The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are given annually to outstanding African American authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults that demonstrate an appreciation of African American culture and universal human values. The award commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and honors his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace and world brotherhood.
Here are the winners from 2010 to 2019. How many have you read?
2010
Author Award
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson for Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal
Illustrator Award
Charles R. Smith, Jr. for My People by Langston Hughes
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Kekla Magoon for The Rock and the River
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
No award presented
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement (inaugural year!)
Walter Dean Myers, author
2011
Author Award
Rita Williams-Garcia for One Crazy Summer
Illustrator Award
Bryan Collier for Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave by Laban Carrick Hill
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon for Zora and Me
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
Sonia Lynn Sadler for Seeds of Change by Jen Cullerton Johnson
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Dr. Henrietta Mays Smith, professor emerita at the University of South Florida, Tampa, School of Library and Information Science
2012
Author Award
Kadir Nelson for Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
Illustrator Award
Shane W. Evans, author and illustrator of Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
No award presented
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
No award presented
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Ashley Bryan, storyteller, artist, author, poet, and musician
2013
Author Award
Andrea Davis Pinkney, author of Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America
Illustrator Award
Bryan Collier for I, Too, Am America by Langston Hughes
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
No award presented
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
No award presented
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Demetria Tucker, Family and youth services librarian for the Pearl Bailey Library, a branch of the Newport News (Va.) Public Library System
2014
Author Award
Rita Williams-Garcia for P.S. Be Eleven
Illustrator Award
Bryan Collier for Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me by Daniel Beaty
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
No award presented
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
Theodore Taylor III for When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Patricia and Frederick McKissack, award-winning authors of books for children and young adults
2015
Author Award
Jacqueline Woodson for Brown Girl Dreaming
Illustrator Award
Christopher Myers for Firebird by Misty Copeland
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Jason Reynolds for When I Was the Greatest
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
No award presented
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Deborah D. Taylor, coordinator of School and Student Services, Enoch Pratt Free Library
2016
Author Award
Rita Williams-Garcia for Gone Crazy in Alabama
Illustrator Award
Bryan Collier for Trombone Shorty by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Bill Taylor
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Ronald L. Smith for Hoodoo
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
Ekua Holmes for Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Jerry Pinkney, accomplished artist and illustrator
2017
Author Award
Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin for March: Book Three
Illustrator Award
Javaka Steptoe, illustrator and author of Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Nicola Yoon for The Sun is Also a Star
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, influential writer, speaker, and teacher
2018
Author Award
Renée Watson for Piecing Me Together
Illustrator Award
Ekua Holmes for Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
David Barclay Moore for The Stars Beneath Our Feet
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
Charly Palmer for Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song by Kathryn Erskine
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Eloise Greenfield, poet and author
2019
Author Award
Claire Hartfield for A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919
Illustrator Award
Ekua Holmes for The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Tiffany D. Jackon for Monday's Not Coming
John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
Oge Mora, illustrator and author of Thank You, Omu
Coretta Scott King – Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Dr. Pauletta Bracy, Professor of Library Science and Director of the Office of University Accreditation at North Carolina Central University (NCCU)
Coretta Scott King Award-winning books by decade:
