Many books are awarded each year at the ALA (American Library Association) Youth Media Awards at the Mid-Winter Conference. Annually the Youth Media Awards come with great anticipation to hear the winners and honors announced for the Newbery Award, the Caldecott Award, the Pura Belpre Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award, the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book, and the Schneider Family Book Award among several other awards.
The Schneider Family Book Award is a favorite of mine because it honors an author or illustrator for a book that portrays the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. What I never realized is that this award was established by Dr. Katherine Schneider and her family. Her legacy, as written in I Love Libraries - The Schneider Family Book Award: A Legacy of Inspiration comes from her own experience of being born premature and blind. I also did not know that she graduated from high school as valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar. She earned her doctorate from Purdue University and became a clinical psychologist and a university professor, teaching psychology courses at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, as well as counseling, supervising and administering counseling services there.
The Schneider Family Book Award enhances awareness of diversity, specifically through disability.
This award is presented to three age levels: birth through grade school (ages 0–8), middle school (ages 9–13), and teen (ages 14–18).
The 2017 winners include:
This award is presented to three age levels: birth through grade school (ages 0–8), middle school (ages 9–13), and teen (ages 14–18).
The 2017 winners include:
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| Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant |
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| as brave as you by Jason Reynolds |
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I have read many other outstanding Schneider Family Book Award Winners you may consider reading to for your own enjoyment, reading aloud to students, or suggesting to students in your class.
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