The Phoenix Award annually recognizes one English-language children's book published twenty years earlier that did not then win a major literary award. It is named for the mythical bird phoenix that is reborn from its own ashes, signifying the book's rise from relative obscurity.
The award was established and is conferred by the Children's Literature Association (ChLA), a nonprofit organization based in the United States whose mission is to advance "the serious study of children's literature". The winner is selected by an elected committee of five ChLA members, from nominations by members and outsiders. The token is a brass statue.
The inaugural, 1985 Phoenix Award recognized The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff (Oxford, 1965). Beginning 1989, as many as two runners-up have been designated "Honor Books", with 34 named for the 29 years to 2017.
A parallel award for children's picture books, the Phoenix Picture Book Award was approved in 2010 and inaugurated in 2013. There are two awards if the writer and illustrator are different people. "Books are considered not only for the quality of their illustrations, but for the way pictures and text work together to tell a story (whether fact or fiction). Wordless books are judged on the ability of the pictures alone to convey a story."
Phoenix Award winners
There have been 35 Award winners and 35 Honor Books announced since 1985 (1965 to 1998 publications). +Phoenix Award 1985 to presentYearAuthorTitleResultRef.1985Winner1986Queenie PeavyWinner1987SmithWinner1988Winner1989WinnerBrother Can You Spare a Dime?HonorPistolHonor1990Enchantress from the StarsWinnerRavensgillHonorSing Down the MoonHonor1991WinnerHonorHonor1992Winner1993Carrie's WarWinnerHonor1994Of Nightingales That WeepWinner and Christopher CollierMy Brother Sam is DeadHonorListen for the Fig TreeHonor1995DragonwingsWinnerTuck EverlastingHonor1996WinnerAbel's IslandHonor1997I Am the CheeseWinner1998WinnerBeautyHonorHonor1999Throwing ShadowsWinnerHonorWords by HeartHonor2000Keeper of the Isis LightWinnerHonor2001WinnerHonor2002WinnerStory for a Black NightHonor2003WinnerHonor2004White Peak FarmWinnerAngel SquareHonor2005WinnerFire and HemlockHonor2006Howl's Moving CastleWinnerHonorHonor2007MemoryWinnerWaiting for the RainHonor2008EvaWinnerHonor2009Weetzie BatWinnerLucie Babbidge’s HouseHonor2010Winner2011WinnerStepping on the CracksHonorHonor2012Letters from RifkaWinnerMorning GirlHonorTaste of Salt: A Story of Modern HaitiHonor2013WinnerMalcolm X: By Any Means NecessaryHonor2014JesseWinnerUnder the Blood Red SunHonor2015One BirdWinner2016FrindleWinner2017Wish Me LuckWinnerSeedfolksHonorHabibiHonor2018Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea LangeWinner2019WinnerImani All MineHonor2020Many StonesWinner145th Street: Short StoriesHonor2021Finding GraceWinnerWhale TalkHonorAny Small GoodnessHonor2022When the Emperor Was DivineWinnerWhen My Name Was KeokoHonor2023Walking the Choctaw RoadWinnerThe Wright Sister: Katharine Wright and Her Famous BrothersHonor
Multiple awards
As of 2021, there have been three two-time winners of the Phoenix Award: Rosemary Sutcliff, 1985, 2010 Peter Dickinson, 2001, 2008 Margaret Mahy, 2005, 2007
Mahy of New Zealand was also a runner up in 2006.
Several of the winners have also received the British Carnegie Medal for other books: Sutcliff (1959); Garner (1967); Garfield (1970); Southall (1971); Hunter (1974); Dickinson (1979, 1980); Mahy (1982, 1984); Doherty (1986, 1991).
Three of the winners have also won the American Newbery Medal for other books: Konigsburg (1968 and 1997); Paterson (1978, 1981); Hesse (1998).
Picture Book Award winners
The Phoenix Picture Book Award was first given in 2013, for books originally published in 1993. +Phoenix Picture Book Award, 2013 to presentYearAuthorTitleResult Ref.2013OwenWinner In the Small, Small PondHonor 2014Winner , illus. by Paul O. ZelinskySwamp AngelHonor Good Night, GorillaHonor 2015 My Map BookWinner Would They Love a Lion?Honor , illus. by Stefano VitaleWhen the Wind Stops (revised and newly illustrated, 1995)Honor 2016GooseWinner , illus. by Jerry PinkneySam and the TigersHonor 2017, illus. by Petra MathersTell Me a SeasonWinner DemiOne Grain of Rice: A Mathematical TaleHonor 2018 and Brian PinkneyCendrillon: A Caribbean CinderellaWinner , illus. by Robin Preiss GlasserYou Can’t Take A Balloon Into the Metropolitan MuseumHonor 2019Black CatWinner , illus. by Floyd CooperTree of HopeHonor 2020Winner WingsHonor 2021Dim Sum for Everyone!Winner , illus. by Maya Christina GonzalezIguanas in the Snow and Other Winter Poems/Iguanas en la nieve y otros poemas de invieroHonor Honor 2022Home of the BraveWinner , illus. by Maya Christina GonzalezWho’s Afraid of The Big Bad Book?Honor What Charlie HeardHonor , illus. by Joe CepedaWhy Heaven is Far AwayHonor 2023Roller CoasterWinner Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting BookHonor , illus. by Kadir NelsonThunder RoseHonor
See also
Notes
References
External links Phoenix Award web page Phoenix Picture Book Award web page Children's Literature Association (ChLA) (1985–2007) at chla.wikispaces.com, predecessor to the ChLA website – identifies some publishers of later editions; provides award citations of 2005 to 2007 winners Children's Literature Association Quarterly , Volume 1 (1976) to present; annual conference Proceedings, 1978 to 1991 only – open-access lists of contents include full bibliographic citations for articles and publications searches for authors