Coretta Scott King Book Award Winners 1970 to Present

The Coretta Scott King Awards are presented annually by the American Library Association to honor African-American authors and illustrators who create outstanding books for children and young adults. “… an excellent start on your quest for the best in African-American literature for children.”

The CSK Book Awards seal and award names are owned by the American Library Association.

The award was established in 1969 to recognize authors. In 1979 it was expanded to include a separate award for illustrators. There are five categories of book awards; Author, Author Honor, Illustrator, Illustrator Honor, and the John Steptoe Award for New Talent.

These awards are given to commemorate the life and work of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her continuing efforts in working for peace and civil rights issues. In 2015 The Coretta Scott King Awards became part of the Youth Media Awards. Here is a printable list of all the award winning books.

You may learn more, about this award, at the American Library Association’s website. Also check out our list of Top 100+ Recommended African-American Children’s Books, some are also CSK Award winning titles.

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9 Coretta Scott King Award Winning and Honored Books for 1971

Author Award

Book Description: 

 

Author Honor

Book Description: 
Records the feelings of New York elementary school children toward the word "black."

Author Honor

Book Description: 
Here is the story of the birth of Jesus retold in the idiom of Liberians newly acquainted with the English language. To the storytellers of Liberia, Bible stories become poems, or spoken songs. So it is with this simple and tender version of the Nativity. Long out of print, this special picture book is available again to a new generation of readers.

Author Honor

Book Description: 
Potent and powerful poetry, including her hallmark poem "I am a Black Woman"

Author Honor

Book Description: 

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age–and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns about love for herself and the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a modern American classic that will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

Superbly told, with the poet's gift for language and observation, Angelou's autobiography of her childhood in Arkansas.

Author Honor

Book Description: 
When her grandmother is hurt in a fall, Mary Jo must get help to the remote farm where they live.

Author Honor

Book Description: 
Twenty-one outstanding black men and women illustrated the progress of black achievement from the 14th to the 20th century in widely different fields of endeavor. Included are Frederick Douglass, Mary McLeod Bethune, Daniel Hale Williams, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

Author Honor

Book Description: 
Twenty black and Puerto Rican children write their poetic impressions of growing up in the ghettos of America.

Author Honor

Book Description: 
Unbought and Unbossed is Shirley Chisholm’s account of her remarkable rise from young girl in Brooklyn to America’s first African-American Congresswoman. She shares how she took on an entrenched system, gave a public voice to millions, and sets the stage for her trailblazing bid to be the first woman and first African-American President of the United States. By daring to be herself, Shirley Chisholm shows us how she forever changed the status quo. This expanded edition, edited by Scott Simpson, digs deeper with analysis by experts like Donna Brazile and Shola Lynch exploring Shirley Chisholm’s impact on today and tomorrow’s world.