Research Guides: Handy Topics in the Curriculum Department: Golden Kite Award

This Handy Topic...

will help you locate the different Golden Kite Award books that are in our collections. Just click on a name to go to the record!

Please note: if a title is not linked, it means that we currently do not have it in our collection. Please check the Kearney Public Library or consider ordering it from Interlibrary Loan

Golden Kite Award

Presented by the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, the Golden Kite Awards, given annually to recognize excellence in children’s literature, grant cash prizes of $2,500 to author and illustrator winners in four categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration.

Golden Kite Award 2025

The man who didn't like animals
Picture Book Text
The one & only Googoosh : Iran's beloved superstar
Picture Book Illustration
Ida B. Wells marches for the vote
Nonfiction Younger Reader
Rising from the ashes : Los Angeles, 1992 : Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a city on fire
Nonfiction Older Reader
The other side of tomorrow
Middle Grade
Uprooted : a memoir about what happens when your family moves back
Illustrated Older Reader
Girls like her
Young Adult

The night market
Picture Book Text
Eloisa's musical window
Picture Book Illustration
Comet chaser
Nonfiction Younger Reader
Uprooted : a memoir about what happens when your family moves back
Nonfiction Older Reader
The Bletchley riddle
Middle Grade
Meet me on Mercer Street
Illustrated Older Reader
Kill her twice
Young Adult

The one & only Googoosh : Iran's beloved superstar
Picture Book Text
Emergency quarters
Picture Book Text
Small things mended
Picture Book Text
Joyful song : a naming story
Picture Book Illustration
Rumi : poet of joy and love
Picture Book Illustration
Home in a lunchbox
Picture Book Illustration
One day this tree will fall
Nonfiction Younger Reader
The painter and the president : Gilbert Stuart's brush with Geoge Washington
Nonfiction Younger Reader
Fighting with love : the legacy of John Lewis
Nonfiction Younger Reader
Spirit sleuths : how magicians and detectives exposed the ghost hoaxes
Nonfiction Older Reader
The gender binary is a big lie : infinite identities around the world
Nonfiction Older Reader
Virus hunters : how science protects people when outbreaks and pandemics strike
Nonfiction Older Reader
The deadly daylight
Middle Grade
Finn and Ezra's Bar Mitzvah time loop
Middle Grade
A two-placed heart : a memoir in verse
Middle Grade
Fake Chinese sounds
Illustrated Older Reader
The monster and the maze
Illustrated Older Reader
It's a gas!
Illustrated Older Reader
Wagnificent : the adventures of Thunder & Sage
Illustrated Older Reader
Sync
Young Adult
Trajectory
Young Adult
The breakup lists
Young Adult

Golden Kite Award 2024

Nell plants a tree
Picture Book Text
Big
Picture Book Illustration
Tomfoolery! : Randolph Caldecott and the rambunctious coming-of-age of children's books
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
The 21 : the true story of the youth who sued the U.S. government over climate chagne
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
The lost year
Middle Grade Fiction
New in town
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
The blood years
Young Adult Fiction

Salat in secret
Picture Book Text
Jumper : a day in the life of a backyard jumping spider
Picture Book Illustration
Beautiful noise : the music of John Cage
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Accountable : the true story of a racist social media account and the teenagers whose lives it changed
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
A first time for everything
Middle Grade Fiction
Super boba café, book 1
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
This town is on fire
Young Adult Fiction

The walk
Picture Book Text
Spanish is the language of my family
Picture Book Text
Hello, Mister Blue
Picture Book Text
Simon and the better bone
Picture Book Illustration
Can you hug a forest?
Picture Book Illustration
Nell plants a tree
Picture Book Illustration
Make way : the story of Robert McCloskey, Nancy Schön, and some very famous ducklings
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Hidden hope : how a toy and a hero saved lives during the Holocaust
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Petterns everywhere
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
What's a germ, Joseph Lister? : the medical mystery that forever changed the way we heal
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Cities : how humans live together
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
A long time coming : a lyrical biography of race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Something like home
Middle Grade Fiction
A snow day for Plum!
Middle Grade Fiction
Between monsters and marvels
Middle Grade Fiction
The faint of heart
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
A sky of paper stars
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
A first time for everything
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
Gloria Buenrostro is not my girlfried
Young Adult Fiction
Alondra
Young Adult Fiction
Warrior girl unearthed
Young Adult Fiction

Golden Kite Award 2023

Fly
Picture Book Text
Kumo : the bashful cloud
Picture Book Illustration
Our planet! : there's no place like Earth
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Absurd words : a kids' fun and hilarious vocabulary builder for future word nerds
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
The Civil War of Amos Abernathy
Middle Grade Fiction
Squid happens
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
Beneath the wide silk sky
Young Adult Fiction

The talk
Picture Book Text
Farmhouse
Picture Book Illustration
H is for Harlem
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Save the people! : halting human extinction
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Iveliz explains it all
Middle Grade Fiction
Esme's birthday conga line
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
Destination unknown
Young Adult Fiction

Growing an artist : the story of a landscaper and his son
Picture Book Text
Twelve dinging doorbells
Picture Book Text
Walter had a best friend
Picture Book Text
Baby squeaks
Picture Book Illustration
Covered in color : Christo & Jeanne-Claude's fabrics of freedom
Picture Book Illustration
Standing in the need of prayer : a modern retelling of the classic spiritual
Picture Book Illustration
Because of you, John Lewis : the true story of a remarkable friendship
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
The greatest song of all: how Isaac Stern united the world to save Carnegie Hall
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Washed ashore : making art from ocean plastic
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Glowing bunnies!? : why we're making hybrids, chimeras, and clones
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
How to build a human : in seven evolutionary steps
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Superpower? : the wearable-tech revolution
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Ellen outside the lines
Middle Grade Fiction
Shine on, Luz Véliz!
Middle Grade Fiction
The tryout
Middle Grade Fiction
Lowriders to the rescue
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
Demon in the wood : a shadow and bone graphic novel
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
A place to call home
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
Berliners
Young Adult Fiction
Katzenjammer
Young Adult Fiction
The name she gave me
Young Adult Fiction

Golden Kite Award 2022

Please note: this year, there are 2 winners in the "Nonfiction Text for Older Readers" category. There is no honor recipient for this category this year.

Eyes that kiss in the corners
Picture Book Text
King of ragtime : the story of Scott Joplin
Picture Book Illustration
Red, white, and whole
Middle Grade Fiction
When you look like us
Young Adult
Samira surfs
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
The great stink : how Joseph Bazalgette solved London's poop pollution problem
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
A face for Picasso : coming of age with Crouzon syndrome
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Everything you wanted to know about Indians but were afraid to ask
Young readers edition
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers

Soul food Sunday
Picture Book Text
Wonder walkers
Picture Book Illustration
Cuba in my pocket
Middle Grade Fiction
Perfectly Parvin
Young Adult
The genius under the table : growing up behind the Iron Curtain
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
The people's painter : how Ben Shahn fought for justice with art
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers

The boy and the sea
Picture Book Text
Everybody in the red brick building
Picture Book Text
Me + tree
Picture Book Text
Gladys the magic chicken
Picture Book Illustration
Outside, inside
Picture Book Illustration
¡Vamos! Let's cross the bridge
Picture Book Illustration
Better with Butter
Middle Grade Fiction
Mighty inside
Middle Grade Fiction
Strong as fire, fierce as flame
Middle Grade Fiction
Donuts and other proclamations of love
Young Adult
Last night at the Telegraph Club
Young Adult
The marvelous Mirza girls
Young Adult
Pawcasso
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
The sea-ringed world : sacred stories of the Americas
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
Sprouting wings : the true story of James Herman Banning, the first African American pilot to fly across the United States
Illustrated Book for Older Readers
Child of the flower-song people : Luz Jiménez, daughter of the Nahua
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
I am an American : the Wong Kim Ark story
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Night becomes day : changes in nature
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Fallout : spies, superbombs, and the ultimate Cold War showdown
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Together we march : 25 protest movements that marched into history
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
We must not forget : Holocaust stories of survival and resistance
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers

Golden Kite Award 2021

Ways to make sunshine
Middle Grade/Young Reader Fiction
All because you matter
Picture Book Text
William Still and his freedom stories : the father of the underground railroad
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
The bear and the moon
Picture Book Illustration
All thirteen : the incredible cave rescue of the Thai boys' soccer team
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Chance : escape from the Holocaust
Illustrated Books for Older Readers
The blossom and the firefly
Young Adult Fiction

Fighting words
Middle Grade/Young Reader Fiction
We are water protectors
Picture Book Text
Winged wonders : solving the monarch migration mystery
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Outside in
Picture Book Illustration
Alphamaniacs : builders of 26 wonders of the word
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
Flamer
Illustrated Books for Older Readers
Elatsoe
Young Adult Fiction

A high five for Glenn Burke
Middle Grade/Young Reader Fiction
The magic in changing your stars
Middle Grade/Young Reader Fiction
Mañanaland
Middle Grade/Young Reader Fiction
The blue house
Picture Book Text
I am every good thing
Picture Book Text
Lights out
Picture Book Text
Dark was the night
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Nacho's nachos : the story behind the world's favorite snack
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
Terry Fox and me
Nonfiction Text for Younger Readers
The camping trip
Picture Book Illustration
From Archie to Zack
Picture Book Illustration
Welcoming Elijah : a Passover tale with a tail
Picture Book Illustration
Dung for dinner : a stomach-churning look at the animal poop, pee, vomit, and secretions that people have eaten (and often still do!)
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
The rise and fall of Charles Lindbergh
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
True or false : a CIA analyst's guide to spotting fake news
Nonfiction Text for Older Readers
How we got to the moon : the people, technology, and daring feats of science behind humanity's greatest adventure
Illustrated Books for Older Readers
Our friend hedgehog : the story of us
Illustrated Books for Older Readers
The wanderer
Illustrated Books for Older Readers
Dear Justyce
Young Adult Fiction
With a star in my hand : Rubén Darío, poetry hero
Young Adult Fiction
Agnes at the end of the world
Young Adult Fiction

Golden Kite Award 2020

Winner

The bridge home
Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction
Lovely war
Young Adult Fiction
Mario and the hole in the sky : how a chemist saved our planet
Nonfiction for Younger Readers
Torpedoed : the true story of the World War II sinking of "The Children's Ship"
Nonfiction for Older Readers
Clever little witch
Picture Book Illustration
A green place to be : the creation of Central Park
Picture Book Text

Honors

Pie in the sky
Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction
With the fire on high
Young Adult Fiction
Just right : searching for the Goldilocks planet
Nonfiction for Younger Readers
The first dinosaur : how science solved the greatest mystery on earth
Nonfiction for Older Readers
The undefeated
Picture Book Text
The roots of rap : 16 bars on the 4 pillars of hip-hop
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2019

Winner

Lifeboat 12 : based on a true story
Middle Grade Fiction
Otis and Will discover the deep : the record-setting dive of the Bathysphere
Nonfiction for Younger Readers
Boots on the ground : America's war in Vietnam
Nonfiction for Older Readers
Made by hand : a crafts sampler
Picture Book Illustration
The remember balloons
Picture Book Text
Mapping the bones
Young Adult Fiction

Honors

24 hours in nowhere
Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction
Journey of the pale bear
Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction
Ghost boys
Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction
The poet X : a novel
Young Adult Fiction
What the night sings : a novel
Young Adult Fiction
Between the lines : how Ernie Barnes went from the football field to the art gallery
Nonfiction for Young Readers
Girl running: Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon
Nonfiction for Young Readers
Pipsqueaks, slowpokes, and stinkers : celebrating animal underdogs
Nonfiction for Young Readers
Hey, kiddo
Nonfiction for Older Readers
Spooked! : how a radio broadcast and the War of the worlds sparked the 1938 invasion of America
Nonfiction for Older Readers
The rabbit listened
Picture Book Text
Floaty
Picture Book Text
Whale in a fishbowl
Picture Book Text
Found
Picture Book Illustration
Nothing stopped Sophie : the story of unshakable mathematician Sophie Germain
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2018

Winners

See you in the cosmos
Middle Grade Fiction
Vincent and Theo : the Van Gogh brothers
Nonfiction for Older Readers
Schomburg: the man who built a library
Nonfiction for Younger Readers
Goodbye autumn, hello winter
Picture Book Ilustration
There might be lobsters
Picture Book Text
What girls are made of
Young Adult Fiction

Honors

The war I finally won
Middle Grade Fiction
One good thing about America
Middle Grade Fiction
The rooster who would not be quiet!
Picture Book Text
Fallingwater
Picture Book Illustration
Dress codes for small towns
Young Adult Fiction
Calling my name
Young Adult Fiction

Golden Kite Award 2017

Winners

The Christmas boot
Picture Book Text
The music in George's head : George Gershwin creates Rhapsody in blue
Picture Book Illustration
Salt to the sea : a novel
YA
We will not be silent : the White Rose student resistance movement that defied Adolf Hitler
Nonfiction
The haunting of Falcon House
Middle Grade

Honors

Time for (Earth) school, Dewey Dew
Picture Book Text
Preaching To The Chickens : The story of young John Lewis
Picture Book Illustration
In-between days
YA
A girl called Vincent : the life of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay
Nonfiction
Finding wonders : three girls who changed science
Middle Grade

Golden Kite Award 2016

Winners

Challenger Deep
Fiction
The detective's assistant
Middle Grade/Young Reader Fiction
Enchanted air : two cultures, two wings : a memoir
Nonfiction
Boats for Papa
Picture Book Text
Marvelous Cornelius : Hurricane Katrina and the spirit of New Orleans
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

The sacred lies of Minnow Bly
Fiction
Blackbird fly
Middle Grade/Young Reader Fiction
Mesmerized : how Ben Franklin solved a mystery that baffled all of France
Nonfiction
Swan : the life and dance of Anna Pavlova
Picture Book Text
Thomas Jefferson grows a nation
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2015

Winners

Revolution
Fiction
The family Romanov : murder, rebellion & the fall of Imperial Russia
Nonfiction
A dance like starlight : one ballerina's dream
Picture Book Text
The right word : Roget and his thesaurus
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Dory Fantasmagory
Fiction
Freedom Summer : the 1964 struggle for civil rights in Mississippi
Nonfiction
The baby tree
Picture Book Text
The farmer and the clown
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2014

Winners

Better Nate than ever
Fiction
Call of the Klondike : a true gold rush adventure
Nonfiction
Sophie's squash
Picture Book Text
Mr. Tiger goes wild
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Rose under fire
Fiction
The dolphins of Shark Bay
Nonfiction
Forest has a song : poems
Picture Book Text
Niño wrestles the world
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2013

Winners

The five lives of our cat Zook
Fiction
Noah Webster & his words
Nonfiction
Me and Momma and Big John
Picture Book Text
Lester's dreadful sweaters
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Code name Verity
Fiction
We've got a job : the 1963 Birmingham Children's March
Nonfiction
A leaf can be--
Picture Book Text
Electric Ben : the amazing life and times of Benjamin Franklin
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2012

Winners

Between shades of gray
Fiction
Amelia lost : the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart
Nonfiction
Over and under the snow
Picture Book Text
Balloons over Broadway : the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's Parade
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Words in the dust
Fiction
Mysterious bones : the story of Kennewick Man
Nonfiction
These hands
Picture Book Text
Follow me
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2011

Winners

Turtle in paradise
Fiction
The good, the bad, and the Barbie : a doll's history and her impact on us
Nonfiction
Big red lollipop
Picture Book Text
Pocketful of posies : a treasury of nursery rhymes
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Mockingbird (Mok'ing-bûrd)
Fiction
Fort Mose : and the story of the man who built the first free black settlement in colonial America
Nonfiction
Interrupting chicken
Picture Book Text
Bunny days
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2010

Winners

Sea of the Dead
Fiction
Ashley Bryan words to my life's song
Nonfiction
The longest night
Picture Book Text
Gracias = Thanks
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Neil Armstrong is my uncle : & other lies Muscle Man McGinty told me
Fiction
Ernest Hemingway : a writer's life
Nonfiction
Bella & Bean
Picture Book Text
Bad news for outlaws : the remarkable life of Bass Reeves, deputy U.S. marshal
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2009

Winners

Down Sand Mountain
Fiction
A life in the wild : George Schaller's struggle to save the last great beasts
Nonfiction
A visitor for Bear
Picture Book Text
Last night
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

The adoration of Jenna Fox
Fiction
The mysterious universe : supernovae, dark energy, and black holes
Nonfiction
Before John was a jazz giant : a song of John Coltrane
Picture Book Text
I love my new toy!
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2008

Winners

Home of the brave
Fiction
Muckrakers : how Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens helped expose scandal, inspire reform, and invent investigative journalism
Nonfiction
Pierre in love
Picture Book Text
Little night
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Emma-Jean Lazarus fell out of a tree
Fiction
1607: a new look at Jamestown
Nonfiction
The end
Picture Book Text
Who put the B in the Ballyhoo?
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2007

Winners

Firegirl
Fiction
The adventures of Marco Polo
Nonfiction
Jazz
Picture Book Text
Jazz
Picture Book Text
With accompanying CD
Not afraid of dogs
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Wings
Fiction
Team Moon : how 400,000 people landed Apollo 11 on the moon
Nonfiction
Dear Mr. Rosenwald
Picture Book Text
Hippo! No, rhino
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2006

Winners

A room on Lorelei Street
Fiction
Children of the Great Depression
Nonfiction
Doña Flor : a tall tale about a giant woman with a great big heart
Picture Book Text
Baby Bear's chairs
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Each little bird that sings
Fiction
The forbidden schoolhouse : the true and dramatic story of Prudence Crandall and her students
Nonfiction
Grandmama's pride
Picture Book Text
Cinderella
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2005

Winners

Bucking the Sarge
Fiction
Dust to eat : drought and depression in the 1930's
Nonfiction
Apples to Oregon : being the (slightly) true narrative of how a brave pioneer father brought apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, and cherries (and children) across the plains
Picture Book Text
Mysterious collection of Dr. David Harleyson
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

The gift moves
Fiction
The power of one : Daisy Bates and the Little Rock Nine
Nonfiction
Hachiko : the true story of a loyal dog
Picture Book Text
When I heard the learn'd astronomer
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2004

Winners

Milkweed : a novel
Fiction
Leonardo, beautiful dreamer
Nonfiction
The dirty cowboy
Picture Book Text
I dream of trains
Picture Book Illustration

Honors

Breath
Fiction
After the last dog died : the true-life, hair-raising adventure of Douglas Mawson and his 1912 Antarctic Expedition
Nonfiction
On Sand Island
Picture Book Text
Just a minute : a trickster tale and counting book
Picture Book Illustration

Golden Kite Award 2003

Winners

Fresh girl
Fiction
This land was made for you and me : the life and songs of Woody Guthrie
Nonfiction
George Hogglesberry, grade school alien
Picture Book Text
Mrs. Biddlebox
Picture Book Illustration