The NCTE Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children was established in 2014 to promote and recognize excellence in the writing of fiction for children. This award recognizes fiction that has the potential to transform children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder.
Congratulations to the 2025 Winner
The Last Stand
Written by Antwan Eady
Illustrated by Jarrett & Jerome Pumphrey
(Knopf Books for Young Readers)
A love letter to Black farmers; shared responsibility in community creates abundance.
Honor Books
Recommended Books
Award Details
Nomination Deadline: October 15
The NCTE Charlotte Huck Award® for Outstanding Fiction for Children commemorates the work of educator Charlotte Huck, who led children’s literature studies at The Ohio State University from the mid-1950s to 1986, championing the classroom use of storybooks to teach reading and language arts. She was the author of five editions of the textbook Children’s Literature in the Classroom. Huck died in 2005.
Members of the Charlotte Huck Award® Committee select the award recipient and up to five Honor books annually. Up to eight Recommended books are also selected.
Learn more about the Committee and apply to be a member.
Books must have been published or distributed in the United States or its territories during the preceding year. Please see submission information for details on how to submit books published in November or December of the calendar year. Nominations of individual books may come from publishers, the NCTE membership, and the educational community at large. The books can be picture books, novels, graphic novels—any type of fiction—and they should have exemplary literary quality of text and illustrations. In addition, the books should connect children to their own humanity and offer them a rich experience with the power to influence their lives and stretch their thinking, feelings, and imagination.
The award shall be given to fiction for children that has the potential to transform children’s lives.
• Fiction that invites compassion, imagination, and wonder.
• Fiction that connects children to their own humanity and offers them a rich experience with the power to influence their lives.
• Fiction that stretches children’s thinking, feelings, and imagination.
• Fiction that exhibits literary quality of text and illustrations.
• Fiction that is published in the United States or its territories during the previous calendar year.
• Fiction for whom the primary audience is children ages three to twelve.
The award is presented annually by the Charlotte Huck Award® Committee at the Children’s Book Awards Luncheon during the NCTE Annual Convention.
The award-winning author and/or illustrator receives a plaque and is the featured keynote speaker at the luncheon.
The Honor book authors and/or illustrators are recognized, receive a certificate, and may be invited to present at a session following the luncheon.
Nominations must be submitted to the Award Committee by October 15.
We request early submission whenever possible to give the committee enough time to review all submissions. One copy of each nominated book should be sent to the committee members for examination. Digital copies are welcome and can be emailed directly to the committee members. Advance copies or galley proofs are acceptable and encouraged, especially for books published in October due to their proximity to the deadline. Hard copies are still requested in addition to the digital versions so that the committee can fully evaluate each work. Books published in November or December have the option to be considered for the next Award cycle instead. Publishers or authors should contact NCTE as soon as possible to confirm submission details.
Contact bookawards@ncte.org with the title(s), author(s), and publication date(s) of the books you are nominating, as well as the award for which you would like to be considered. We will give you the award committee contact information to send the books to the members directly. No other forms are required. NCTE members should use the submission form on the Children’s Book Award homepage.
Charlotte Huck Award® seals are available to accompany winning books and their future printings. The seals serve to endorse the excellence of the books and distinguish them from among the thousands of books published each year.
Complimentary digital seals are available to the winning authors and their publishers. These are available in color or black and white. Please contact Sarah Miller, bookawards@ncte.org, to make this request.
Physical sticker seals can be purchased in our webstore. They are available in gold for winning books, silver for Honor books, and bronze for Recommended books.
Many of the Charlotte Huck Award® Winner, Honor, and Recommended books are available in one place on Bookshop.org at NCTE’s shop. (NCTE and independent bookstores receive a commission for purchases made through this link.)