Carter G. Woodson Award Winning Books
As of 2001 awards and honors are given in the following categories, Elementary (K-6), Middle (5-8), and Secondary (7-12) grade level books.
Carter G. Woodson Seal
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) established the Carter G. Woodson Book Awards for the most distinguished books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States. First presented in 1974, this award is intended to “encourage the writing, publishing, and dissemination of outstanding social studies books for young readers that treat topics related to ethnic minorities and race relations sensitively and accurately.” Books relating to ethnic minorities and the authors of such books rarely receive the recognition they merit from professional organizations. By sponsoring the Carter G. Woodson Awards, NCSS gives wide recognition to and encourages these authors and publishers. Here is a printable list of all the award winning books. Learn more at NCSS’s website.
Also check out our list of Top 100+ Recommended African-American Children’s Books, some are also CSK Award winning titles.
6 Award Winning and Honored Books for 1994
Secondary Level Winner
The March on Washington
by James Haskins
Publication Date: Jan 01, 1993
List Price: $15.00
Format: Hardcover, 144 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9780060212896
Imprint: Harpercollins Childrens Books
Publisher: HarperCollins
Parent Company: News Corp
Read a Description of The March on Washington
Award-winning author James Haskins turns his attention to the historic March on Washington in this timely look at one of the pivotal events of the Civil Rights movement. Haskins skillfully traces the history of the movement and details the planning, progression, and outcome of that momentous march. (HarperCollins)
Outstanding Merit
Sequoyah’s Gift: A Portrait of the Cherokee Leader
by Janet Klausner
Publication Date: Jun 01, 1993
List Price: $16.89
Format: Hardcover, 111 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9780060212360
Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
Publisher: HarperCollins
Parent Company: News Corp
Read a Description of Sequoyah’s Gift: A Portrait of the Cherokee Leader
Chronicles the life of the extraordinary nineteenth-century Cherokee leader who, recognizing the need for written record of Cherokee culture, created a system of writing for the Cherokee language.
Outstanding Merit
Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom (A Borzoi book)
by Virginia Hamilton
Publication Date: Jan 04, 1993
List Price: $18.00
Format: Hardcover, 151 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Young Adult
ISBN13: 9780394828732
Imprint: Alfred A. Knopf
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
Read a Description of Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom (A Borzoi book)
Illus. in black-and-white. In this companion volume to the award-winning The People Could Fly, Virginia Hamilton traces the history of slavery and the Underground Railroad in America. Thirty-five inspiring stories describe ingenious escapes, desperate measures, and daring protests of former slaves.
Outstanding Merit
The Great Migration: An American Story
by Jacob Lawrence
Publication Date: Oct 01, 1995
List Price: $19.30
Format: Hardcover, 48 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Picture Book
ISBN13: 9780780753488
Imprint: Perfection Learning
Publisher: Perfection Learning
Parent Company: Perfection Learning
Read a Description of The Great Migration: An American Story
Around the time of WWI, large numbers of African Americans began leaving their homes in the rural South in search of employment in the industrial cities of the North. In 1940, Lawrence chronicled their journey of hope in a flowing narrative sequence of paintings.This stirring picture book brings together the sixty panels of Lawrence’s epic narrative Migration series, which he created in 1940-1941. They tell of the journey of African-Americans who left their homes in the South around World War I and traveled in search of better lives in the northern industrial cities. Lawrence is a storyteller with words as well as pictures: his captions and introduction to this book are the best commentary on his work. A poem at the end by Walter Dean Myers also reveals [as do the paintings] the universal in the particulars. —BL. Notable Children’s Books of 1994 (ALA) 1993 Books for Youth Editors’ Choices (BL) 1994 Teachers’ Choices (IRA) Notable 1994 Childrens’ Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC) 1994 Carter G. Woodson Outstanding Merit Book (NCSS) 1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)
Outstanding Merit
Celebrating Kwanzaa
by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith
Publication Date: Sep 01, 1993
List Price: $17.95
Format: Hardcover, 32 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Picture Book
ISBN13: 9780823410484
Imprint: Holiday House
Publisher: Holiday House
Parent Company: Holiday House, Inc.
Read a Description of Celebrating Kwanzaa
Text and photographs depict how a Chicago family celebrates the African American holiday, Kwanzaa.
Elementary Award
Starting Home: The Story of Horace Pippin, Painter (African-American Artists and Artisans)
by Mary E. Lyons
Publication Date: Sep 01, 1993
List Price: $15.95
Format: Hardcover, 48 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Picture Book
ISBN13: 9780684195346
Imprint: Atheneum
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Parent Company: KKR & Co. Inc.
Read a Description of Starting Home: The Story of Horace Pippin, Painter (African-American Artists and Artisans)
A portrait of the life and work of this African-American painter examines the self-taught folk artist’s life, from his childhood, to his struggle to teach himself to paint, to his current acclaim as one of America’s foremost artists.