Start nominating books for the 2019-2020 awards!

It's time to start nominating your favorite picture books and junior books for the 2019-2020 North Carolina Children's Book Awards.  Nominations are generated by the children of North Carolina.  Teachers and librarians may help children enter their nominations or do it for them, but no teacher or librarian should enter their own favorites.  That's what makes this award so special - the books are nominated by kids and then voted on by kids to get to the top two books of the year!  Click on the following link or go to the "Nominate" page on the bar above or in the panel to the left.



Barbara O'Connor, Jory John and Bob Shea Accept 2018 awards

Congratulations to our 2018 award winners!  Barbara O'Connor was able to accept her award in person at the North Carolina School Library Media Association's annual conference on October 4th.  Ms. O'Connor won the Junior Book award for Wish.

Barbara O'Connor with co-chair Lisa England (2018 Media Coordinator of the Year!)

Barbara O'Connor (center) with committee members Lisa Denning, Wendy Moorehead, Deb Schultz-Fidali, and Lisa England



Picture Book award winners Jory John (author) and Bob Shea (illustrator) of Quit Calling Me a Monster were not able to attend the conference but each submitted an acceptance video which you can watch from the links below.


Bob Shea's acceptance video

Jory John's acceptance video

Bob Shea also created a special painting of his character from Quit Calling Me a Monster, Floyd Peterson, and donated it to NCSLMA as a give-away at the conference.  The lucky winner is pictured below with Mr. Peterson.


Don't forget that we will start to collect nominations for the 2020 award on November 1 (which is just around the corner!)  The nominations link will be open through the end of March 2019 so get your students thinking about their favorite books published since 2016!

2019 Activity Booklet

The 2019 NCCBA Activity Booklet is ready!  It contains all of the information you need to participate in the North Carolina Children's Book Award as well as activities to help you share all of the books with your students or patrons.

2019 Activity Booklet

Seals to place on the front of the 2018 winning books are available from NCCBA co-chair, Lisa England at a cost of $0.25 each.  Please make checks payable to NCSLMA and mail to Lisa England, Frank Morgan Elementary School, 3210 Village Point Drive, Clemmons, NC 27102.  Purchase orders or email requests are also accepted.


Thank you for supporting the North Carolina Children's Book Award!

2018-19 Picture Book and Junior Book Nominees

We are very pleased to announce the nominees for the 2018-2019 North Carolina Children's Book Awards. 

Picture Books

Junior Books
  • After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again
    Santat, Dan. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2017.


  • A Perfect Day
    Smith, Lane. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2016.


  • The Bad Seed
    John, Jory. Illustrated by Pete Oswald. New York: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2017.


  • Love
    de la Peña, Matt. Illustrated by Loren Long. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2018.


  • Malala's Magic Pencil
    Yousafzai, Malala. Illustrated by Kerascoët. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2017.


  • Nerdy Birdy Tweets
    Reynolds, Aaron. Illustrated by Matt Davies. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2017.


  • Plants Can't Sit Still
    Hirsch, Rebecca. Illustrated by Mia Posada. Minneapolis: Millbrook Press, 2016.


  • Read the Book, Lemmings!
    Dyckman, Ame. Illustrated by Zachariah OHora. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2017.


  • Super Manny Stands Up!
    DiPucchio, Kelly. Illustrated by Stephanie Graegin. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2017.


  • Trombone Shorty
    Andrews, Troy. Illustrated by Bryan Collier. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2015.
  • Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion
    Barton, Chris. Illustrated by Victo Ngai. Minneapolis: Millbrook Press, 2017.


  • The First Rule of Punk
    Pérez, Celia C..  New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2017.


  • How This Book Was Made: Based on a True Story
    Barnett, Mac. Illustrated by Adam Rex. Los Angeles: Disney Hyperion, 2016.


  • I'm Just No Good at Rhyming, and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grownups
    Harris, Chris. Illustrated by Lane Smith. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2017.


  • The Parker Inheritance
    Johnson, Varian. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2018.


  • Refugee
    Gratz, Alan. New York: Scholastic Press, 2017.


  • Waylon! One Awesome Thing
    Pennypacker, Sara. Los Angeles: Disney-Hyperion, 2016.


  • Wishtree
    Applegate, Katherine. New York: Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC, 2017.

2018 Picture Book and Junior Book Winners

The children of North Carolina have spoken! The North Carolina Children's Book Award Committee is proud to announce the winning titles for 2018!

Quit Calling Me a Monster!, written by Jory John and illustrated by Bob Shea, is the winner of the picture book category with 13,905 votes.



Wish, written by Barbara O'Connor, is the winner of the junior book category with 2,051 votes.





Children across North Carolina have been voting since March 1st in their schools and in the public libraries. Thank you to everyone who participated this year! If you have not been involved in this wonderful program that gives children a voice, we would love to have you join us next year.  To see the voting summary for this year's awards, please go to the 2018 Results and Materials page.


New titles for the 2019 contest will be released mid-May!




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