The Grade School Library is lucky to have a large collection of classic children’s literature, however there are also many recently published titles we are excited to recommend to students. The AWS Children’s Choice Awards program was established in 2010 to highlight the best of contemporary writing for children.
Each year, a committee of parents, faculty, and staff read a large number of new children’s books with the goal of choosing the two most outstanding titles per grade level. Those selections are announced each spring. Students who read both titles over the summer can vote on their silver and gold medal choices when school begins again in the fall. The Awards program has been a wonderful way to stimulate conversations around books, keep students excited about and invested in reading, and expand the diversity of the library collection.
Awards
2010
Gold Medal: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon; Grace Lin
Silver Medals: Linnets and Valerians; Elizabeth Goudge // Tumtum and Nutmeg; Emily Bearn
2011
Gold Medal: The Wind Boy; Ethel Cook Eliot
Silver Medals: Comet in Moominland; Tove Jansson // The Naming of Tishkin Silk; Glenda Millard
At this point we began announcing a winner of the committee’s choice. We look for a read aloud book with language that is both a pleasure to read aloud and enjoyable for the whole family. That kind of book doesn’t come along often.
2012
The Wind in the Willows; Kenneth Grahame
2013
Peter Pan; J. M. Barrie
2014
Tal: His Marvelous Adventures with Noom-Zor-Noom; Paul F. Cooper
2015
A Bear Called Paddington; Michael Bond
2016
Winnie the Pooh and the House at Pooh Corner; A.A. Milne
2017
When the Sea Turned to Silver; Grace Lin
2018
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; L. Frank Baum
2019
The Reluctant Dragon; Kenneth Grahame
2020
Dominic; William Steig
2021
Monster and Boy; Hannah Barnaby
Skunk and Badger; Amy Timberlake
2010
Gold Medal: Fortune’s Magic Farm; Suzanne Selfors
Silver Medals: The Magician’s Elephant; Kate DiCAmillo // Mudshark; Gary Paulsen // Girl; Patricia Reilly Giff Wild
2011
Gold Medal: White Crane; Sandy Fussell
Silver Medal: Little Joe; Sandra Neil Wallace
2012
Gold Medal: Bless this Mouse; Lois Lowry
Silver Medal: Waiting for the Magic; Patricia MacLachlan
2013
Gold Medal: Little Dog, Lost, Marion Dane Bauer
Silver Medals: Chickadee, Louise Erdrich // Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot, Anna Branford
2014
Gold Medal: The Mouse with the Question Mark Tail; Richard Peck
Silver Medal: The Year of Billy Miller; Kevin Henkes
2015
Gold Medal: The Turtle of Oman; Naomi Shihab Nye
Silver Medal: Leroy Ninker Saddles Up; Kate DiCamillo
2016
Gold Medal: Ms. Rapscott’s Girls; Elise Primavera
Silver Medal: Detective Gordon: The First Case; Ulf Nilsson
2017
Gold Medal: Making Mistakes on Purpose; Elise Primavera
Silver Medal: Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln; Kate DiCamillo
2018
Gold Medal: Ivy; Katherine Coville
Silver Medal: Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker; Shelley Johannes
2019
Gold Medal: Bob; Wendy Maas
Silver Medal: Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker: Incognito; Shelley Johannes
2020
Gold Medal: 3 Adventures on Deckawoo Drive; Kate DiCamillo
Silver Medal: Ivy and the Goblins; Katherine Coville
2021
Gold Medal: Jasmine Green Rescues: A Piglet Called Truffle; Helen Peters
Silver Medal: Stella Endicott and the Anything is Possible Poem; Kate DiCamillo
2022 Selections
Can You Whistle Johanna; Ulf Stark
Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey; Erin Entrada Kelly
2010
Gold Medal: Fortune’s Magic Farm; Suzanne Selfors
Silver Medals: The Magician’s Elephant; Kate DiCAmillo // Mudshark; Gary Paulsen // Wild Girl; Patricia Reilly Giff
2011
Gold Medal: White Crane; Sandy Fussell
Silver Medal: Little Joe; Sandra Neil Wallace
2012
Gold Medal: The Aviary; Kathleen O’Dell
Silver Medal: R My Name is Rachel; Patricia Reilly Giff
2013
Gold Medal: Fishtale; Hans Bauer & Catherine Masciola
Silver Medals: A Dog Called Homeless, Sarah Lean // Horten’s Miraculous Mechanisms, Lissa Evans
2014
Gold Medal: The Worm Whisperer; Betty Hicks
Silver Medal: Bo at Ballard Creek; Kirkpatrick Hill
2015
Gold Medal: Blue Mountain; Martine Leavitt
Silver Medal: Anybody Shining; Frances O’Rourke Dowell
2016
Gold Medal: Adventures with Waffles; Maria Parr
Silver Medal: Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer; Kelly Jones
2017
Gold Medal: Sweet Home Alaska; Carole Estby Dagg
Silver Medal: Waylon! One Awesome Thing; Sara Pennypacker
2018
Gold Medal: The Vandebeekers of 141st Street; Karina Yan Glaser
Silver Medal: The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart; Stephanie Burgis
2019
Gold Medal: Astrid the Unstoppable; Maria Parr
Silver Medal: The Vandebeekers and the Hidden Garden; Karina Yan Glaser
2020
Gold Medal: A Wolf Called Wander; Rosanne Parry
Silver Medal: The Library of Ever; Stephen Messer
2021
Gold Medal: Ragweed and Poppy; Avi
Silver Medal: Ways to Make Sunshine; Renee Watson
2022 Selections
Rez Dogs; Joseph Bruchac
Hatmakers; Tamzin Merchant
2010
Gold Medal: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma; Trenton Lee Stewart
Silver Medals: The Dragon of Two Hearts; Donald Samson // The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate; Jacqueline Kelly // A Faraway Island; Annika Thor
2011
Gold Medal: The Year Money Grew on Trees; Aaron Hawkins
Silver Medals: Moon Over Manifest; Clare Vanderpool // Touch Blue; Cynthia Lord
2012
Gold Medal: True (…sort of); Katherine Hannigan
Silver Medal: Will at the Battle of Gettysburg; Laurie Calkhoven
2013
Gold Medal: The Grave Robber’s Apprentice, Allen Stratton
Silver Medals: Summer of the Gypsy Moths, Sarah Pennypacker // The Vengekeep Prophecies, Brian Farrey
2014
Gold Medal: What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World; Henry Clark
Silver Medal: The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp; Kathi Appelt
2015
Gold Medal: Greenglass House; Kate Milford
Silver Medal: Rain Reign; Ann M. Martin
2016
Gold Medal: The Sign of the Cat; Lynne Jonell
Silver Medal: Circus Mirandus; Cassie Beasley
2017-Tie
Gold Medal: The Secret Keepers; Trenton Lee Stewart
Gold Medal: Tru & Nelle; G. Neri
2018
Gold Medal: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow; Jessica Townsend
Silver Medal: The World’s Greatest Detective; Caroline Carlson
2019
Gold Medal: The Collectors; Jacqueline West
Silver Medal: Louisiana’s Way Home; Kate DiCamillo
2020
Gold Medal: The Hippo at the End of the Hall; Helen Cooper
Silver Medal: Straw Into Gold; Hilary McKay
2021
Gold Medal: Music for Tigers; Michelle Kadarusman
Silver Medal: Becoming Muhammad Ali; Kwame Alexander and James Patterson
2022 Selections
The Beatryce Prophecy; Kate DiCamillo
How to Be Brave; Daisy May Johnson
2010
Gold Medal: The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner’s Dilemma; Trenton Lee Stewart
Silver Medals: The Dragon of Two Hearts; Donald Samson // The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate; Jacqueline Kelly // A Faraway Island; Annika Thor
2011
Gold Medal: The Year Money Grew on Trees; Aaron Hawkins
Silver Medals: Moon Over Manifest; Clare Vanderpool // Touch Blue; Cynthia Lord
2012
Gold Medal: Wonderstruck; Brian Selznick
Silver Medal: Inside Out and Back Again; Thanhha Lai
2013
Gold Medal: Wonder, R.J. Palacio
Silver Medals: Iron Hearted Violet, Kelly Barnhill // One Year in Coal Harbor, Polly Horvath
2014
Gold Medal: The Ugly One; Leanne S. Ellis
Silver Medal: Mister Orange; Truus Matti
2015
Gold Medal: The Luck Uglies; Paul Durham
Silver Medal: Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms; Katherine Rundell
2016
Gold Medal: Nooks and Crannies; Jessica Lawson
Silver Medal: The Great Good Summer; Liz Garton Scanlon
2017
Gold Medal: The Girl Who Drank the Moon; Kelly Barnhill
Silver Medal: Waiting for Augusta; Jessica Lawson
2018
Gold Medal: The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid; Colin Meloy
Silver Medal: Beyond the Bright Sea; Lauren Wolk
2019
Gold Medal: Bluecrowne; Kate Milford
Silver Medal: Finding Langston; Lesa Cline-Ransom
2020
Gold Medal: The Good Thieves; Katherine Rundell
Silver Medal: Pay Attention, Carter Jones; Gary D. Schmidt
2021
Gold Medal: When You Trap a Tiger; Tae Keller
Silver Medal: Before the Ever After; Jacqueline Woodson
2022 Selections
Being Clem; Lisa Cline-Ransome
Starfish; Lisa Fipps
2010
Gold Medal: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg; Rodman Philbrick
Silver Medals: The Death-Defying Pepper Roux; Geraldine McCaughrean // Peace, Locomotion; Jacqueline Woodson
2011
Gold Medal: Scrawl; Mark Shulman
Silver Medals: Scumble; Ingrid Law // The Crowfield Curse; Pat Walsh
2012
Gold Medal: The Apothecary; Maile Meloy
Silver Medal: Bluefish; Pat Schmatz
2013
Gold Medal: Shadow on the Mountain, Margi Preus
Silver Medal: The Mighty Miss Malone, Christopher Paul Curtis // What Came from the Stars, Gary D. Schmidt
2014
Gold Medal: Counting by 7s; Holly Goldberg Sloan
Silver Medal: Falcon in the Glass; Susan Fletcher
2015
Gold Medal: Under the Egg; Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Silver Medal: Brown Girl Dreaming; Jacquelline Woodson
2016
Gold Medal: The Seventh Most Important Thing; Shelley Pearsall
Silver Medal: The Thing About Jellyfish; Ali Benjamin
2017
Gold Medal: The Best Man; Richard Peck
Silver Medal: Ghost; Jason Reynolds
2018
Gold Medal: The Secret of Nightingale Wood; Lucy Strange
Silver Medal: Dragonfly Song; Wendy Orr
2019
Gold Medal: The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle; Leslie Connor
Silver Medal: The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge; MT Anderson
2020
Gold Medal: Other Words for Home; Jasmine Warga
Silver Medal: All the Greys on Greene Street; Laura Tucker
2021
Gold Medal: King and the Dragonflies; Kacen Callender
Silver Medal: One Last Shot; John David Anderson
2022 Selections
Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna; Alda P. Dobbs
Red, White and Whole; Rajani LaRocca
2010
Gold Medal: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg; Rodman Philbrick
Silver Medals: The Death-Defying Pepper Roux; Geraldine McCaughrean // Peace, Locomotion; Jacqueline Woodson
2011
Gold Medal: Scrawl; Mark Shulman
Silver Medals: Scumble; Ingrid Law // The Crowfield Curse; Pat Walsh
2012
Gold Medal: The Scorpio Races; Maggie Stiefvater
Silver Medal: Okay for Now; Gary Schmidt
2013
Gold Medal: Bomb, Steve Sheinkin
Silver Medals: Dodger, Terry Pratchett // Seraphina, Rachel Hartman
2014
Gold Medal: Navigating Early; Clare Vanderpool
Silver Medal: Ghost Hawk; Susan Cooper
2015
Gold Medal: Revolution; Deborah Wiles
Silver Medal: The Children of the King; Sonya Hartnett
2016
Gold Medal: The War that Saved My Life; Kimberley Brubaker Bradley
Silver Medal: The Marvels; Brian Selznick
2017-Tie
Gold Medal: The Inquisitor’s Tale; Adam Gidwitz
Gold Medal: Wolf Hollow; Lauren Wolf
2018
Gold Medal: The War I Finally Won; Kimberely Brubaker Bradley
Silver Medal: Felix YZ; Lisa Bunker
2019
Gold Medal: Nowhere Boy; Katherine Marsh
Silver Medal: Love to Everyone; Hilary McKay
2020
Gold Medal: Genesis Begins Again; Alicia D. Williams
Silver Medal: New Kid; Jerry Craft
2021
Gold Medal: Everything Sad is Untrue; Daniel Nayeri
Silver Medal: Fighting Words; Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
2022 Selections
The Swallows’ Flight; Hilary McKay
The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book; Kate Milford