Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award 2021 Winner & Nominees

2021 Winner & Nominees

2021 Winner

Not Your Nest

Written by Gideon Sterer
Illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi
Published by Dial Books for Young Readers

After Bird builds her nest, one perfect for her needs, she discovers that others also think it meets their needs: a warthog, a giraffe, a zebra (just to name a few). Is there a lesson learned from sharing?

2021 Nominees

At The Mountain's Base

Written by Traci Sorell
Illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre
Published by Kokila

A Cherokee family lives at the base of a mountain. Through a shared song, they find strength as they think of a female World War II pilot who has left the home.

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Written by Kevin Noble Maillard
Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
Published by Roaring Brook Press

Fry bread is food, shape, sound, color, shape, flavor, time, art, history, place, nation, us. Fry bread is everything.

The Home Builders

Written by Varsha Bajaj
Illustrated by Simona Mulazzani
Published by Nancy Paulsen Books

Animals throughout nature build homes from the elements of their surroundings. Homes are a place of security and new life.

If I Was the Sunshine

Written by Julie Fogliano
Illustrated by Loren Long
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers Books

Relationships in the natural world can be both simple and thought-provoking. Explore this connectivity through lyrical verse.

Is 2 A Lot? An Adventure with Numbers

Written by Annie Watson
Illustrated by Rebecca Evans
Published by Tilbury House

Understand how the amounts of different things is relative to the item being compared. Four may be a lot of dogs to walk at once, but not so many if counting children sitting on a bus.

Mae Among the Stars

Written by Roda Ahmed
Illustrated by Stasia Burrington
Published by Harper

Mae Jemison was the first African American woman in space. Mae’s childhood was filled with dreaming and preparing to be among the stars.

Señorita Mariposa

Written by Ben Gundersheimer
Illustrated by Marcos Almada Rivero
Published by Nancy Paulsen Books

The migration of a monarch butterfly is shared in a bilingual song. Alternating between English and Spanish, the reader learns of the long journey from Canada to Mexico.

When You Are Brave

Written by Pat Zietlow Miller
Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Moving from one place to another can involve goodbyes, worries, and feeling alone. Finding the courage in oneself can lead to new adventures.

You are Home: An Ode to National Parks

Written by Evan Turk
Illustrated by Evan Turk
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

The beauty of multiple national parks across the United States are expressed in poetic verse. Explore the relationship between the natural inhabitants and humans. Both of which call each park home.