Archer
2020 Poetree Shauna LaVoy Reynolds
2021 The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read Rita Lorraine Hubbard
2022 I'll Meet You in Your Dreams Jessica Young

Mid-West (Minnesota / Iowa / Nebraska / Wisconsin / Illinois / Michigan / Indiana / Ohio)

Year Title Author
2011 Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing Ann M. Angel
2012 Bluefish Pat Schmatz
2013 Creepy Carrots Aaron Reynolds
2014 Sophie's Squash Pat Zietlow Miller
2015 I am Cow, Hear Me Moo Jill Esbaum
2016 Wherever You Go Pat Zietlow Miller
2017 The Quickest Kid in Clarksville Pat Zietlow Miller
2018 Blue Sky White Stars Sarvinder Naberhaus
2019 The Rabbit Listened Cori Doerrfeld
2020 Just Like Rube Goldberg Sarah Aronson
2021 Old Rock (is not boring!) Deb Pilutti
2022 Headstrong Hallie! The Story of Hallie Morse Daggett, the First Female "Fire Guard" Aimee Bissonette
2024 Woven of the World Katey Howes / Dinara Mirtalipova

New England (Maine / Vermont / New Hampshire / Connecticut / Massachusetts / Rhode Island)

Year Title Author
2011 Bats at the Ball Game Brian Lies
2012 Pearl Jo Knowles
2013 See You at Harry's Jo Knowles
2014 The Story of Fish & Snail Deborah Freedman
2015 Feathers: Not Just for Flying Melissa Stewart
2016 Fish in a Tree Lynda Mullaly Hunt
2017 Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine Heather Lang
2018 This House, Once Deborah Freedman
2019 The Rough Patch Brian Lies
2020 The Bridge Home Padma Venkatraman
2021 Let's Dance! Valerie Bolling
2022 Red, White, and Whole Rajani LaRocca

New York

Year Title Author
2011 Sugar and Ice Kate Messner
2012 Thelonious Mouse Orel Protopopescu
2013 Capture the Flag Kate Messner
2014 Crankenstein! Samantha Berger
2015 Sniffer Dogs: How Dogs (And Their Noses) are Saving The World Nancy Castaldo
2016 The Truth About Twinkie Pie Kat Yeh
2017 Saving Kate’s Flowers Cindy Sommer
2018 Beastly Brains: Exploring How Animals Think, Talk, and Feel Nancy Castaldo
2019 Pies from Nowhere: How Georgia Gilmore Sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott Dee Romito
2020 The Little Green Girl Lisa Anchin
2021 The Boy and the Gorilla Jackie Azúa Kramer
2022 Dumplings for Lili Melissa Iwai

South-East (Florida / Georgia / South Carolina / North Carolina / Alabama / Mississippi)

Year Title Author
2011 Rosa's Bus: The Ride to Civil Rights Jo S. Kittinger
2012 Cleopatra's Moon Vicky Alvear Shecter
2013 Glory Be Augusta Scattergood
2014 The Ballad of Jessie Pearl Shannon Hitchcock
2015 Just a Drop of Water Kerry Cerra
2016 Outer Space Bedtime Race Rob Sanders
2017 Wish Barbara O’Connor
2018 Mouse Zebo Ludvicek
2019 Evangeline of the Bayou Jan Eldredge
2020 The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng Sophia Gholz
2021 The Little Blue Cottage Kelly Jordan
2022 The Longest Letsgoboy Derick Wilder

South-West (Nevada / Arizona / Utah / Colorado / Wyoming / New Mexico)

Year Title Author
2011 Swoon At Your Own Risk Sydney Salter Husseman
2012 Black & White: The Confrontation Between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor Larry Brimner
2013 How to Baby Sit a Grandpa Jean Reagan
2014 Tea REX Molly Idle
2015 All Four Stars Tara Dairman
2016 Audacity Melanie Crowder
2017 Space Boy and the Space Pirate Dian Curtis Regan
2018 If Your Monster Won’t Go to Bed Denise Vega
2019 The 11:11 Wish Kim Tomsic
2020 Truman Jean Reidy
2021 Midnight at the Barclay Hotel Fleur Bradley
2022 Watercress Andrea Y. Wang

Texas / Oklahoma

Year Title Author
2011 Mostly Monsterly Tammi Sauer
2012 Mine! Patrice Barton
2013 Chained Lynne Kelly
2014 Army Camels: Texas Ships of the Desert Doris Fisher
2015 Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood Varsha Bajaj
2016 Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton Don Tate
2017 Tiny Stitches – The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas Gwendolyn Hooks
2018 The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist Cynthia Levinson
2019 The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast Samantha Clark
2020 Her Own Two Feet: A Rwandan Girl's Brave Fight to Walk Meredith Davis and Rebeka Uwitonze
2021 Dusk Explorers Lindsay Leslie
2022 Dark and Shallow Lies Ginny Myers Sain

West (Washington / Oregon / Alaska / Idaho / Montana / North Dakota / South Dakota)

Year Title Author
2011 A Bedtime for Bear Bonny J. Becker
2012 The Friendship Doll Kirby Larson
2013 Pickle Kim Baker
2014 Once Upon A Memory Nina Laden
2015 Be a Change Maker: How to Start Something That Matters Laurie Ann Thompson
2016 If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, DON’T! Elise Parsley
2017 The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox Janet S. Fox
2018 The Book of Mistakes Corinna Luyken
2019 Adrian Simcox Does NOT Have A Horse Marcy Campbell
2020 Ghost Cat Kevan Atteberry
2021 The Starkeeper Faith Pray
2022 The Last Cuentista Donna Barba Higuera

References

  1. ^ a b "'How to Make a Bird' wins SCBWI Crystal Kite Award". Books+Publishing. 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-12-18.
  2. ^ "Gervay wins 2022 Crystal Kite award". Books+Publishing. 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2022-06-04.
  3. ^ "Crystal Kite award for Katrina Germein and Mandy Foot". SCBWI Australia East Blog. 2023-06-03. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  4. ^ "Weissman wins 2024 Crystal Kite award". Books+Publishing. 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
  • SCBWI Website [2]
  • List of Winners [3]
  • 2013 List of Winners [4]
  • Announcement of 2011 Awards [5]
  • School Library Journal [6]