Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award

 

About the Award

This award was established by the Westchester Library System to honor Anne Izard, noted librarian, storyteller, and Children’s Services Consultant, who died in 1990. It is hoped the award will highlight and promote distinguished titles published in the field of storytelling and, in doing so, bring the many riches of storytelling itself to a much greater public recognition.

The Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award is sponsored by the Westchester Library Association. The award seeks to bring the riches of storytelling to greater public awareness by highlighting and promoting distinguished books on storytelling published for children and adults. Folklore, fiction, biography, and historical stories must be entirely successful without consideration of graphic elements. Books that enrich a storyteller’s understanding of story, folk traditions, aesthetics, and methods of storytelling are also eligible

The 17th Biennial Anne Izard Awards Ceremony

When: Wednesday, September 16th, 2026

Where: The Westchester Library System Conference Room

The Ceremony is open to the public. More information to come!

Books considered for the Seventeenth Award were original material, reprints, or new English translations published in the United States from July 1, 2023, through December 31, 2025.
 
Winners Are:
  • Becoming Baba Yaga: Trickster, Feminist and Witch of the Woods by Kris Spisak ( Hampton Roads)
  • Call Me Roberto: Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso (Calkin Creek)
  • Celtic Fairy Tales and Legends by Rosalind Kerven (Batsford Books)
  • Feisty Cinderella by Margaret Read MacDonald, Jen Whitman and Nat Whitman (Tellable Tales)
  • Fish of Small Wishes by Elana K. Arnold (Roaring Brokk Press)
  • Go Forth and Tell: the Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller by Breanna J. McDaniel (Dial Books)
  • Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer by Quartez Harris (Little Brown Books)
  • Greedy Wolf by Timothy Knapman (Candlewick Press)
  • Lighthouse and the Little Boat by Katie Frawley ( Quill Tree Books)
  • Littlest Drop by Sascha Alper (Anne Schwartz Books)
  • Old Clothes for Dinner by Nathalie Alonso (Barefoot Books)
  • Song of the Raven: an Inuit Tale of Harmony With Nature by Amanda Hall ( Wisdom Books.)
  • Tea With an Old Giant by Jane Yolen ( Reycraft Books)

Cumulative Lists of Winners

Other Links