Past Winners 

2024 Winner: One Turtle's Last Straw: The Real-Life Rescue That Sparked a Sea Change

by Elisa Boxer

illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns

2024 Honors: 

Chickadee: Criminal Mastermind  by Monica Silvie and Elina Ellis

How to Party Like a Snail by Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier

Other Nominated Books:

Lion Lights: My Invention That Made Peace With Lions by Richard Turere with Shelly Pollock and Sonia Possentini

Big Truck, Little Island  by Chris Van Dusen

Wombat Said Come In by Carmen Agra Deedy and Brian Lies

Jack Knight's Brave Flight: How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the US Air Mail Service by Jill Esbaum and Stacy Innerst

Walter Had a Best Friend by Deborah Underwood and Sergio Ruzzier

Tomatoes in My Lunchbox by Constantia Manoli and Magdalena Mora

Everything in Its Place: A Story of Books and Belonging by Pauline David-Sax and Charnele Pinkney Barlow

2023 Winner: Chez Bob by Bob Shea

2023 Honors:

Negative Cat by Sophie Blackall

This Very Tree: A Story of 9/11, Resilience, and Regrowth by Sean Rubin

Other Nominated Books:

Clovis Keeps His Cool by  Katelyn Aronson and Eve Farb

Lunch Every Day by Kathryn Otoshi

Amara and the Bats by Emma Reynolds

When Langston Dances by Kaija Langley and Keith Mallett

Someone Builds the Dream by Lisa Wheeler and Loren Long

The First Blade of Sweetgrass: A Native American Story by Suzanne Greenlaw & Gabriel Frey and Nancy Baker

Kiyoshi's Walk by Mark Karlins and Nicole Wong

2022 Winner: Fussy Flamingo by Sarah Vaughan James and Matthew Rivera

2022 Honors:

Crossings: Extraordinary Structures For Extraordinary Animals by Katy S. Duffield and Mike Orodán

Cubs in the Tub: The True Story of the Bronx Zoo's First Woman Zookeeper  by Candace Fleming and Julie Downing

Other Nominated Books:

Flight For Freedom: The Wetzel Family's Daring Escape from East Germany by Kristen Fulton and Torben Kuhlmann

this way, Charlie by Caron Levis and Charles Santoso

Old Rock (is not boring) by Deb Pilutti

Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex

When I Draw a Panda by Amy June Bates

Evelyn Del Ray is Moving Away by Meg Medina and Sonia Sánchez

Almost Time  by Gary D. Schmidt & Elizabeth Stickney and G. Brian Karas

2021 Winner: Ninita's Big World: The True Story of a Deaf Pygmy Marmoset by Sarah Glenn Marsh and Stephanie Fizer Coleman

2021 Honors:

The Cool Bean by Jory John and Pete Oswald

Home in the Woods by Eliza Wheeler

Other Nominated Books:

The Donkey Egg  by  Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

I Am Not a Fish by Peter Raymundo

Beware of the Crocodile by  Martin Jenkins and Satoshi Kitamura

Sea Glass Summer by Michelle Houts and Bagram Ibatoulline

The Crayon Man by Natascha Biebow and Steven Salerno

The Proudest Blue  by Ibtihaj Muhammad, S.K. Ali, and Hatem Aly

Cyril and Pat  by Emily Gravett

2020 Winner: Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings

2020 Honors:

Up in the Leaves: The True Story of the Central Park Treehouses by Shira Boss and Jamey Christoph

My Pillow Keeps Moving by Laura Gehl and Christopher Weyant

Other Nominated Books:

Inky's Amazing Escape :How a Very Smart Octopus Found His Way Home by Sy Montgomery and Amy Schimler-Safford

Girl Running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon by Annette Bay Pimental and Micha Archer

The Very Last Castle  by Travis Jonker and Mark Pett

I Need All Of It  by Petra Postert and Jens Rassmus

Found  by Jeff Newman and Larry Day

Geraldine   by Elizabeth Lilly

Julian Is A Mermaid   by Jessica Love

 2019 Winner: Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating and Marta Álvarez Miguéns

2019 Honors:

The Catawampus Cat by Jason Carter Eaton and Gus Gordon

Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari and Patrice Barton

Other Nominated Books:

There Might Be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi and Laurel Molk 

Stay: A Girl, A Dog, A Bucket List by Kate Klise and M. Sarah Klise

The Boy and the Whale by Mordicai Gerstein

Baabwaa and Wooliam by David Elliott and Melissa Sweet

When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge and Matt James

Thirsty, Thirsty Elephants by Sandra Markle and Fabricio VandenBroeck

Sarabella's Thinking Cap by Judy Schachner

 2018 Winner: Memoirs of a Parrot by Devin Scillian and Tim Bowers

2018 Honors:

Nanette's Bagette by Mo Willems

Hammer and Nails by Josh Bledsoe

Other Nominated Books:

The Branch by Mireille Messier and Pierre Pratt

Dear Dragon by Josh Funk and Rodolfo Montalvo

Good Trick Walking Stick by Sheri M. Bestor and Jonny Lambert

A Hat For Mrs. Goldman by Michelle Edwards and G. Brian Karas

Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell

Water Princess by Susan Verde and George Badel

Whoosh by Chris Barton and Don Tate

 2017 Winner: Land Shark by Beth Ferry and Ben Mantle

2017 Honors:

Hippos Are Huge by Jonathan London

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Other Nominated Books:

Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle

Emmanuel's Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson and Sean Qualls

Float by Daniel Miyares

Henry Holton Takes the Ice by Sandra Bradley

I'm New Here by Ann Sibley O'Brien

A Lucky Author Has A Dog by Mary Lyn Ray and Henry Steven

2016 Winner: Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas by Lynne Cox and Brian Floca

2016 Honors:

Blizzard by John Rocco

Dragon's Extraordinary Egg by Debi Gliori

Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate 

A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz

Other Nominated Books:

Going Places by Peter H. Reynolds

The Highest Number in the World by Roy MacGregor

Who Was Here? by Mia Posada

Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin by Chieri Uegaki

Firefly July  selected by Paul B. Janeczko

2015 Winner: Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santat

2015 Honors:

Exclamation Mark! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

Miracle Mud by David A. Kelly

Other Nominated Books:

Foxy! by Jessica Souhami

A Funny Little Bird by Jennifer Yerxes

King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan and Christiane Kromer

The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson and Dusan Petricic

Rabbit’s Snow Dance by James and Joseph Bruchac and Jeff Newman

A Splash of Red by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone and Marjorie Priceman

2014 Winner: Jangles: a BIG Fish Story by David Shannon

2014 Honors:

Too Tall Houses by Gianna Marino

Mrs. Harkness and the Panda by Alicia Potter

Other Nominated Books:

Randy Riley's Really Big Hit by Chris Van Dusen

Black Dog by Levi Pinfold

Lost and Found by Bill Harley

The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas by Tony Wilson

Step Gently Out by Helen Frost

Infinity and Me by Kate Hosford

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

2013 Winner: Won Ton Ton: a Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw and Eugene Yelchin

2013 Honors:

Monkey: a Trickster Tale from India by Gerald McDermott

Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David Macintosh

Other Nominated Books:

Nothing Like a Puffin by Sue Soltis

The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter

Perfect Square by Michael Hall

White Water by Michael S. Bandy

All the Way to America: the Story of a Big Italian Family by Dan Yaccarino

Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman

It's Snowing! by Gail Gibbons

2012 Winner: Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

2012 Honors:

Pierre the Penguin by Jean Marzollo

Calvin Can't Fly by Jennifer Berne

Other Nominated Books:

Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan

Mirror, Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse by Marilyn Singer

A Pig Parade is a Terrible Idea by Michael Ian Black and Kevin Hawkes

Goal! by Mina Javaherbin

Clever Jack Takes the Cake by Candace Fleming

Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds

Fly Free! by Roseanne Thong

2011 Winner: The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen

2011 Honors:

Lousy Rotten Stinkin' Grapes by Margie Palatini

Tsunami by Kimiko Kajikawa

Other Nominated Books:

Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler

The Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen and Irene Luxbacher

Hurry Up and Slow Down by Layn Marlow

Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson

My Name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn Williams

An Eye for Color by Natasha Wing

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart

2010 Winner: The Wolves Are Back by Jean Craighead George

2010 Honors:

Little Bit Scary People by Emily Jenkins

Turtle's Penguin Day by Valeri Gorbachev

Other Nominated Books:

Building Manhattan by Laura Vila

Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger

Manfish by Jennifer Berne

Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater   

Ten Things I Can Do to Save the World by Melanie Walsh

Wangari's Trees of Peace by Jeannette Winter

On the Farm by David Elliott

2009 Winner: My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks by Hanoch Piven    

2009 Honors:

Bob and Otto by Nick Bruel

The End by David LaRochelle and Richard Eglieski

Other Nominated Books:

A Day in the Salt Marsh by Kevin Kurtz and Consie Powell

Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman and Julie Paschkis

Hiromi's Hands by Lynne Barasch

Rabbit's Gift by George Shannon and Laura Dronzek

A Second is a Hiccup by Hazel Hutchins

Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison and Kevin Hawkes

White Owl, Barn Owl by Nicola Davies and Michael Foreman

2008 Winner: Aliens Are Coming! by Meghan McCarthy        

2008 Honors:

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills

Bats at the Beach by Brian Lies   

Other Nominated Books:

Butterfly Eyes by Joyce Sidman

An Egg is Quiet by Diana Hutts Aston

Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen

Pop's Bridge by Eve Bunting

Probuditi by Chris Van Allsburg

Small Beauties by Elvira Woodruff

Tunjur! Tunjur! Tunjur! by Margaret Read MacDonald

2007 Winner: The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

2007 Honors:

Badly Drawn Dog by Emma Dodson

I See a Kookaburra by Robin Page and Steve Jenkins

Other Nominated Books:

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster

Just Add One Chinese Sister by Patricia McMahon and Conor McCarthy

The Trouble with Henry: A Tale of Walden Pond by Deborah O'Neal and Angela Westengard Bebop Express by H. L. Panahi

Thanks to the Animals by Allen Sockabasin and Rebekah Raye

Carmine: A Little More Red by Melissa Sweet

2006 Winner: Jungle Drums by Graeme Base  

2006 Honors:

I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufmann Orloff and David Catrow

Mighty Jackie: The Strike-Out Queen by Marissa Moss and C.F. Payne     

Other Nominated Books:

Over the Ocean in a Coral Reef  by Marianne Berkes

Animal Tracks: Wild Poems to Read Aloud by Charles Ghigna

WOW! CITY! by Robert Neubecker

If Not for the Cat by Jack Prelutsky

Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing by James Rumford

The Giant and the Beanstalk by Diane Stanley