Coretta Scott King Book Awards

By: Justin Wass

Who is the CSK named after?

The CSK award is named after Coretta Scott King, the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr.

The award is given to authors and illustrators who deliver outstanding books about the African American experience.

The books must be written for children High School and lower.

Who Presents the Award?

The award is presented by the Ethnic & Information Exchange Round Table

As part of the American Library Association

What is the selection Criteria?

1. Must portray some aspect of the black experience, past, present, or future.

2. Must be written/illustrated by an African American3. Must be published in the U.S. in the year preceding presentation

of the Award.4. Must be an original work5. Must meet established standards of quality writing for youth

which include6. Must be written for a youth audience 7. Particular attention will be paid to titles which seek to motivate

readers to develop their own attitudes and behaviors as well as comprehend their personal duty and responsibility as citizens in a pluralistic society.

8. Illustrations should “heighten and extend the readers' awareness of the world around him. They should lead him to an appreciation of beauty. The style and content of the illustrations should be...niether coy nor condescending...Storytelling qualities should enlarge upon the story elements that were hinted in the text and should include details that will awaken and strength the imagination of the reader and permit him to interpret the words and pictures in a manner unique to him” --Cianciolo, Illustrations in Children's Books (p. 24-25)

Who is eligible to receive this award?

1. Author or illustrator must live in the U.S. or maintain dual residency/citizenship.

2. Book must be published in the year preceding the year the award is given, evidenced by the copyright date printed in the book.

3. Only finished copies will be accepted. Do not send advance reader copies, galleys, etc.

4. Titles submitted for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards will not be returned. Titles received by the OLOS office are donated as part of The Coretta Scott King Review Books Donation Grant

Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace

Lillie Patterson author

This biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. recounts significant events of the

Freedom Movement such as the Montgomery bus boycott and describes King's belief in

nonviolence.