return to introductory screen Search DAWCL Developments Log Calendar of Awards
Instructions Explanation of Awards About Lisa R. Bartle

Copyright by Lisa R. Bartle 1997-2024

 

age of reader ethnicity genre languages publication year
author/illustrator/translator format historical period multicultural setting
awards gender keyword point of view  

Age of Reader:

Age of reader, or expected reader, is a way to limit out books that might be beyond the readers' reading level or emotional level.

These divisions are not meant to be written in stone.  An advanced child may read out of their age level, or a more reluctant reader may need a lower age book to encourage further reading.  All of these books are emotionally and literarily fulfilling, and ought to be read regardless of these categories, which are meant only as a guide.

Format:

The books are divided into seven formats: picture books, chapter books, easy readers, stories without words, verse novels, and graphic novels.  Picture books does not necessarily mean the book is meant for young children; there are quite a few picture books that I wouldn't give to a child less than ten years old, such as Hiroshima No Pika.

Setting:

There is a bias toward the United States because most of these books were published originally in the U.S. by American authors.  If you want a specific state or country, such as Florida or Turkey, then use the keyword search.

Genre:

There are a number of genres represented in the database, but the most frequent is one form of fiction or another.  Fiction is therefore divided into several sub-grouping. Below is a description of each genre grouping:

Abecedary (Alphabet)

Meant for young children to learn the alphabet. 

Animal tale

Any story where animals, plants, or inanimate objects play a large part, and behave anthropomorphically.

Art

How to make art or instructional material about art.

Autobiography

Memoirs and autobiographies of a life by the survivor of that life.

Biography

Biographies of historical figures.

Colors

Meant for young children to learn colors.

Counting

Meant for young children to learn numbers and counting.

Cumulative

For stories that build on themselves and repeat (Such as "The House that Jack Built").

Fantasy

A kind of fiction with fantastic settings, characters, and events.

Fiction

The largest group.  Incorporates the many kinds of fiction in the database including mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, realistic fiction, science fiction, folktales, horror, and general fiction.

Folktale

Anything that is mythical or  legendary, or is a fairy tale, falls into this genre.  Folktales may not be given a location, but are usually given the source ethnicity or nationality.  If only fairy tales are desired, use the keyword search.

Historical Fiction

Fiction set in a particular period, whose events and characters reflect that period, but may be only loosely related to historical events.

History

Reflecting what is considered history, dealing with historical events, people, or objects.
Horror Fiction that is frightening and inducing feelings of terror.

How-To

Books that instruct how to perform a specific task such as sign language or gardening.

Mathematics

More advanced than counting books, these try to make numbers and mathematics enjoyable.

Music

Books containing lyrics and music to songs.

Mystery

A kind of fiction. Consists of books that deal with supernatural phenomena, as well as books revolving around "whodunit."  Use the keyword search for more specific searches.
Non-Fiction Incorporates the many kinds of non-fiction in the database including science, social studies, history, geography, biography, autobiography, mathematics, and how-to.

Poetry

Poetry may be rhyming or not, and may include mother goose or blank verse by great poets. For more specific needs, use the keyword search.

Realistic Fiction

A gritty fiction dealing with serious issues for the older reader.   Examples include The Great Gilly Hopkins or What Jamie Saw.

Science

Books that cover the various life and physical sciences, such biology, physiology, physics, chemistry, and more. Combine with a keyword search on the specific science for a more exact search.

Science Fiction

Like fantasy in that they usually occur in incredible places, but they offer some kind of a pseudo-scientific explanation for the events.  Often occurs in the future.

Social Studies

Realistic, non-fiction meant to educate children about other cultures, people, and themselves.

Theater

Plays. There are currently only four items in this catagory from the represented awards.
Thriller Suspense is dominant in this type of story, including chases and mysteries, but not necessarily a whodunnit.

Historical Period:

Used for historical fiction and biographies, the divisions have a Eurocentric bias, as well as a bias toward United States history.  The divisions are meant to be guides for a broad area of time.  Some areas dealt with frequently deserved their own sub-division, such as Civil War being distinct from 19th-century.   You can do a keyword search on other centuries, such as the 16th Century.

Prehistoric Covering times before civilization.
Ancient Covering from about 3000 BCE - 500 CE.* 
Medieval Covering about 500 CE - 1500 CE. 
Renaissance Covering about 1500 CE - 1700 CE. 
17th Century Covering from 1600-1699 CE. 
American Revolution Covering the American Revolutionary War. 
18th Century Covering history from 1700 CE through 1799 CE including the American Revolution War.
American Civil War Covering the American Civil War (1861-1865). 
19th Century Covering history from 1800 CE through 1890 CE including the American Civil War.
Turn of the Century Covering about 1890 CE through 1914 CE 
World War I Covering about 1914 CE through 1929 CE, but most are directly related to the First World War.
1920s Covering about 1920 CE through 1929 CE, not usually related to World War I.
1930s Covering 1930 CE through 1939 CE.
Depression  Covering 1930 CE through 1945 CE, especially the great economic Depression world-wide.
1940s Covering 1940 CE through 1949 CE.
World War II Covering about 1942 CE through 1950 CE, but may go back earlier because the Second World War started earlier in European countries.
1950s Covering about 1950 CE through 1959 CE.
1960s Covering about 1960 CE through 1969 CE.
1970s Covering about 1970 CE through 1979 CE.
1980s Covering about 1980 CE through 1989 CE.
Contemporary Most useful for fiction. Usually covering about 1950 to present when the material seems to be contemporary or timeless when read, and does not have any specific years mentioned, or is about issues still current.  More specific times can be searched using the keyword search and the time period (1970s or 1980s).
20th Century Covering about 1900 CE through 1999 CE. Most useful for non-fiction books, such as biographies or histories.
21st Century Covering about 2000 CE - 2999 CE. Most useful for non-fiction books, such as biographies, histories, or books about specific events, such as the Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attack.
Future By definition these are almost always science fiction, usually utopias or dystopias.
*BCE means Before the Common Era; CE means the Common Era.    
  Used as substitute for BC and AD.

Multi-Cultural:

Including only those materials that show two cultures interacting, whether that interaction is positive or negative.  Yo Yes is one example, as is The Oxboy.  Because the database is so specific, other types of multi-culturalism may be accessed by searching for books set outside of the U.S., or using a specific nationality or ethnicity for the protagonist.

Ethnicity/Nationality of the Protagonist or Lore :

Biased in favor of those ethnicities found frequently in the United States.  If a more specific ethnicity is desired, use the keyword search. Lore is given an ethnicity/nationality as is the protagonist.  Ethnicity/Nationality is also used to reflect the country of origin for folktales.

Afghani  
African Set in Africa with African protagonist. Use a keyword search for specific countries.
Arab Separate because of numbers.
African-American Separate from African because of overwhelming numbers.
Asian Pacific Islander Includes Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Okinawan (Uchinanchu), Taiwanese, Tibetan, Carolinian, Chamorro, Chuukese, Fijian, Guamanian, Hawaiian, Kosraean, Marshallese, Hawaiian, Niuean, Palauan, Papua New Guinean, Pohnpeian, Samoan, Tokelauan, Tongan, Yapese (Only some of which are represented in the database.)
Australian Australian includes both Indigenous Australian as well as Australians of European or other descent. Do a keyword search for only Indigenous Australians.
Canadian Separate because of great numbers. Usually Canadian award-winning books are set in Canada about Canadians.
Chinese Separate because of great numbers.  Find Chinese-Americans by setting ethnicity to Chinese and location to United States. 
Cuban Separate because of numbers. Included with Hispanic.
Danes Separate because of numbers.
Dutch Separate because of numbers.
East Asian A group search for people from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, Mongolian, Tibet, and Cambodia. Combine with a keyword search to be specific.
East Indian Means people from India rather than Native Americans in North or South America.
Egyptian Separate because of numbers. 
English Separate because of numbers. 
Filipino Separate because of numbers. 
French Separate because of numbers. 
German Separate because of numbers. 
Greek Separate because of numbers. 
Hispanic Covering protagonists living in the United States, Mexico, Middle America, and South America. To find Hispanic-Americans, set the location to United States. 
Hungarian Separate because of numbers. 
Irish Separate because of numbers. 
Italian Separate because of numbers.
Japanese Separate because of numbers. Find Japanese-Americans by setting ethnicity to Japanese and location to United States.
Jewish Separate because of numbers.
Korean Separate because of numbers.
Mexican Separate because of numbers.
Middle Eastern Separate because of numbers. Includes Arab, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Egyptian, Georgian, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Jordanian, Kurdish, Palestinian, Somali, Syrian, Turkish, Yemeni
Native American Covers all indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere, whether North or South America. Combine with a keyword for more specific tribes such as Sioux or Maya.
New Zealander For New Zealanders from the old world or native Maori. Combine with keyword search to be specific.
Norwegian Separate because of numbers.
Pakistani Separate because of numbers.
Polish Separate because of numbers.
Polynesian Separate because of numbers.
Puerto Rican Separate because of numbers.
Russian Separate because of numbers.
Scottish Separate because of numbers.
South Asian Includes Bangladeshis, Bhutanese, East Indians, Maldivians, Napalese, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans
Swedish Separate because of numbers.
Syrian Separate because of numbers.
Vietnamese Separate because of numbers.
Welsh Separate because of numbers.
Other Includes all ethnicities or nationalities not included in the above, such as Albanian, Austrian, Bulgarian, Haitian, Jamaican, Cornish, Dutch, Hungarian, Israeli, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Tibetan, Turkish. Do a keyword search at access specific ethnicities or nationalities.

Gender:

Used to select the gender of the protagonist, without regard to the genre of the book.  Protagonist means the main character in fiction as well as non-fiction, such as biographies.

Languages Other Than English:

All of these books were written or translated into English. But sometimes books include a significant number of words from other languages in an effort to enhance the representation of the culture, to promote understanding of other languages and cultures, or to provide a comfort level for non-native speakers. Most often these books are in Spanish, but other languages sometimes appear.  The number of books of that language in the database appears in parentheses in the Language pull-down menu.

Publication Year:

May be used to limit the books to a year or span of years.

Keyword:

The Keyword search is for when highly specialized books are needed, such as books on Christmas or death. Words are automatically searched as a phrase. No Boolean ANDs or ORs will function in this field (Yet!). When searching, try to pluralize the nouns you are using:    search dogs rather than dog.

The keyword search can be used to find:

  1. More specific locations not found in the setting drop-down menu, such as U.S. state names, U.S. regions, or countries. To find U.S. regions, use the following codes in the keyword search:

    New England (USE): Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
    Northeast (USNE): Above and New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia
    Great Plains (USGP): Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota
    Midwest (USM): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin
    Northwest (USNW): Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming
    Southwest (USSW): Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah
    Pacific (USP): Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington
    South (USSo): Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
    Southeast (USSE): Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

  2. More specific ethnicities or nationalities not found in the drop-down menu, such as Aborigines
  3. Key phrase in the title of a book to find out what awards it has won
  4. Themes or subject matter of target stories
  5. More specific subject areas in science, such as biology or physics

Author/Illustrator/Translator:

The author/illustrator/translator search feature offers a way to search for the people who created/shaped the book. This will search these three fields. The best way to search is to use either the first name or the last name. As DAWCL is a small database, that should yield good results. You may try, however, to type in the last name with a comma then a space and the first name.

Awards:

The awards given are the sources for the books in the database.  As time goes by, I hope to add more sources that recognize quality children's books. To search the entire database leave the pull-down menu to "Search All Awards." Selecting a specific award will limit the search to that award only. To obtain a list of books which have won an award select the award and sort by publication year.  You may want to find out more about these awards.

In the results page(s), abbreviations are given to each of the awards.   The abbreviations are as follows:

 

1. AAAS United States flag AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books
2. AABA United States flag Arab American Book Award for Children/Young Adults
3. AABH United States flag Arab American Book Honor for Children/Young Adults
4. ABBL United States flag Amelia Bloomer Book List
5. ABBY United States flag American Booksellers Book of the Year Award
6. ACBA Australia's Flag  Australia Children's Book of the Year Award (Three categories in one.)
7. ACBH Australia's Flag Australia Children's Honor Book of the Year Award (Three categories in one.)
8. Aesop United States flag Aesop Prize
9. AFHG Canada's Flag Amelia Frances Howard Gibbon Illustrator Award
10. AIP United States flag American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award - Children
11. AIYH United States flag American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor
12. AIYL United States flag American Indian Youth Literature Award

13.

ALAN United States flag ALA Notable Books for Children
14. AmBA United States flag Americas Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature
15. AmBH United States flag Americas Book Honor for Children's and Young Adult Literature

16.

AMTB Canada's Flag Amy Mathers Teen Book Award
17. AMTF Canada's Flag Amy Mathers Teen Book Award Honor
18. ANA United States flag Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

19.

APALA United States flag Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Award for Literature
20. APALH United States flag Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Award for Literature, honor
21. Aurealis Australia's flag Aurealis Awards
22. BBB United States flag Best Books for Babies
23. BBYA United States flag Best Books for Young Adults (American Library Association)
24. BELA United States flag Notable Books of the English Language Arts
25. BGHBA United States flag Boston Globe-Horn Book Award
26. BGHBH United States flag Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors
27. BFYA United States flag Best Fiction for Young Adults
28. Bisto Ireland's flag Bisto Book of the Year
29. BSA United States flag Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel
30. BSGN United States flag Bram Stoker Award for Best Graphic Novel
31. BSBYA United States flag Book Sensense Book of the Year Award
32. BTP United Kingdom's Flag Booktrust Teenage Prize
33. CABA United States flag Children's Africana Book Award
34. CABH United States flag Children's Africana Book Honor
35. CarM United Kingdom's Flag Carnegie Medal
36. CarS United Kingdom's Flag Carnegie Medal Shortlist
37. CBIA Ireland's flag CBI Book of the Year Award
38. CBIH Ireland's flag CBI Book of the Year Honor
39. CGWA United States flag Carter G. Woodson Award
40. CGWH United States flag Carter G. Woodson Honor
41. CHA United States flag Charlotte Huck Award
42. CHH United States flag Charlotte Huck Honor
43. CLABYA Canada's Flag Canada Library Association Young Adult Canadian Book Award
44. CLABYC Canada's Flag Canada Library Association Book of the Year Award for Children
45. CalM United States flag Caldecott Medal
46. CalH United States flag Caldecott Honor
47. ChrisA United States flag Christopher Award
48. CRAA United States flag Comstock Read Aloud Book Award
49. CRAH United States flag Comstock Read Aloud Book Honor
50. CSKA United States flag Coretta Scott King Award
51. CSKH United States flag Coretta Scott King Honor
52. Cost United Kingdom's Flag Costa Book Award
53. CZA United States flag Charlotte Zolotow Award
54. CZH United States flag Charlotte Zolotow Honor
55. dBSBA United States flag de Bary Children's Science Book Award
56. DGA United States flag Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award
57. EAPJA United States flag Edgar Allan Poe Juvenile Award
58. EAPYA United States flag Edgar Allan Poe Young Adult Award
59. EBWA United States flag Elizabeth Burr / Worzalla Award
60. ELNA New Zealand's Flag Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction
61. EGA New Zealand's Flag Esther Glen Award
62. EPA Australia's Flag Eva Pownall Award
63. EPH Australia's Flag Eva Pownall Honor
64. ETP Australia's Flag Ethel Turner Prize
65. ETS Australia's Flag Ethel Turner Prize Shortlist
66. FSSA United States flag Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
67. GBA United States flag Giverny Book Award
68. GBHF Canada's Flag Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
69. GGF Canada's Flag Governor General's Literary Finalist
70. GGW Canada's Flag Governor General's Literary Award
71. GKA United States flag Golden Kite Award
72. GKH United States flag Golden Kite Honor
73. GLLI United States flag Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Book Prize
74. GLLH United States flag Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Book Honor
75. GryA United States flag Gryphon Award
76. GryH United States flag Gryphon Honor
77. GuardA United Kingdom's Flag Guardian Award for Children's Fiction
78. HBF United States flag Horn Book Fanfare
79. HMUA United States flag Horace Mann Upstanders Book Award
80. HMUH United States flag Horace Mann Upstanders Honor Book
81. ICYA United States flag Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the Year
82. IBGM United States flag Irma Black Gold Medal
83. IBSM United States flag Irma Black Silver Medal
84. JABA United States flag Jane Addams Book Award
85. JABH United States flag Jane Addams Book Award Honor
86. JBA United States flag John and Patricia Beatty Award
87. JFA United States flag Josette Frank Award
88. JSMA Canada's Flag John Spray Mystery Award
89. JSMF Canada's Flag John Spray Mystery Award Honor
90. KGM United Kingdom's Flag  Kate Greenaway Medal
91. KMA New Zealand's Flag Kurt Maschler Award
92. Lambda United States flag Lambda Literary Award for Children'/Young Adults
93. LBHA United States flag Lee Bennett Hopkins Award
94. LBHH United States flag Lee Bennett Hopkins Honor
95. Lewis United States flag Claudia Lewis Award
96. LYAA New Zealand's Flag LIANZA Young Adult Award
97. LWGNP United States flag Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize
98. LWGNH United States flag Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Honor
99. MMBY New Zealand's Flag Margaret Mahy Book of the Year
100. MBP Canada's Flag Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
101. MEBA United States flag Middle East Book Award
102. MEBH United States flag Middle East Book Honor
103. MFA United States flag Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature
104. MLBA United States flag Mildred L. Batchelder Award 
105. MLBH United States flag Mildred L. Batchelder Honor
106. MHA Canada's Flag Monica Hughes Award
107. MHF Canada's Flag Monica Hughes Award Finalist
108. MLPA United States flag Michael L. Printz Award
109. MLPH United States flag Michael L. Printz Honor
110. NBA United States flag National Book Award for Young People's Literature
111. NBF United States flag National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature
112. NBGS United States flag Notable Books for a Global Society
113. NFA Canada's Flag Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction
114. NM United States flag Newbery Medalist
115. NH United States flag Newbery Honor
116. NPR United States flag National Public Radio Book Concierge
117. NFBA United States flag

NCTA Freeman Book Award

118. NFHA United States flag  NCTA Freeman Honor Award
119. NSBP United States flag  Nestle Smarties Book Prize
120. NSSTB United States flag  Notable Social Studies Trade Books
121. NYTBI United States flag  New York Times Best Illustrated
122. NZBA New Zealand's Flag  New Zealand Book Award
123. OIB United States flag  Outstanding International Book List
124. OPA United States flag  Orbis Pictus Award
125. OPH United States flag  Orbis Pictus Honor
126. OSTB United States flag  Outstanding Science Trade Book Award
127. PBA United States flag   Pura Belpre Award
128. PBH United States flag   Pura Belpre Honor
129. PhA United States flag  Phoenix Award
130. PhH United States flag  Phoenix Honor
131. PMLA Australia's Flag  Prime Minister's Literary Awards
132. PWP Australia's Flag  Patricia Wrightson Prize
133. PWS Australia's Flag  Patricia Wrightson Prize Shortlist
134. RCA New Zealand's Flag  Russell Clark Award
135. RCYR United States flag  Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award
136. Rise United States flag  Rise: A Feminist Book Project
137. RSA Canada's Flag  Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award
138. RSYP United Kingdom's Flag  Royal Society Young People's Book Prize
139. RSYS United Kingdom's Flag  Royal Society Young People's Shortlist
140. RTT United States flag  RISE Top Ten list
141.  SABA United States flag  South Asian Book Award
142.  SABH United States flag  South Asian Honor Book
143.  SCBA United Kingdom's Flag  Septima Clark Book Award
144.  SCBH United States flag  Septima Clark Book Honor
145.  SIBA United States flag  Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award
146.  SIBH United States flag  Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor
147.  SFBA United States flag  Schneider Family Book Award
148.  SFBH United States flag  Schneider Family Honor Book Award
149.  SFHA United States flag  Sid Fleischman Humor Award
150.  SFHH United States flag  Sid Fleischman Humor Honor
151.  SODA United States flag  Scott O'Dell Award
152.  SpurA United States flag  Spur Award of the Western Writers of America
153.  SpurF United States flag  Spur Finalist of the Western Writers of America
154.  SSLI United States flag  Society of School Librarians International
155.  SSLH United States flag  Society of School Librarians International Honor Book
156.  STA United States flag  Sydney Taylor Award
157.  STEM United States flag  Best STEM Books
158.  STH United States flag  Sydney Taylor Honor
159.  StoneA United States flag  Stonewall Children & Young Adult Literature Award
160.  StoneH United States flag  Stonewall Children & Young Adult Literature Honor
161.  TVSB United States flag  Tennessee Volunteer State Book Award
162.  TBYA United States flag  Ten Best Books for Young Adults
163.  TDC Canada's Flag  TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
164.  TFYA United States flag  Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults
165.  TSGA United States flag  Theodore Seuss Geisel Award
166.  TSGH United States flag  Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor
167.  TRA United States flag  Tomas Rivera Mexican American Children's Book Award
168.  TRBL United States flag  Top Ten Rainbow Book List
169.  WBYA United Kingdom flag  Wales Book of the Year, Children & Young People (English language)
170.  WBYS United Kingdom flag  Wales Book of the Year Shortlist, Children & Young People (English language)
171.  WAWA United States flag  William Allen White Award
172.  WILL Canada's Flag  Willow Awards (SYRCA)
173.  WCBY United Kingdom's Flag  Whitbread Children's Book of the Year Award
174. WDMA United States flag  Walter Dean Myers Award
175.  WDMH United States flag  Walter Dean Myers Honor
176.  WGRA United States flag  Wanda Gag Read Aloud Book Award
177.  WGRH United States flag  Wanda Gag Read Aloud Book Honor
178.  WRAA United States flag  E. B. White Read-Aloud Award
179.  YAENA United States flag  YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award
180. YAENF United States flag  YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalists


Database of Award-Winning Children's Literature
http://www.dawcl.com