Coretta Scott King Book Awards

About the Coretta Scott King Book 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.

Administered by:

Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) logo

Author Honor

2021 Honor(s)

All the Days Past, All the Days to Come

Written by Mildred D. Taylor, and published by Viking, an Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

King and the Dragonflies

Written by Kacen Callender, and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box

Written by by Evette Dionne, and published by Viking an Imprint of Penguin

Illustrator Winner

2021 Winner(s)

“R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul

Illustrated by Frank Morrison, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

Author Award

2021 Winner(s)

Before The Ever After

Written by Jacqueline Woodson and published by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.

Illustrator Honor

2021 Honor(s)

Exquisite: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks

Illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera, written by Suzanne Slade, and published by Abrams Brooks for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS

Magnificent Homespun Brown

Illustrated by Kaylani Juanita, written by Samara Cole Doyon, and published by Tilbury House Publishers

Me and Mama

Illustrated and written by Cozbi A. Cabrera, and published by Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.