Kevin Henkes | |
---|---|
Born | Racine, Wisconsin, U.S. | November 27, 1960
Occupation | Illustrator, writer |
Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
Period | 1981–present |
Genre | Children's picture books |
Notable works | |
Notable awards | Caldecott Medal 2005 Children's Literature Legacy Award 2020 |
Spouse | Laura Dronzek (m. 1985) |
Children | 2 |
Website | |
kevinhenkes |
Kevin Henkes (born November 27, 1960) is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. [2] As an illustrator he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon (2004). Two of his books were Newbery Medal Honor Books, Olive's Ocean in 2004 and The Year of Billy Miller in 2014. [3] His picture book Waiting was named both a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book and a Geisel Honor Book. It was only the second time any author has won that combination of awards. [4] [2]
In 2020, he won the Children's Literature Legacy Award. [5]
Kevin Henkes (pronounced HANK-us [6] ) thought he would be an artist until his junior year of high school when one of his teachers encouraged him in his writing efforts. He discovered that children's books combined both his literary and artistic interests. Henkes writes and illustrates children's picture books, many of which feature mice as their main characters. He also writes middle-grade fiction. Henkes wrote his first book during his freshman year in college. The book's theme deals with how a child describes the pleasures of occasional solitude. This theme is common in many of Henkes' later books. Henkes, one of five children, says that many of his storylines are inspired by his family and the neighborhood where he grew up in Racine, Wisconsin. Henkes has written and illustrated around fifty critically acclaimed and award-winning picture books, early readers, and novels in his career thus far. Henkes' first book, All Alone, was published in 1981 by Greenwillow Books. More than 50 books followed, including Chrysanthemum and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse . In 1994 Henkes was a runner-up for one of the premier American Library Association (ALA) children's book awards, the Caldecott Medal for Owen, one of his mouse books. In 2004, he was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal for Olive's Ocean. The next year he won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon, recognizing that as the year's best children's picture book published in the U.S. All of his books to date have been published by Greenwillow Books. Henkes won the inaugural Phoenix Picture Book Award in 2013 for Owen. The Phoenix Awards from the Children's Literature Association recognize the best books that did not win major awards when they were first published twenty years earlier. [7] [8] In 2014, he received a Newbery Honor for his book, The Year of Billy Miller. [9] In 2020 Henkes was awarded the ALA's Children's Literature Legacy Award, celebrating his entire body of work. [10] Henkes and his wife, Laura Dronzek, have been collaborating on a series of picture books based on the four seasons. Henkes writes the story, while Dronzek provides the acrylic painting illustrations. The next title expected is Winter is Here. [11]
Henkes was born November 27, 1960, in Racine, Wisconsin. [2] He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. [12] He lives in Madison with his wife, artist Laura Dronzek, and their two children. [13]
Henkes has won numerous awards for both his books and as an author. In 2007, Henkes delivered the Arbuthnot Honor Lecture, an honor bestowed upon "an individual of distinction in the field of children’s literature ... chosen to write and deliver a lecture that will make a significant contribution to the world of children’s literature." [14] In 2008, he won the Council for Wisconsin Writers' Major Achievement Award. [15] In 2009, he was a finalist for the Astrid Lindgren Prize [16] and won the Jeremiah Ludington Award, which honors "an individual who has made a significant contribution to the paperback book business." [17] Lastly, in 2020, he won the Children’s Literature Legacy Award honoring an author or illustrator, published in the United States, whose books have made a "significant and lasting contribution to literature for children." [5] In 1987, Library of Congress named Once Around the Block one of the Best Books of the Year. In 2017, the American Booksellers Association inducted Kitten's First Full Moon into their Picture Book Hall of Fame. [18] The Year of Billy Miller was a New York Times bestselling book. [19] Kirkus Reviews and The Horn Book Magazine named it one of the best books of 2013. [19] [20] Waiting was a New York Times bestselling book. [21] Kirkus Reviews and The Horn Book named it one of the best books of 2013. [21] [20] The Horn Book has included many of Henkes's other books on their lists of the best children's books of the year: Jessica (1989), Julius, the Baby of the World (1990), Chrysanthemum (1991), Words of Stone (1992), Owen (1993), Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse (1996), Olive’s Ocean (2003), A Good Day (2007), Old Bear (2008), Birds (2009), Penny and Her Doll (2012), Penny and Her Marble (2013), Waiting (2015), Egg (2017), A Parade of Elephants (2018), Penny and Her Sled (2019), Billy Miller Makes a Wish (2021), and Oh, Sal (2022). [20]
Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Grandpa & Bo | Council of Wisconsin Writers Children’s Book Award | Winner | [15] |
1988 | The Zebra Wall | Council of Wisconsin Writers Children’s Book Award | Winner | [15] |
1991 | Chrysanthemum | Council of Wisconsin Writers Children’s Book Award | Winner | [15] |
1993 | Owen | Archer-Eckblad Children’s Picture Book Award | Winner | [15] |
Words of Stone | Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature | Nominee | ||
Elizabeth Burr / Worzalla Award | Winner | |||
1994 | Owen | Caldecott Medal | Honor | [22] |
1996 | Protecting Marie | Elizabeth Burr / Worzalla Award | Winner | |
1997 | Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse | American Booksellers Book of the Year: Children's | Winner | [23] |
1999 | Circle Dogs | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] |
2003 | Owen's Marshmallow Chick | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] |
2004 | Kitten's First Full Moon | Betty Ren Wright Children’s Picture Book Award | Honorable Mention | [15] |
Olive's Ocean | Newbery Medal | Honor | [25] | |
2005 | Kitten's First Full Moon | Caldecott Medal | Winner | [26] |
Charlotte Zolotow Award | Winner | [24] | ||
Midwest Booksellers' Choice Award for Children's Picture Book | Winner | [27] | ||
2007 | A Good Day | Midwest Booksellers' Choice Awards | Winner | [28] |
Lilly's Big Day | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] | |
2008 | A Good Day | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] |
2009 | Birds | Great Lakes Book Awards | Finalist | [29] |
Old Bear | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] | |
Great Lakes Book Awards | Finalist | [29] | ||
2010 | Birds | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Honor | [24] |
My Garden | Goodreads Choice Award for Picture Book | Nominee | [30] | |
2011 | Little White Rabbit | Goodreads Choice Award for Picture Book | Nominee | [31] |
My Garden | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] | |
2012 | Jessica | ALSC Notable Children's Recordings | Selection | [32] |
2014 | Penny and Her Marble | Theodor Seuss Geisel Award | Honor | [33] |
The Year of Billy Miller | Elizabeth Burr / Worzalla Award | Winner | ||
Newbery Medal | Honor | [25] | ||
E. B. White Read Aloud Award | Finalist | [34] | ||
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse | ABA Picture Book Hall of Fame | Finalist | [34] | |
2015 | Waiting | Goodreads Choice Award for Best Picture Books | Nominee | [35] |
2016 | ALSC Notable Children's Books | Selection | [36] [37] | |
Caldecott Medal | Honor | [38] [39] | ||
Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] | ||
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award | Honor | [40] | ||
2018 | Egg | Eisner Award for Best Publication for Early Readers | Finalist | [41] |
In the Middle of Fall | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] | |
2019 | A Parade of Elephants | ALSC Notable Children's Books | Selection | [42] |
Winter is Here | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] | |
A Parade of Elephants | ALSC Notable Children's Books | Selection | [43] | |
2020 | Sun Flower Lion | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] |
2020 | Children's Literature Legacy Award | Winner | [5] | |
2022 | Little Houses | Charlotte Zolotow Award | Highly commended | [24] |
The Billy Miller books are published by Greenwillow Books.
The Mouse books are published by Greenwillow Books.
The Penny books are published by Greenwillow Books.
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It was a lifetime award in that previous winners were not eligible. At least from 2000 the prize was £1,500. The prize was apparently discontinued after 2016, though no formal announcement appears to have been made.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a children's picture book written and illustrated by William Steig, and published in 1969. It won the Caldecott Medal in 1970.
Carole Boston Weatherford is an American author and critic. She has published over 50 children's books, primarily non-fiction and poetry. The music of poetry has fascinated Weatherford and motivated her literary career. She has won multiple awards for her books, including the 2022 Coretta Scott King Award for Author for her book Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre. As a critic, she is best known for her controversial criticism of Pokémon character Jynx and Dragon Ball character Mr. Popo.
Janina Domańska was a Polish-born American artist, author and illustrator. She is best known for her self-illustrated children's books. She won a Caldecott Honor for her book If All the Seas Were One Sea in 1972.
Candlewick Press, established in 1992 and located in Somerville, Massachusetts, is part of the Walker Books group. The logo depicting a bear carrying a candle is based on Walker Books's original logo.
Kitten's First Full Moon is an American children's picture book written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes. Published in 2004, the book tells the story of a kitten who thinks the moon is a bowl of milk and tries many different attempts to drink it. Henkes won the 2005 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations. The book is in black and white and typeset in sans-serif. The idea came from a line in another book by Henkes, "The cat thought the moon was a bowl of milk." Henkes gradually expanded on that for Kitten's First Full Moon.
The Pura Belpré Award is a recognition presented to a Latino or Latina author and illustrator whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. It was established in 1996. It was given every other year since 1996 until 2009 when it was changed to be given annually.
The Branford Boase Award is a British literary award presented annually to an outstanding children's or young-adult novel by a first-time writer; "the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist." The award is shared by both the author and their editor, which The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature noted is unusual for literary awards.
Alice Dalgliesh was a naturalized American writer and publisher who wrote more than 40 fiction and non-fiction books, mainly for children. She has been called "a pioneer in the field of children's historical fiction". Three of her books were runners-up for the annual Newbery Medal, the partly autobiographical The Silver Pencil, The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, and The Courage of Sarah Noble, which was also named to the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award list.
The Charlotte Zolotow Award is an American literary award presented annually for outstanding writing in a picture book published in the United States during the preceding year. By contrast, the Caldecott Medal is for outstanding illustration in a picture book. The Zolotow award was established in 1998 by the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education and named to honor the work of Charlotte Zolotow, an American children's book editor and author. Ms. Zolotow worked with Harper Junior Books for 38 years during which time she wrote more than 70 picture books. Zolotow attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison on a writing scholarship from 1933 to 36. The Cooperative Children's Book Center is a children's literature library of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Doreen Cronin is an American writer of children's books, including Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, a very well-received picture book illustrated by Betsy Lewin.
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Anita Lobel is a Polish-American illustrator of children's books, including On Market Street, written by her husband Arnold Lobel and a Caldecott Honor Book for illustration, A New Coat for Anna, Alison's Zinnia, and This Quiet Lady. One Lighthouse, One Moon, one of three books she created about her cat, Nini, is a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. Her childhood memoir, No Pretty Pictures, was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Candace Groth Fleming is an American writer of children's books, both fiction and non-fiction. She is the author of more than twenty books for children and young adults, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize-honored The Family Romanov and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns, among others.
Kyo Maclear is a Canadian novelist and children's author.
The Year of Billy Miller, a 2014 children's book written by Kevin Henkes, was a Newbery Honor book in 2014.
Peter Brown is an American writer and illustrator who is best known for children's picture books. He won a Caldecott Honor in 2013 for his illustration of Creepy Carrots!
Melissa Sweet is an American illustrator and writer of nearly 100 books for children and young readers.
Michaela Goade is a Native American illustrator. A member of the Tlingit and Haida tribes, she is known for her work on picture books about Indigenous people. She won the 2021 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations in We Are Water Protectors and is the first Indigenous artist to receive the award. Her book, Berry Song, was a Caldecott Honor book in 2023.
Watercress is a children's book written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin, and published on March 30, 2021 by Neal Porter Books.