Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, established in 1954, honors an author or illustrator whose books are published in the U.S. and have, over a period of years, made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. The award is named in honor of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the popular "Little House" series of books, which later became the basis for a television series. Wilder's first book, "The Little House in the Big Woods," (1932) was published when she was 65.
Wilder received the first award in 1954. The award, administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of ALA, was given every five years between 1960 and 1980. It is now given every other year.
2009 Medal Winner
Ashley Bryan is the winner of the 2009 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award honoring an author or illustrator, published in the United States, whose books have made a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children. His numerous works include “Dancing Granny,” “Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum,” and “Beautiful Blackbird.”
Born in 1923 in New York City, Bryan has been painting since childhood. His education, interrupted by Army service in World War II, includes a degree from Columbia University. A painter, reteller, illustrator of children’s books and Professor Emeritus at Dartmouth College, Bryan lives and works on Little Cranberry Island in Maine.
Ashley Bryan’s award-winning works include “Walk Together Children,” an ALA Notable Book in 1974 and “Beautiful Blackbird,” Coretta Scott King Book Award Winner in 2004. In addition Bryan has received one other Coretta Scott King Book Award, plus six honors. He has also received the 1990 Arbuthnot Award, the 1993 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the 2006 Hans Christian Andersen United States Nomination for illustration, the Silver Medallion for Contributions to Children’s Literature and the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award .
