Coretta Scott King Awards

Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the Award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators.

2010 Author Award Winner
“Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal,” written by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, is the King Author Book winner. The book is illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, published by Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
Illustrator Award Winner
“My People,” illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr., is the King Illustrator Book winner. The book was written by Langston Hughes and published by ginee seo books, Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

2009 Author Award Winner
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball written and illustrated by Kadir Nelson (published by Disney-Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
Illustrator Award Winner
The Blacker the Berry illus. by Floyd Cooper (published by Joanna Cotler Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

2008 Author Award Winner
Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (published by Scholastic)
Illustrator Award Winner
Let it Shine written and illusrated by Ashley Bryan (published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

2007 Author Award Winner
Copper Sun by Sharon Draper (published by Simon & Schuster/Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
Illustrator Award Winner
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom illus. by Kadir Nelson, written by Carole Boston Weatherford (published by Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children)

2006 Author Award Winner
Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue by Julius Lester (published by Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Hyperion Books for Children)
Illustrator Award Winner
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier (published by Henry Holt and Company)

2005 Author Award Winner
Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison (Houghton Mifflin)
Illustrator Award Book
Ellington Was Not a Street, illustrated by Kadir A. Nelson; text by Ntozake Shange (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

2004 Author Award Winner
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Illustrator Award Book
Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

2003 Author Award Winner
Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes (Dial Books for Young Readers)
Illustrator Award Winner
Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman, illustrated by E. B. Lewis; text by Nikki Grimes (Orchard Books/Scholastic)

2002 Author Award Winner
The Land by Mildred Taylor (Phyllis Fogelman Books/Penguin Putnam)
Illustrator Award Winner
Goin’ Someplace Special, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney; text by Patricia McKissack (Anne Schwartz Book/Atheneum)

2001 Author Award Winner
Miracle’s Boys by Jacqueline Woodson (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)
Illustrator Award Winner
Uptown by Bryan Collier (Henry Holt)

2000 Author Award Winner
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte)
Illustrator Award Winner
In the Time of the Drums, illustrated by Brian Pinkney; text by Kim L. Siegelson (Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children)

1999 Author Award Winner
Heaven by Angela Johnson (Simon & Schuster)
Illustrator Award Winner
i see the rhythm, illustrated by Michele Wood; text by Toyomi Igus (Children’s Book Press)

1998 Author Award Winner
Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper (Atheneum)
Illustrator Award Winner
In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers, illustrated by Javaka Steptoe; text by Alan Schroeder (Lee & Low)

1997 Author Award Winner
Slam by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic)
Illustrator Award Winner
Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney; text by Alan Schroeder (Dial Books for Young Readers)

1996 Author Award Winner
Her Stories by Virginia Hamilton (Scholastic/Blue Sky Press)
Illustrator Award Winner
The Middle Passage: White Ships Black Cargo by Tom Feelings (Dial Books for Young Readers)

1995 Author Award Winner
Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters by Patricia C. & Frederick L. McKissack (Scholastic)
Author Honor Books
Illustrator Award Winner
The Creation, illustrated by James Ransome; text by James Weldon Johnson (Holiday House)