• The 2020 A Baker’s Dozen: Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy booklist includes: "Astro Girl" by Ken Wilson-Max, "Snack Attack!" by Terry Border, "One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller" by Kate Read, and <a href="https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/awards-contests/bakers-dozen">more... </a>

    2020 Baker's Dozen Winners

    The 2020 A Baker’s Dozen: Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy booklist includes: "Astro Girl" by Ken Wilson-Max, "Snack Attack!" by Terry Border, "One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller" by Kate Read, and more...

    Tune in to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCve4tLb8bIVFvdcg1pQI49Q/featured" > our YouTube page</a> for video highlights of our awards & programs, including A Baker’s Dozen storytimes with Asst. Director, Ellysa Stern Cahoy, Public Poetry Project presentations, Poems from Life readings, & more!

    Visit us on YouTube!

    Tune in to our YouTube page for video highlights of our awards & programs, including A Baker’s Dozen storytimes with Asst. Director, Ellysa Stern Cahoy, Public Poetry Project presentations, Poems from Life readings, & more!

    This year’s winner is <a href="https://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/awards-contests/lee-bennett-hopkins-poetry-award">“On the Horizon”</a>, a novel-in-verse that reflects on World War II from both sides, by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Kenard Pak (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)!

    2021 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award

    This year’s winner is “On the Horizon”, a novel-in-verse that reflects on World War II from both sides, by Lois Lowry, illustrated by Kenard Pak (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers)!

    Winner, “Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World's Most Infamous Prison” edited by Sarah Mirk (Abrams ComicArts), is a collection of journalistic narratives on the experiences within the US justice system - <a href="https://www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu/awards-contests/lynd-ward-graphic-novel-prize">read more here</a>, and about honor books, “Dragon Hoops” by Gene Luen Yang (First Second Books) and "Welcome to the New World" by Jake Halpern & Michael Sloan!</p>

    2021 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize

    Winner, “Guantanamo Voices: True Accounts from the World's Most Infamous Prison” edited by Sarah Mirk (Abrams ComicArts), is a collection of journalistic narratives on the experiences within the US justice system - read more here, and about honor books, “Dragon Hoops” by Gene Luen Yang (First Second Books) and "Welcome to the New World" by Jake Halpern & Michael Sloan!

    Travel valleys & verses along Route 1 with this year’s poetry theme, featuring Pennsylvania's pick: "Shale Play: Poems and Photographs from the Fracking Fields," a lush, multiple-view journey through communities touched by fracking, by poet Julia Spicher Kasdorf & photographer Steven Rubin (Penn State Press) - <a href="https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/route1reads-2021">learn more here...!</a>

    Route1Reads

    Travel valleys & verses along Route 1 with this year’s poetry theme, featuring Pennsylvania's pick: "Shale Play: Poems and Photographs from the Fracking Fields," a lush, multiple-view journey through communities touched by fracking, by poet Julia Spicher Kasdorf & photographer Steven Rubin (Penn State Press) - learn more here...!

Welcome

With a mission to study, honor, celebrate, and promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy in Pennsylvania (PA), the PA Center for the Book sponsors several literary awards and events, and develops a wide range of educational content across multiple media to connect with its broad audience and to celebrate PA’s continued contributions to culture and literature.

Explore this site to learn more about the Center’s Literary & Cultural Heritage Map of PA, the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award for Children’s Poetry, Baker’s Dozen List of Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy, and so much more!

Read more about the Center’s background here…

Events!

Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize
Celebratory Event with 2021 Winner: Sarah Mirk
Tue, November 16, 2021
- View Recorded Event! -

What's New?

Sarah Mirk's 'Guantanamo Voices' wins 2021 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize
- View Recorded Event! -

Wordstruck Micro Essay Contest for High School Students Opens October 11

Curricula & geospatial tech join forces in Cross-referencing Maps to Restore Missing Voices

Lois Lowry receives Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award October 20
- View recorded event! -