The Golden Kite Award is the only award presented to children’s book authors and artists by their peers.
Golden Kite Award Winners
Fiction: Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate (Feiwel and Friends). Note: Katherine has also written the bestselling science fiction series Animorphs, Everworld, and Remnants.
Nonfiction: Muckrakers: How Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens Helped Expose Scandal, Inspire Reform, and Invent Investigative Journalism by Ann Bausum (National Geographic)(author interview).
Picture Book Text: Pierre in Love by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Petra Mathers (Orchard).
Picture Book Illustration: Little Night by Yuyi Morales (Roaring Brook)(illustrator interview). Note: Yuyi also illustrated Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez.
Golden Kite Honor Recipients
Fiction: Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis (Dial). Note: Lauran is the editor of Scholastic’s Storyworks magazine. Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree is her first novel.
Nonfiction: 1607: A New Look at Jamestown by Karen Lange (National Geographic).
Picture Book Text: The End by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Richard Egielski (Arthur A. Levine Books)(author interview). Note: David won the 2005 Sid Fleischman Humor Award for Absolutely Positively Not.
Picture Book Illustration: Who Put the B in Ballyhoo? by Carlyn Beccia (Houghton Mifflin)(author-illustrator interview)
The Golden Kite Awards, given annually to recognize excellence in children’s literature, grant cash prizes of $2,500 to author and illustrator winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration. Authors and illustrators will receive an expense-paid trip to Los Angeles to attend the award ceremony at the Golden Kite Luncheon at SCBWI’s Annual Summer Conference in August.
The SCBWI recognizes the work of editors and art directors who play pivotal roles in shaping the Golden Kite-winning books. Editors of winning books will receive $1,000, and for the winning book in the Picture Book Illustration category, an additional $1,000 will be given to the book’s art director.
The Golden Kite Awards are given each year to the most outstanding children’s books published during the previous year, and written or illustrated by members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Four panels of three judges each (one panel for each category, consisting of author or illustrator members of SCBWI whose own works are that of the category being judged), award the titles they feel exhibit excellence in writing or illustration, and that genuinely appeal to the interests and concerns of children. An Honor Book plaque is awarded in each category as well. A certificate of acknowledgment is presented to the author of the picture book illustration award book and the illustrator of the picture book text award book.
General Information
Founded in 1971, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators is one of the largest existing writers’ and illustrators’ organizations, with over 20,000 members worldwide. It is the only organization specifically for those working in the fields of children’s literature, magazines, film, television, and multimedia. The organization was founded by Stephen Mooser (President) and Lin Oliver (Executive Director), both of whom are well-published children’s book authors and leaders in the world of children’s literature. Several of the most prestigious children’s literature professionals sit on the SCBWI Board of Directors.
The Golden Kite Awards will be presented to the winners on Sunday, August 3rd at the Golden Kite Luncheon. This luncheon is part of the SCBWI’s 37th Annual Conference on Writing and Illustrating for Children, taking place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel August 1-4, 2008.
A list of previous Golden Kite Award winners and honor books is available on the SCBWI’s website.
Cynsational Notes
The SCBWI Bologna 2008 series is ongoing here at Cynsations! Check back Monday and beyond for more insightful question-and-answer interviews with agents, editors, authors, and illustrators about the U.S. and international youth publishing scene.
To register for the SCBWI Bologna Biennial Conference 2008, please visit http://scbwi.org/events.htm and click on SCBWI@Bologna. Queries? Bologna@SCBWI.org