TheWilliam Allen White Children's Book Award is a set of two annual awards for books selected by vote ofKansas schoolchildren from lists prepared by committee. As a single award it was established in 1952 byRuth Garver Gagliardo, a children's literature specialist atEmporia State University, which continues to direct the program.[1] It is named forWilliam Allen White (1868–1944), long-time publisher and editor ofThe Emporia Gazette. The White Award is the oldest statewide children's choice book award in the United States.
From 2001, two winners have been chosen each year, one by students ingrades 3 to 5 and one by students ingrades 6 to 8, from separate lists of books.[2][3] The award website includes an archive of annual Master Lists that is complete back to the list of 18 books for school year 1952–53.[4] Curriculum Guides "designed to be used in teaching or preparing instructional units" are prepared for books on the year's Master List and some past Guides are available.[5][6]
Currently (as of October 2019),[7] the annual celebration at Emporia early in October includes a Friday evening "Read-Ins and Sleepovers" with space for 100 people. After Saturday morning activities, student representatives present medals to the winning writers at the Awards Ceremony.[8] Travel to Emporia is an incentive in some classroom reading programs.[9] At least once (2011), a writer declined because of a conflict on the celebration date and was replaced as the White Award winner.[a]
There were 49 winners of the single William Allen White Book Children's Book Award in its 48 years through 2000, with two winners in 1974.[2]
| Year | Grades 3–5 | Grades 6–8 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Cynthia C. DeFelice | The Ghost of Fossil Glen | Louis Sachar | Holes |
| 2002 | Andrew Clements | The Landry News | Christopher Paul Curtis | Bud, Not Buddy |
| 2003 | Kate DiCamillo | Because of Winn-Dixie | Frances O'Roark Dowell | Dovey Coe |
| 2004 | Peni R. Griffin | Ghost Sitter | Andrea Warren | Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps |
| 2005 | Jerry Spinelli | Loser | Stephanie S. Tolan | Surviving the Applewhites |
| 2006 | Sue Stauffacher | Donuthead | Jeanne DuPrau | The City of Ember |
| 2007 | Andrew Clements | The Report Card | Sarah Weeks | So B. It |
| 2008 | Ann M. Martin | A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray | L. D. Harkrader | Airball: My Life in Briefs |
| 2009 | Sara Pennypacker | Clementine | Jennifer Roy | Yellow Star |
| 2010 | Barbara O'Connor | How to Steal a Dog | Cynthia Kadohata | Cracker! The Best Dog in Viet Nam |
| 2011[a] | Patricia Reilly Giff | Eleven | Susan Campbell Bartoletti | The Boy Who Dared |
| 2012 | Wendy Mass | 11 Birthdays | Diana López | Confetti Girl |
| 2013 | Patrick Jennings | Guinea Dog | Peg Kehret | Ghost Dog Secrets |
| 2014[9] | Don Brown | America is Under Attack: September 11, 2001 | Helen Frost | Hidden |
| 2015 | W. H. Beck | Malcolm at Midnight | M. H. Herlong | Buddy |
| 2016 | Sharon Creech | The Boy on the Porch | Chris Grabenstein | Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library |
| 2017 | Jennifer Brown | Life on Mars | Dianna Dorisi Winget | A Million Ways Home |
| 2018 | Lynda Mullaly Hunt | Fish in a Tree | Mary Downing Hahn | Took |
| 2019[10] | Sara Pennypacker | Pax | Jason Reynolds | Ghost |
| 2020[11] | Dusti Bowling | Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus | Gordon Korman | Restart: Lose Your Memory. Find Your Life |
| 2021[12] | Katherine Arden | Small Spaces | Jewell Parker Rhodes | Ghost Boys |
| 2022[13] | Rodman Philbrick | Wildfire: A Novel | Dan Gemeinhart | The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise |
| 2023[14] | Lindsay Currie | Scritch Scratch | J. L. Esplin | 96 Miles |
| 2024[15] | McCall Hoyle | Stella | Alan Gratz | Ground Zero |
| 2025 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |