Projects and Awards

International projects

Special Announcement from the Luboto Library Project
The World Bank will honor this project in a ceremony on February 2, 2010 in Washington DC. For more information, read the information flyer.

Opportunuties to Help

USBBY is involved in various special projects in support of books and reading in countries around the world including Haiti, Lebanon, and Indonesia.

Hans Christian Andersen Medal

Frequently referred to as the "Little Nobel Prize," the Hans Christian Andersen Medal is awarded biennially to the "living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children's literature." The nominations are made by the National Sections of IBBY and the recipients are selected by a distinguished international jury of children's literature specialists.

Past US winners of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal are:
1962 - Meindert DeJong (Author)
1970 - Maurice Sendak (Illustrator)
1972 - Scott O'Dell (Author)
1978 - Paula Fox (Author)
1992 - Virginia Hamilton (Author)
1998 - Katherine Paterson (Author)

Download a complete list of US and International nominees and winners from 1956 to the present.

U.S Nominees for 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Awards Announced

Walter Dean Myers and Eric Carle are the U.S nominees for the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Awards. For complete information, read the press release.

2008 Hans Christian Andersen Medal Award Winner Announced

On March 31, 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Jury chair, Zohreh Ghaeni, announced the winners and finalists for the 2008 Author and Illustrator Awards. Jürg Schubiger (Switzerland) was named the winner of the 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Author Award and Roberto Innocenti (Italy) the winner of the 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration.


Roberto Innocenti (2008 Andersen winner for illustration), Peter Sis and Jürg Schubiger (2008 Andersen winner for writing) at the 2008 Andersen awards ceremony.
Jürg Schubiger of Switzerland,
2008 Andersen winner for writing,
presents his acceptance speech.

Roberto Innocenti of Italy, 2008 Andersen winner for illustration, receives his award from Denmark's Queen Margrethe II. 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Jury chair, Zohreh Ghaeni, is in the center.
Roberto Innocenti of Italy, 2008 Andersen winner for illustration, presents his acceptance speech.

According to the IBBY press release, "Schubiger was selected from 30 authors nominated for the award. The other finalists (in alphabetical order) were Bartolomeu Campos de Queirós (Brazil), Brian Doyle (Canada), Guus Kuijer (Netherlands) and David Almond (UK). Innocenti was selected from 30 illustrators nominated. The other finalists (in alphabetical order) were Isol Misenta (Argentina), Svjetlan Junakóvic (Croatia), Adolf Born (Czech Republic) and David Wiesner (USA)."

We owe a debt of gratitude to Junko Yokota, Hans Christian Andersen juror, and the USBBY Hans Christian Andersen Award Committee who selected our nominees, author Lloyd Alexander and illustrator David Wiesner. The USBBY committee chair for 2007-2008 was Sharon Deeds, Decatur, GA. Committee members included Julie Cummins, Canandaigua, NY; Christina M. Desai, Carbondale, IL; Susan Golden, Boone, NC; Jennifer Smith, Highland Heights, KY; Sylvia Vardell, Grand Prairie, TX. Thank you for your great work.


The United States contingent to the 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Award ceremonies

For more details on the 2008 winners, visit the IBBY web site

For more information, see IBBY's Hans Christian Andersen Awards page.

Bridge to Understanding Award

The Bridge to Understanding Award formally acknowledges the work of adults who use books to promote international understanding among children. This prestigious award was established in memory of Arlene Pillar, an educator who served USBBY as newsletter editor from 1984 until her untimely death in 1990. Organizations eligible for this award include schools, libraries, scout troops, clubs and bookstores. The program may be a one-time event or an ongoing series that serves children ranging in age from kindergarten through tenth grade. The award carries a monetary prize of $1000 and a certificate.

Click here for more information and application

IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award

The IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award was established in 1986 during the IBBY Congress in Tokyo. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper company sponsors the Award. It is given biennially to two groups or institutions whose outstanding activities are judged to be making a lasting contribution to reading promotion programmes for children and young people. The nominations are submitted by the National Sections of IBBY and may include projects from any part of the world. The jury consists of members of the IBBY Executive Committee. The prize of US$ 10,000 and a diploma is presented to the winners at the biennial IBBY Congress.

2008 IBBY Asahi Reading Promotion Award Winners

U.S. contributions to IBBY Honour List

The IBBY Honour List is a biennial selection of outstanding, recently published books that honors writers, illustrators, and translators of books for young people from all around the world. USBBY contributes a select set of books published in the United States for this international list.

Astrid Lindgren Award U.S. nominees

To honor the memory of author Astrid Lindgren and promote children´s and youth literature around the world, the Swedish government founded an international prize in her name: The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. The award, of five million Swedish Kronor (crowns), is the world´s largest for children´s and youth literature, and the second-largest literature prize in the world. Storytellers, authors, illustrators and other individuals or organizations that make valuable contributions to the promotion of reading are eligible. USBBY member, Katherine Paterson was the 2006 recipient.

USBBY's nominees for the 2010 award are:

US candidates nominated by other organizations include:

See the complete list of nominees