Mascot Blog

You’ve put your heart and soul into your book and now you’re ready to get noticed.

There are many children’s book awards that are waiting for your submission and range in terms of fees, categories, and significance. We organized a list of some of the most distinguished children’s award programs that you can enter, and win!


Image Credit: Brands&People

Side note: Some of the deadlines for these awards have passed, but we hope this can be a reference for all future submissions.

Book Excellence Awards

• The Book Excellence Awards is an international book awards competition that recognizes books for their high quality design, writing and overall market appeal.
• Submission Fee: One category is $115.00. Each additional category is $59.00.
• Enter here.

Coretta Scott King Book Awards

• The Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience.  
• There is no submission fee for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards.
• Although 2021 submissions are closed, please visit the page for future submissions.

Creative Child Magazine’s Awards Program

• All products are reviewed by moms, educators and early education professionals. Based on the scores and comments, products are then determined to be a finalist for Product, DVD, CD, Book, Game, and Toy of the Year.
• Submission Fee: $75 for each product.
• Enter here.

Cybils Awards

• The Cybils Awards aims to recognize the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal.
• There is no entry fee for the Cybils Awards.
• Enter here. 

Foreword INDIES

• INDIES’ goal is to highlight deserving books—those that not only meet our editorial standards, but also blow our minds—to our audience of librarians, booksellers, industry professionals, and other book lovers, domestically and internationally.
• Submission Fee: Through June 30, 2021, the fee is $79 per entry, and $59 for additional categories. Through September 30, 2021, the fee is $89 per entry, and $69 for additional categories. After that, the fee is $99 per entry, and 79 for additional categories. 

• Enter here.

Hans Christian Andersen Awards

• The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children’s books. Given every other year by IBBY, the Hans Christian Andersen Awards recognize lifelong achievement and are presented to an author and an illustrator whose complete works have made an important, lasting contribution to children’s literature.
• Although 2022 submissions are closed, please visit the page for future submissions. 

Horn Book Awards

• First presented in 1967 and customarily announced in June, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners are selected in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. Two Honor Books may be named in each category.
• There is no entry fee for the Horn Book Awards.
• Enter here.

IAN Book of the Year Award

• An international contest open to all authors with forty fiction and non-fiction categories. Winners are eligible to receive a share of cash prizes exceeding $6,000.
• Submission Fee: $49 for the first category and $35 for each additional category (No limit).
• Enter here.

IBPA Benjamin Franklin Book Awards

• Includes fifty-six categories and is regarded as one of the highest national honors for independent publishers. The awards are administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), with help from over 160 book publishing professionals including librarians, bookstore owners, reviewers, designers, publicity managers, and editors.
• Submission Fee: For non-members of IBPA: $229 for the initial entry and $95 for additional entries, plus $134 to cover annual IBPA membership fee.
• Enter here.

Independent Publisher Book Awards

• The Independent Publisher Book Awards honor the year’s best independently published titles from around the world. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published books released each year. 
• Submission Fee: $95 per General category entry and “add-on” a Regional or Ebook category entry to a General category entry for the same title for $55.
• Enter here. 

Jefferson Cup Award

• The Jefferson Cup was established in 1982 to honor a distinguished biography, historical fiction, or American history book for young people. Beginning with the 2012 Jefferson Cup, two books were selected: one geared toward young adult readers and one for young readers.
• There is no submission fee for the Jefferson Cup Award.
• Although 2021 submissions are closed, please visit the page for future submissions.

Mom’s Choice Awards

• The Mom’s Choice Awards Honoring Excellence Seal of Approval is recognized globally as the reliable symbol representing the best in family-friendly media, products and services.
• Submission Fee: $500 for level one and $1,500 for level two.
• Enter here.

Next Generation Indie Book Awards

• With over seventy categories to choose from, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards gives authors an exciting opportunity to have their book considered for cash prizes, awards, exposure, possible representation by a leading literary agent, and recognition as one of the top independently published books of the year.
• Submission Fee: The 2021 entry fee is $75 per title for the first category entered, and $60 for each additional category entered.
• Enter here.

Moonbeam Children’s Book Award

• The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and are dedicated to supporting childhood literacy and life-long reading. The contest is open to authors, illustrators, and publishers of children’s books written in English or Spanish.
• Submission Fee: February 2, 2021 until the 2nd early-bird deadline of May 31, 2021: $85 per category entry. June 1, 2021 until the final entry deadline of August 9, 2021: $95 per entry.
• Enter here.

Nautilus Book Awards

• The Nautilus Book Awards recognize, promote, and celebrate books that support conscious living and sustainability, high-level health and wellness, spiritual growth, and positive social change and social justice.
• Submission Fees: From September 21 through October 31, Early Bird Entry Fee is $150. From November 1 through December 31, Regular Entry Fee is $160. From January 1 through February 10, Final Entry Fee is $170. 
• Although 2021 submissions are closed, please visit the page for future submissions.

Notable Children’s Book List

• Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: “Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.”
• There is no entry fee for the Notable Children’s Books List.
• Enter here.

Pura Belpré Award

• The Pura Belpré Award, established in 1996, is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.
• There is no entry fee for the Pura Belpré Award.
• Enter here.

Purple Dragonfly Book Award

• The Purple Dragonfly Book Awards is a worldwide book competition that was created in 2009 to celebrate the best in children’s books. Divided into 57 categories ranging from books on the environment and cooking to sports and family issues to the marketing collateral such as bookmarks and media kits that complement a book, the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards are geared toward books that appeal to children of all ages.
• Submission Fee: Early Bird Deadline (on or before Tuesday, March 2, 2021): $60 per category. After March 2, 2021: $65 per category.
• Enter here. 

Readers Favorite Annual Book Award Contest

• They receive thousands of entries from all over the world. Because of these large submission numbers, they are able to break down our contest into 150+ genres, and each genre is judged separately, ensuring you only compete against books of your specific genre for a fairer and more accurate competition.
• Submission Fee: Early Bird deadline: April 1 ($99), Regular Deadline: May 1 ($109), Final Deadline: June 1 ($119). 
• Enter here.

Royal Dragonfly Awards

• The Royal Dragonfly Book Award contest is a worldwide book competition that honors excellence in all types of literature and book marketing, recognizing creativity and hard work for a comprehensive list of genres in seventy-one categories. Their judges are industry experts with specific knowledge about the categories over which they preside.
• Submission Fee: Early Bird Deadline (on or before August 2, 2021): $60 per category. After that date, $65 per category.
• Enter here.

The Christopher Awards

• First presented in 1949, the Christopher Awards was created to encourage men, women, and children to pursue excellence in creative arenas that have the potential to influence a mass audience positively. Award winners encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others. Your 2020 books will be read and reviewed by a panel of media and subject specialists and Christopher staff members.
• There is no entry fee for the Christopher Awards.
• Enter here.

The Freeman Book Awards

• The Freeman Book Award aids the work of many American educators in promoting education about Asia in this country. The focus are books, published in English, which have the culture and people of East or Southeast Asia as the primary focus of the story.
• There is no entry fee for the Freeman Book Awards.
• Enter here. 

If you’ve won or entered any awards, let us know by tagging @Mascotbooks on:

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