The Children's Literature Legacy Award (formerly the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal or Wilder Award) is a prize awarded by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to writers or illustrators of children's books published in the United States who have, over a period of years, made substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature.[1] The bronze medal prize was named after its first winner, twentieth-century American author Laura Ingalls Wilder.[1]
| Children's Literature Legacy Award | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | "substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature" |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association |
| First awarded | 1954 |
| Website | ala |
Originally, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal was awarded every five years, awarding six prizes between 1955 and 1980. From 1980 to 2001 it was awarded every three years, awarding seven prizes. From 2001 to 2015 it was awarded every two years. The most recent author to receive the award was James Ransome in 2023. It is now awarded annually.[2]
Criteria
- The medal may be awarded to an author or illustrator including co-authors or co-illustrators, and persons who both write and illustrate. The person may be nominated posthumously.[3]
- Some portion of the nominee's active career in books for children must have occurred in the twenty-five years prior to nomination.[3]
- Citizenship or residence of the potential nominee is not to be considered.[3]
- The nominee's work must be published in the United States but this does not mean that the first publication had to be in the United States. Books by the nominee that have been published in the United States are to be considered in the nomination process.[3]
- At least some of the books by the potential nominee must have been available to children for at least ten years.[3]
- The books, by their nature or number, occupy an important place in literature for American children, and children have read the books, and the books continue to be requested and read by children.[3]
- The committee is to direct its attention only to the part of the nominee's total work that is books for children (up to and including age fourteen).[3]
Renaming
In February 2018, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), the division of ALA that administers the award, announced a taskforce which re-examined the naming of the award and included representation from the American Indian Library Association (AILA).[4] The task force was convened because of criticism of Wilder's depictions of Native and African Americans.[5] A recommendation to rename the award was made on June 23, 2018.[6] The ALSC board found Wilder's body of work "includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC's core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness."[7] The award's name was officially changed to the "Children's Literature Legacy Award."[8]
Recipients
| Year | Author |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Pam Muñoz Ryan |
| 2023 | James E. Ransome |
| 2022 | Grace Lin |
| 2021 | Mildred D. Taylor |
| 2020 | Kevin Henkes |
| 2019 | Walter Dean Myers |
| 2018 | Jacqueline Woodson |
| 2017 | Nikki Grimes |
| 2016 | Jerry Pinkney |
| 2015 | Donald Crews |
| 2013 | Katherine Paterson |
| 2011 | Tomie dePaola |
| 2009 | Ashley Bryan |
| 2007 | James Marshall |
| 2005 | Laurence Yep |
| 2003 | Eric Carle |
| 2001 | Milton Meltzer |
| 1998 | Russell Freedman |
| 1995 | Virginia Hamilton |
| 1992 | Marcia Brown |
| 1989 | Elizabeth George Speare |
| 1986 | Jean Fritz |
| 1983 | Maurice Sendak |
| 1980 | Theodor S. Geisel (Dr. Seuss) |
| 1975 | Beverly Cleary |
| 1970 | E. B. White |
| 1965 | Ruth Sawyer |
| 1960 | Clara Ingram Judson |
| 1954 | Laura Ingalls Wilder |
