The Jane Addams Children's Book Award is given annually to a children's book published the preceding year that advances the causes of peace and social equality. The awards have been presented annually since 1953. They were previously given jointly by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and the Jane Addams Peace Association, but are now presented solely by the Jane Addams Peace Association.
History The Jane Addams Children's Book Award was originally awarded to one book per year without categories. A Picture Book category was added in 1993; the award is currently given to two books annually, one for older children and one for younger children. In 2003, the time of year the award is given changed from September, honoring Jane Addams' birthday, to April, honoring the WILPF's birthday.
In the sixty-plus years of the award's history, there has been one public controversy over the selection of its winner. In 1970, the award was given to The Cay by Theodore Taylor, a book which became highly criticized in the years since its publication. In 1974, the current award chair, who was not the chair at the time the award was given to The Cay, publicly stated that she thought it was a mistake to have named The Cay an Addams Award winner. In response, Taylor, who saw the work as "a subtle plea for better race relations and more understanding", returned the Award "by choice, not in anger, but with troubling questions". In later years, Taylor reported that the Award had been rescinded. Even though The Cay remains on the list of Addams Award winners, Taylor's claim is widely thought to be true and has become a part of reading and discussing the book with young people today.
Recipients Between 1953 and 1992, only one award was presented per year, after which categories were added. +Award recipients, 1953–1992YearBookAuthorIllustratorResult1953People Are Important—Winner1954Stick-in-the-Mud—Winner1955Rainbow Round the World—Winner1956Story of the Negro—Winner1957Blue Mystery—Winner1958—Winner1959No Award Given1960Champions of Peace—Winner1961What Then, Raman?—Winner1962—Winner1963—Winner1964Profiles in Courage: Young Readers Memorial Edition—Winner1965Meeting with a Stranger—Winner1966Berries Goodman—Winner1967Queenie Peavy—Winner1968Little Fishes—Winner1969—Winner1970—Winner1971Jane Addams: Pioneer of Social Justice—Winner1972—Winner1973—Winner—Honor1974Nilda—Winner—HonorMen Against War—Honor—Honor1975—Winner and Bernard Cole—HonorMy Brother Sam Is Dead and Christopher Collier—HonorViva la Raza! and Enriqueta Longeaux y Vasquez—Honor1976Paul Robeson—WinnerDragonwings—HonorSong of the Trees—HonorZ for Zachariah—Honor1977Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust—WinnerRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cry—Honor1978Child of the Owl—WinnerAlan and Naomi—HonorMischling, Second Degree—HonorAmifika—Special Recognition—Special Recognition1979Many Smokes, Many Moons: A Chronology of American Indian History through Indian Art—WinnerEscape to Freedom—Honor—Honor1980—WinnerWoman from Hiroshima—West Coast HonorNatural History—Special Recognition1981First Woman in Congress: Jeannette Rankin—WinnerChase Me, Catch Nobody!—HonorDoing Time: A Look at Crime and Prisons and Robert Lehrman—HonorWe Are Mesquakie, We Are One—Honor1982—WinnerLet the Circle Be Unbroken—HonorLupita Mañana—Honor1983Hiroshima No Pika—Winner—HonorIf I Had a Paka: Poems in Eleven LanguagesHonorPeople at the Edge of the World: The Ohlone of Central California—West Coast HonorAll the Colors of the Race—Special RecognitionChildren as Teachers of PeaceOur Children—Special Recognition1984Rain of Fire—Winner1985, translated by Hedvig Pachter—Winner, translated by Hillel Halkin—HonorMusic, Music for EveryoneHonor1986Ain't Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America's Peace Seekers—WinnerJourney to the Soviet Union—Honor1987Nobody Wants a Nuclear War—WinnerAll in a DayHonorChildren of the Maya: A Guatemalan Indian Odyssey (photographs)Honor1988Waiting for the Rain: A Novel of South Africa—WinnerNicolas, Where Have You Been?HonorTrouble at the MinesHonor1989Anthony Burns: The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave—WinnerLooking Out—WinnerDecember Stillness—HonorHonorRescue: The Story of How Gentiles Saved Jews in the Holocaust—Honor1990 and Fredrick McKissack—WinnerNumber the Stars—HonorShades of Gray—HonorHonor1991 and Marilyn Sachs—Winner—Honor—Honor1992Journey of the Sparrows—WinnerNow Is Your Time! The African-American Struggle for Freedom—Honor Starting in 1992, the award was separated into categories. From 1993 to 2005, there were two categories: Picture Book and Book for Older Children. Starting in 2005, the Picture Book categories was renamed as "Book for Younger Children". In 2024, both categories were renamed; "Book for Younger Children" became "Picture Book" again, and "Book for Older Children" became "Chapter Book".