The Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children, established in 2014 and organized by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), is an annual American literary award for children's fiction books. According to NCTE, the "award recognizes fiction that has the potential to transform children’s lives by inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder."[1]
The award honors Charlotte Huck, a former NCTE president[2] and American author, university professor, and children's literature expert. Huck, who taught elementary school before joining the Faculty of Education at the Ohio State University, "believed that good literature should be at the heart and center of the elementary school curriculum."[3] [4] Given this belief, she established the university's first course in children's literature and eventually "develop[ed] master's and doctoral programs in children's literature."
To be eligible for the Charlotte Huck Award, books "must have been published or distributed in the United States or its territories during the preceding year." All genres of fictional books aimed at children are eligible for the award, including picture books, graphic novels, novels written in verse, etc. NCTE indicates nominated books "should have exemplary literary quality of text and illustrations" and "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."
Eligible books are judged on the following criteria:
| 2015 | Rain Reign | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honor | ||||
| El Deafo | Honor | |||
| Honor | ||||
| Absolutely Almost | Honor | |||
| Revolution | Honor | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Recommended | ||||
| Recommended | ||||
| Otis and the Scarecrow | Recommended | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Recommended | ||||
| Recommended | ||||
| 2016 | Stella by Starlight | Winner | [6] [7] | |
| Paper Things | Honor | |||
| Little Tree | Honor | |||
| , illus. by Taeeun Yoo | Strictly No Elephants | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Eric Velasquez | New Shoes | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Jamie Hogan | Tiger Boy | Honor | ||
| Crenshaw | Recommended | |||
| Circus Mirandus | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Rafael Yockteng, trans. by Elisa Amado | Two White Rabbits | Recommended | ||
| Little Elliot, Big Family | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Christian Robinson | Last Stop on Market Street | Recommended | ||
| , illus. by Chris Van Dusen | Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon: Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Volume Two | Recommended | ||
| Melissa | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Sydney Smith | Sidewalk Flowers | Recommended | ||
| 2017 | Ghost | Winner | [8] [9] | |
| Ms. Bixby’s Last Day | Honor | |||
| Honor | ||||
| Honor | ||||
| , Illus. by Mike Curato | Worm Loves Worm | Honor | ||
| Honor | ||||
| , Illus. by Oliver Dominguez | Luis Paints the World | Recommended | ||
| , illus. by Hatem Aly | Recommended | |||
| One Half from the East | Recommended | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Hoot and Peep | Recommended | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Recommended | ||||
| Wolf Hollow | Recommended | |||
| 2018 | After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again | Winner | [10] | |
| Forever or a Long Long Time | Honor | |||
| , illus. by Eugene Yelchin | Honor | |||
| Little Fox in the Forest | Honor | |||
| Refugee | Honor | |||
| Honor | ||||
| , illus. by Charles Santoso | Wishtree | Recommended | ||
| , Illus. by Gordon C. James | Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut | Recommended | ||
| Big Cat, Little Cat | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Quin Leng | Shelter | Recommended | ||
| Saving Marty | Recommended | |||
| All’s Faire in Middle School | Recommended | |||
| Amina’s Voice | Recommended | |||
| Stef Soto, The Taco Queen | Recommended | |||
| 2019 | Sweep: The Story of a Girl and her Monster | Winner | ||
| , illus. by Rebecca Cobb | Honor | |||
| Everything Else in the Universe | Honor | |||
| , Charles Waters, Sean Qualls, and Selina Alko | Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship | Honor | ||
| Merci Suárez Changes Gear | Honor | |||
| Ghost Boys | Honor | |||
| Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World | Recommended | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Lifeboat 12 | Recommended | |||
| Kerascoët | I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness | Recommended | ||
| , illus. by Dan Santat | Drawn Together | Recommended | ||
| Alma and How She Got Her Name | Recommended | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| , illus. by Rafael López | Recommended | |||
| 2020 | , Illus. by Terri Rose Baynton | Room on Our Rock | Winner | [11] [12] [13] |
| New Kid | Honor | |||
| I Can Make This Promise | Honor | |||
| , illus. by Kaylani Juanita | When Aidan Became a Brother | Honor | [14] | |
| , illus. by Sara Palacios | Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border | Honor | ||
| Other Words for Home | Honor | |||
| For Black Girls Like Me | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal | Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story | Recommended | ||
| Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Daniel Egnéus | Lubna and Pebble | Recommended | ||
| , illus. by Hatem Aly, with S. K. Ali | Recommended | |||
| Planet Earth Is Blue | Recommended | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Roll With It | Recommended | |||
| 2021 | , illus by Gordon C. James | I Am Every Good Thing | Winner | [15] |
| Honor | ||||
| and Omar Mohamed | When Stars Are Scattered | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Michaela Goade | We Are Water Protectors | Honor | ||
| Quintessence | Honor | |||
| Land of the Cranes | Honor | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Efrén Divided | Recommended | |||
| When You Trap a Tiger | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Anait Semirdzhyan | Recommended | |||
| Hike | Recommended | |||
| and Walker Ranson | Braver: A Wombat’s Tale | Recommended | ||
| Ways to Make Sunshine | Recommended | |||
| Alice’s Farm: A Rabbit's Tale | Recommended | |||
| 2022 | Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls | Winner | [16] | |
| , illus. by Julia Iredale | Amber and Clay | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Nabi H. Ali | Laxmi’s Mooch | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Akeem S. Roberts | J. D. and the Great Barber Battle | Honor | ||
| Starfish | Honor | |||
| , illus. by Tara Audibert | Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be-Best Friend | Honor | ||
| Recommended | ||||
| Dumplings for Lili | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Natasha Donovan | Borders | Recommended | ||
| Recommended | ||||
| Recommended | ||||
| , illus. by Jon Klassen | Pax, Journey Home | Recommended | ||
| , illus. by Ana Ramírez González | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Loren Long | Someone Builds the Dream | Recommended | ||
| 2023 | Wayward Creatures | Winner | ||
| Honor | ||||
| , illus. by Wastana Haikal | Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Jonathan Nelson | Forever Cousins | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Luisa Uribe | My Brother Is Away | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Charlene Chua | Love, Violet | Honor | ||
| , illus. by Magdalena Mora | Recommended | |||
| Draw | Recommended | |||
| Recommended | ||||
| Wildoak | Recommended | |||
| , illus. by Tonya Engel | My Hands Tell a Story | Recommended | ||
| , illus. by Il Sung Na | Big Bear and Little Fish | Recommended | ||
| Recommended | ||||
| , illus. by Molly Brooks | Growing Pangs | Recommended | ||
| Gibberish | Recommended |