The SCBWI 2025 Crystal Kite Award Winners

 Congratulations to all of the Crystal Kite Award Winners and Honor Winners!

Check out the authors and illustrators from all over who've won the 2025 Crystal Kite Award! You can order these amazing books HERE, as well at their links below! Cheers to those who continue to make beautiful works for children! 

Atlantic

Tricky Chopsticks 

By Sylvia Chen, illustrated by Fanny Liem

(Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

Honor Winner: 

Wind Is a Dance 

By Debra Shumaker, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon 

(Kids Can Press) 

California & Hawaii

The Man Who Didn't Like Animals 

By Deborah Underwood, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

(Clarion Books) 

Honor Winner:

The Night Market 

By Seina Wedlick, illustrated by Briana Mukodiri Uchendu

(Random House Studios) 

 

Midwest

A Little Like Magic 

Written and illustrated by Sarah Kurpiel

(Rocky Pond Books) 

Honor Winner:

Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi’s Fight to End Child Labor 

By Srividhya Venkat, illustrated by Danica da Silva Pereira

(little bee books)  

Midsouth

The Last Day Julian was My Best Friend 

By Jody Jensen Shaffer

(Two Lions) 

Honor Winner:

Stronger at the Seams 

By Shannon Stocker

(Blink, an imprint of HarperCollins Focus) 

New England

Small Things Mended 

By Casey W. Robinson, illustrated by Nancy Whitesides

(Rocky Pond Books) 

Honor Winner:

The Tree of Life: How a Holocaust Sapling Inspired the World 

By Elisa Boxer, illustrated by Alianna Rozentsveig

(Rocky Pond Books) 

New York

Five Stories 

Written and illustrated by Ellen Weinstein

(Holiday House) 

Honor Winner:

Building a Beak: How a Toucan's Rescue Inspired the World 

by Becca McMurdie

(Page Street Publishing) 

 

Southeast

Abuelita's Gift: A Día de Muertos Story 

By Mariana Ríos Ramírez, illustrated by Sara Palacios

(Knopf Books for Young Readers) 

Honor Winner:

Trunk Goes Thunk! 

By Heather Morris, illustrated by Chantelle Thorne and Burgen Thorne

(Gnome Road Publishing) 

Southwest

The Ofrenda That We Built 

By Jolene Gutiérrez & Shaian Gutiérrez, illustrated by Gabby Zapata

(Chronicle Books) 

Honor Winner:

Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park 

By Lori Alexander, illustrated by Jenn Ely

(Astra Young Readers) 

 

Texas & Oklahoma

Lupita's Brown Ballet Slippers 

By Steena Hernandez, illustrated by Melissa Castillo

(Beaming Books) 

Honor Winner: 

They Built Me for Freedom: The Story of Juneteenth and Houston's Emancipation Park 

By Tonya Duncan Ellis, illustrated by Jenin Mohammed

(Balzer + Bray) 

West

One Day This Tree Will Fall 

By Leslie Barnard Booth, illustrated by Stephanie Fizer Coleman

(Margaret K. McElderry Books) 

Honor Winner:

A Voice of Hope 

By Nadia Salomon, illustrated by London Ladd

(Penguin Random House) 

 

Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania

Happy All Over 

Written and illustrated by Emma Quay

(Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) 

Honor Winner:

Glow 

By Ross Morgan

(Walker Books) 

 

Canada & North America

Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains 

By Anita Yasuda, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

(Clarion Books) 

Honor Winner:

Making Sense of Dog Senses: How Our Furry Friends Experience the World 

By Stephanie Gibeault, illustrated by Raz Latif

(Owlkids) 

Europe & Central, South and Latin America & Africa

Bear's Big Idea 

By Sandra Nickel, illustrated by Il Sung Na

(Carolrhoda Books) 

Honor Winner:

HaiCuba / HaiKuba 

By Lawrence Schimel & Carlos Pintado, illustrated by Juan José Colsa

(NorthSouth Books) 

Middle and East Asia

Listening to Trees 

By Holly Thompson, illustrated by Toshiki Nakamura

(Neal Porter Books) 

Honor Winner:

Good Old Days Grandpa 

By Shirley Waisman

(Tal-May) 

United Kingdom and Ireland

East Asian Folktales, Myths and Legends 

By Eva Wong Nava

(Scholastic) 

Honor Winner:

12 Ways to Get a Ticket to Space 

By Kate Peridot, illustrated by Terri Po

(Quarto Children’s Books Ltd.)