The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, established by the Association for Library Service to Children in 2001 with support from Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc., is awarded annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in English during the preceding year. The award is named in honor of Robert F. Sibert, the long-time President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. of Jacksonville, Illinois.
ALSC administers this award.
2024
Medal Winner:
The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity, by Nicholas Day and Brett Helquist, author and illustrator
Random House Studio, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House, is narrative nonfiction that masterfully blends in-depth research, mystery and humor. The interwoven tales of Da Vinci, Mona Lisa and the heist that made her famous, paired with Helquist’s clever illustrations is a distinguished addition to the canon of informational books for children
Honor Books
- The Book of Turtles, written by Sy Montgomery, illustrated by Matt Patterson and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. The unexpected opener fascinates right from the start of this engaging picture book. Montgomery packs in a lot of information about different species in a narrative that flows fluidly. Detailed and expressive illustrations complement the text.
- Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes, written by Traci N. Todd, illustrated by Shannon Wright and published by Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Books Inc. In this tribute to Jackie Ormes, the first syndicated Black woman cartoonist in the United States, Todd presents an exuberant child who grows into the successful creator of comic strips featuring Black characters who confront prejudice and fear. Ormes’ signature style is portrayed in Wright’s jazzy illustrations.
- Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider, written and illustrated by Jessica Lanan and published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing. “Jumper” is a delightful, educational journey into the world of a charismatic arachnid. The charming illustrations bring the backyard to life and capture the spider's perspective with vivid detail. Lanan not only sparks a child's imagination but also fosters an appreciation for the intricate wonders of the natural world.
- Shipwrecked!: Diving for Hidden Time Capsules on the Ocean Floor, by Martin W. Sandler and published by Astra Young Readers, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, a division of Astra Publishing House. Sandler captures the excitement and mystique of sunken treasure and underwater archaeology in this exploration of shipwrecks and their excavations across the globe. “Shipwrecked!” deftly conveys the history and diverse culture(s) associated with each ship discussed as well as the innovation required to extract each wreck and its stories.
2023
Medal Winner:
Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration, by Elizabeth Partridge, illustrated by Lauren Tamaki (Chronicle Books)
In an account that masterfully combines text and illustration, the works of three different photographers are used to showcase and examine the unjust incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII.
Honor Books
- The Tower of Life: How Yaffa Eliach Rebuilt Her Town in Stories and Photographs, by Chana Stiefel, illustrated by Susan Gal. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc. Years after the Holocaust, Yaffa Eliach traveled the world to collect photographs from former members of her destroyed shtetl, which were used to create the Tower of Life memorial exhibit at the U.S. Holocaust Museum.
- Sweet Justice: Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House Exceptional writing and rich illustrations shed light on everyday civil rights hero Georgia Gilmore in this thoroughly researched picture book biography.
- A Seed Grows, by Antoinette Portis The lifecycle of a sunflower from seed to flower and back to seed is presented in minimalistic, lyrical text accompanied by richly textured images of the plant at each stage of development.
- Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement, by Angela Joy, illustrated by Janelle Washington. Published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group Accompanied by striking cut-paper illustrations, this moving picture book biography illuminates Mamie Till-Mobley’s life and the ways in which the murder of her son affected her activism during the civil rights era.
2022
Medal Winner:
The People’s Painter: How Ben Shahn Fought for Justice with Art, by Cynthia Levinson (Author), Evan Turk (Illustrator) 9781419741302
Honor Books:
- Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown, by Steve Sheinkin (Author) (9781250149015)
- The Great Stink: How Joseph Bazalgette Solved London's Poop Pollution Problem, by Colleen Paeff (Author), Nancy Carpenter (Illustrator) 9781534449299
- Summertime Sleepers: Animals That Estivate, by Melissa Stewart (Author), Sarah S. Brannen (Illustrator) 9781580897167
- Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, by Carole Boston Weatherford (Author), Floyd Cooper (Illustrator) 9781541581203
- We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know, by Traci Sorell (Author), Frane Lessac (Illustrator) 9781623541927
2021
Medal Winner:
Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann, is the Sibert Award winner. The book is published by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House.
Honor Books:
- How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure, written and illustrated by John Rocco, published by Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House
- Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks, written by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS
- All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team, written by Christina Soontornvat, published by Candlewick Press
2020
Medal Winner
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, written by Kevin Noble Maillard and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (Roaring Brook/Holtzbrinck)
Honor Books
2019
Medal winner
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science, written by Joyce Sidman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Honor books
- Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild, written by Catherine Thimmesh (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America, written by Gail Jarrow (Calkins Creek/Highlights)
- The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, written and Illustrated by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, written by Traci Sorell and illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge)
- When Angels Sing: The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana, written by Michael Mahin and illustrated by Jose Ramirez (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster)
2018
Medal winner
Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1961, written by Larry Dane Brimner (Calkins Creek/Highlights)
Honor books
- Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix, written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, illustrated by Man One (Readers to Eaters)
- Grand Canyon, written and illustrated by Jason Chin (Roaring Brook Press/Holtzbrinck)
- Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask about Having a Disability, written by Shane Burcaw and illustrated by Matt Carr (Roaring Brook Press/Holtzbrinck)
- Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators That Saved an Ecosystem, written by Patricia Newman (Millbrook/Lerner)
2017
Medal winner
March: Book Three, written by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, and illustrated by Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)
Honor books
- Giant Squid, written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann (Roaring Book Press, a division of Hotzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership
- Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor's Story, written by Caren Stelson (Carolrhoda Books, a divsion of Lerner Publishing group, Inc.)
- Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II, written by Albert Marrin (Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a divsion of Penguin Random House LLC
- We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler, written by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company)
2016
Medal winner
Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras, written and illustrated by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams Books for Young Readers/ABRAMS)
Honor books
- Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans, written and illustrated by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club, written by Phillip Hoose (Farrar Straus Giroux)
- Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March, written by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, as told to Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley and illustrated by PJ Loughran (Dial Books/Penguin Group (USA)
- Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Candlewick Press)
2015
Medal winner
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing)
Honor books
- Brown Girl Dreaming, written by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Group)
- The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia, by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company)
- Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker,written by Patricia Hruby Powell, illustrated by Christian Robinson (Chronicle Books)
- Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands, by Katherine Roy (David Macaulay Studio, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press)
- Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS Publishing)
2014
Medal winner
Parrots over Puerto Rico, written by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illustrated by Susan L. Roth, (Lee & Low Books, Inc.)
Honor books
- A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.)
- Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate (Candlewick Press)
- Locomotive by Brian Floca (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
- The Mad Potter: George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan (Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck)
2013
Medal winner
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin (Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press)
Honor books
- Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd (Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group)
- Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip M. Hoose (Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers)
- Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson (Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.)
2012
Medal winner
Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Honor books
- Black & White: The Confrontation between Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor by Larry Dane Brimner (Calkins Creek, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, Inc.)
- Drawing from Memory by Allen Say (Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.)
- The Elephant Scientist, written by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson, photographs by Caitlin O’Connell and Timothy Rodwelland (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
- Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer (National Geographic Society)
2011
Medal winner
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot, written by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Honor books
- Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca (A Neal Porter Book, published by Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing)
- Lafayette and the American Revolution by Russell Freedman (Holiday House)
2010
Medal winner
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone (Candlewick Press)
Honor books
- The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors, written by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tony Persiani (Charlesbridge)
- Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca (Richard Jackson/Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
- Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose (Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group)
2009
Medal winner
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson (Disney-Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
Honor books
- Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past by James M. Deem (Houghton Mifflin Company)
- What to Do About Alice?: How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy!, written by Barbara Kerley and illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham (Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.)
2008
Medal winner
The Wall: Growing Up behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sís (Farrar/Frances Foster)
Honor books
- Lightship by Brian Floca (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)
- Nic Bishop Spiders by Nic Bishop (Scholastic Nonfiction, an imprint of Scholastic)
2007
Medal winner
Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh (Houghton)
Honor books
- Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement by Ann Bausum (National Geographic)
- Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea, written by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop (Houghton)
- To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, written by Siena Cherson Siegel, artwork by Mark Siegel (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson and Simon & Schuster/Aladdin)
2006
Medal winner
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley by Sally M. Walker (Carolrhoda Books, Inc., a division of Lerner Publishing Group)
Honor book
2005
Medal winner
The Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights by Russell Freedman (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Company)
Honor books
- Walt Whitman: Words for America, written by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic Press/Scholastic Inc.)
- The Tarantula Scientist, written by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop (Houghton Mifflin Company)
- Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing by James Rumford, translated into Cherokee by Anna Sixkiller Huckaby (Houghton Mifflin Company)
2004
Medal winner
An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy (Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Company)
Honor book
- I Face the Wind, written by Vicki Cobb, illustrated by Julia Gorton (HarperCollins)
2003
Medal winner
The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler by James Cross Giblin (Clarion)
Honor books
- Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 by Karen Blumenthal (Atheneum)
- Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux)
- Action Jackson, written by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker (Roaring Brook Press/The Millbrook Press)
- When Marian Sang, written by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
2002
Medal winner
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (Houghton Mifflin Company)
Honor books
2001
Medal winner
Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado by Marc Aronson (Clarion Books)
Honor books
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