This past week, I attended the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Conference (NCTE) in St. Louis, Missouri. NCTE is one of my favorite conferences. I will be sharing more about the conference in a separate post. However, today, I am focusing on the NCTE Children's Book Awards and more specifically on the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.

Each year at the conference, there are several sessions centered around the Orbis Pictus Award and I try to pop in for as much of them as I can. I also like to attend the Children's Book Award Luncheon where the winners of the awards speak and the new award winners are announced.

This year, the Orbis Pictus Committee selected the following books as honor books.

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, illustrated by Man One by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, June Jo Lee, Illustrated by Man One (Readers to Eaters)

Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion by Chris Barton, Illustrated by Victo Ngai (Millbrook Press)

Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, Illustrated by Shawn Harris (Chronicle Books)

The Quilts of Gee's Bend by Susan Goldman Rubin (Abrams)

The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zana Hadid by Jeanette Winter (Beach Lane Books)

And the winner is...

Grand Canyon by Jason Chin (Roaring Brook Press)

If you are participating in the Mock Sibert or Sibert Smackdown, consider adding some of these titles to your list.

In addition to the winner and honor books, the Orbis Pictus committee also selected a number of recommended titles:

Danza! Amalia Hernández and El Ballet Folklórico de México by Duncan Tonatiuh (Dreamscape Media)
Fault Lines in the Constitution by Cynthia Levinson & Sanford Levinson (Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.)
If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams (Roaring Brook Press)
Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d by Mary Losure (Candlewick Press)
Life on Surtsey: Iceland’s Upstart Island by Loree Griffin Burns (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands by Susan Goldsmith Rubin (Chronicle Books LLC)
The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori & the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found by Martin W. Sandler (Candlewick Press)

For a list of the Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children, click here.

Congratulations to the authors and illustrators who were recognized for their outstanding books. Look for each of these titles at your local indie bookstore or public library.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews....

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