Nomination Criteria

NOMINATION CRITERIA & GUIDELINES

Initial Title Pool Eligibility:

1. Titles eligible for a given school year must have been published in the United States for the first time during the two prior calendar years.

2. Titles must have at least one positive review—not necessarily a star review—from the following professional review sources: Kirkus, Booklist, The Horn Book, School Library Journal, or Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

3. Only the first title in a series may be nominated. Companion titles and new series starters in the same story world are eligible if they can stand alone.

4. Winning Golden Sower authors and illustrators of any one year are excluded from competition in the same role for the following year. Nominated titles of any one year are excluded from competition for all following years.

Final Nominee List Guidelines

● Grade level placement on the following nominee lists should be strongly but not exclusively based on recommendations from professional review sources. The goal is best relevancy and interest to these groups as a whole.

○ The Little Bluestem Picture Book list is intended for grades K-2.   This list will include 15 nominees rather than ten, with at least five early chapter book titles included.

○ The Honeybee (Chapter Book) list is intended for grades 3-5.

○ The Meadowlark (Novel) list is intended for grades 6-8.

○ The Bald Eagle (Young Adult) list is intended for grades 9-12. (To be implemented in 2025-2026)

● Nominees should prioritize young people’s enjoyment over curricular value.

Publisher Submissions:

If you are a book publisher and want to have a title considered for the upcoming year, Click here to submit the title through a Google Form.  Titles for consideration must be printed in the United States within the last two years.