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 2020
Middle/Secondary Winner
Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
by Ashley Bryan
Publication Date: Oct 15, 2019
List Price: $21.99
Format: Hardcover, 112 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9781534404908
Imprint: Atheneum
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Parent Company: KKR & Co. Inc.
Read a Description of Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace
From celebrated author and illustrator Ashley Bryan comes a deeply moving picture book memoir about serving in the segregated army during World War II, and how love and the pursuit of art sustained him. In May of 1942, at the age of eighteen, Ashley Bryan was drafted to fight in World War II. For the next three years, he would face the horrors of war as a black soldier in a segregated army. He endured the terrible lies white officers told about the black soldiers to isolate them from anyone who showed kindness—including each other. He received worse treatment than even Nazi POWs. He was assigned the grimmest, most horrific tasks, like burying fallen soldiers…but was told to remove the black soldiers first because the media didn’t want them in their newsreels. And he waited and wanted so desperately to go home, watching every white soldier get safe passage back to the United States before black soldiers were even a thought. For the next forty years, Ashley would keep his time in the war a secret. But now, he tells his story. The story of the kind people who supported him.
The story of the bright moments that guided him through the dark.
And the story of his passion for art that would save him time and time again. Filled with never-before-seen artwork and handwritten letters and diary entries, this illuminating and moving memoir by Newbery Honor-winning illustrator Ashley Bryan is both a lesson in history and a testament to hope.
Middle/Secondary Honor
Accused!: The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment
by Larry Dane Brimner
Publication Date: Oct 15, 2019
List Price: $18.99
Format: Hardcover, 192 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Young Adult
ISBN13: 9781629797755
Imprint: Calkins Creek
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Parent Company: Boyds Mills Press
Read a Description of Accused!: The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment
An ALSC Notable Children’s Book * A Kirkus Reviews Best Book * A Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People * Nominee for the 2021-2022 South Carolina Book Award This chilling and harrowing account tells the story of the Scottsboro Boys, nine African-American teenagers who, when riding the rails during the Great Depression, found their lives destroyed after two white women falsely accused them of rape. Award-winning author Larry Dane Brimner explains how it took more than eighty years for their wrongful convictions to be overturned. In 1931, nine teenagers were arrested as they traveled on a train through Scottsboro, Alabama. The youngest was thirteen, and all had been hoping to find something better at the end of their journey. But they never arrived. Instead, two white women falsely accused them of rape. The effects were catastrophic for the young men, who came to be known as the Scottsboro Boys. Being accused of raping a white woman in the Jim Crow south almost certainly meant death, either by a lynch mob or the electric chair. The Scottsboro boys found themselves facing one prejudiced trial after another, in one of the worst miscarriages of justice in U.S. history. They also faced a racist legal system, all-white juries, and the death penalty. Noted Sibert Medalist Larry Dane Brimner uncovers how the Scottsboro Boys spent years in Alabama’s prison system, enduring inhumane conditions and torture. The extensive back matter includes an author’s note, bibliography, index, and further resources and source notes.
Middle/Secondary Honor
This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality
by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy
Publication Date: Jan 08, 2019
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9781681198521
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Parent Company: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Read a Description of This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality
Recipient of a Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor
Winner of the 2019 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction
A NYPL Top Ten of 2019
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
Elementary Level Winner
The Undefeated
by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
- A Top 150 Children’s Book
- 11 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book 2020
- Kirkus Prize Finalist/Winner 2019
- Newbery Medal Winner or Honor 2020
- Caldecott Medal Winner or Honor 2020
Publication Date: Apr 02, 2019
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Picture Book
ISBN13: 9781328780966
Imprint: Versify
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Parent Company: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Read Our Review of The Undefeated
Read a Description of The Undefeated
The Newbery Award-winning author of THE CROSSOVER pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree.
Originally performed for ESPN’s The Undefeated, this poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest heroes. The text is also peppered with references to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others, offering deeper insights into the accomplishments of the past, while bringing stark attention to the endurance and spirit of those surviving and thriving in the present.
Elementary Level Honor
Todos Iguales / All Equal: Un Corrido de Lemon Grove / A Ballad of Lemon Grove
by Christy Hale
Publication Date: Aug 13, 2019
List Price: $19.95
Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Early Reader
ISBN13: 9780892394272
Imprint: Children’s Book Press
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Parent Company: Lee & Low Books
Read a Description of Todos Iguales / All Equal: Un Corrido de Lemon Grove / A Ballad of Lemon Grove
The empowering true story of the 1931 Lemon Grove Incident, in which Mexican families in southern California won the first Mexican American school desegregation case in US history.
Twelve-year-old Roberto lvarez loved school. He, his siblings, and neighbors attended the Lemon Grove School along with the Anglo children from nearby homes. The children studied and played together as equals.
In the summer of 1930, the Lemon Grove School Board decided to segregate the Mexican American students. The board claimed the children had a language handicap and needed to be Americanized. When the Mexican families learned of this plan, they refused to let their children enter the small, inferior school that had been erected. They formed neighborhood committee and sought legal help. Roberto, an excellent student who spoke English well, became the plaintiff in a suit filed by the Mexican families. On March 12, 1931, the case of Roberto lvarez v. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District was decided. The judge ruled in favor of the children’s right to equal education, ordering that Roberto and all the other Mexican American students be immediately reinstated in the Lemon Grove School.
The Lemon Grove Incident stands a major victory in the battle against school segregation, and a testament to the tenacity of an immigrant community and its fight for educational equality.
Elementary Level Honor
Carter Reads the Newspaper
by Deborah Hopkinson, Illustrated by Don Tate
Publication Date: Feb 01, 2019
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 36 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Early Reader
ISBN13: 9781561459346
Imprint: Peachtree Publishers
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Parent Company: Peachtree Publishers
Read a Description of Carter Reads the Newspaper
Essential Black History Reading
The first-ever picture book biography of Carter G. Woodson, the Father of Black History Month
Carter G. Woodson Book Award (Honor Book), NCSS
Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book
Top 10 Books for Kids ―New York Public Library
Best Children’s Books of the Year (Starred) ―Bank Street College of Education
“An important and inspiring tale well told.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“Carter G. Woodson didn’t just read history. He changed it.” As the father of Black History Month, he spent his life introducing others to the history of his people.
Carter G. Woodson was born to two formerly enslaved people ten years after the end of the Civil War. Though his father could not read, he believed in being an informed citizen, so Carter read the newspaper to him every day. As a teenager, Carter went to work in the coal mines, and there he met Oliver Jones, who did something important: he asked Carter not only to read to him and the other miners, but also research and find more information on the subjects that interested them.
“My interest in penetrating the past of my people was deepened,” Carter wrote. His journey would take him many more years, traveling around the world and transforming the way people thought about history.
From an award-winning team of author Deborah Hopkinson and illustrator Don Tate, this first-ever picture book biography of Carter G. Woodson emphasizes the importance of pursuing curiosity and encouraging a hunger for knowledge of stories and histories that have not been told.
Illustrations also feature brief biological sketches of important figures from African and African American history.