Schneider Family Book Award

About the Schneider Family Book Award The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.
Click here for the Schneider Family Book Award Manual (PDF)
Bibliography of Children's Books about the Disability Experience (pdf)
  

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Teen Winner

2023 Winner(s)

The Words We Keep

The Words We Keep, written by Erin Stewart and published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House

A beautifully realistic, relatable story about mental health—anxiety, perfectionism, depression—and the healing powers of art—perfect for fans of Girl in Pieces and How it Feels to Float. Whatever you struggle with, you are not alone and you are already enough—just the way you are.


2023 Honor(s)

Teen Honor

Breathe and Count Back from Ten, written by Natalia Sylvester, and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

In this gorgeously written and authentic novel, Verónica, a Peruvian-American teen with hip dysplasia, auditions to become a mermaid at a Central Florida theme park in the summer before her senior year, all while figuring out her first real boyfriend and how to feel safe in her own body.


Middle Grade Winner

2023 Winner(s)

WILDOAK

Wildoak, written by C.C. Harrington and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc

Maggie’s parents send her to her grandfather’s home in hopes that the Cornish countryside will improve her stuttering. There, she finds and saves an abandoned snow leopard that had once been purchased as a pet. In Wildoak Forest, she learns that “all things speak…just not in the same language.  With luminous language and a complex, layered story, this book stands out as an exemplary representation of disability as integral to identity and self-acceptance


Middle Grade Honor

2023 Honor(s)

Honestly Elliott, written by Gillian Dunn, and published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Inc

Gillian McDunn explores boyhood in a funny, big-hearted story about a kid trying to find the best way to be his best self.  Elliott has been struggling since his closest friend moved away, and he's not too sure where he fits into his own family, especially since his newly remarried dad and stepmom are expecting a baby. His grades aren't too great, he's always forgetting things, and he doesn't really like sports. 


Hummingbird, written by Natalie Lloyd, and published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

a heartfelt story about a girl who -- armed with her trusty, snazzy wheelchair -- refuses to let her brittle bone disease stand in the way of adventure.


Young Children Winner

2023 Winner(s)

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion

Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion, written by Shannon Stocker, illustrated by Devon Holzwarth and published by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House,

As a child, Evelyn Glennie loved music. After the nerves in her ears began to degenerate, she became deaf. Defying doctors’ predictions, Evelyn persevered to find an innovative way to listen and play percussion, becoming an award-winning musician. The words and art reflect the rhythm and movement of her experiences. 


Young Children Honor

2023 Honor(s)

In the Blue

In the Blue, written and illustrated by Erin Hourigan and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc

An emotional and tender award-winning picture book that accessibly explores depression within a family, through the use of color. As one father embarks on an emotional journey, his daughter will navigate life lived in and around his depression.  This poignant and important story, with its use of color to indicate the ups and downs of one family's emotions, is an accessible way to discuss mental illness with young readers.