NCTE, through the Committee on the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, has established an annual award for promoting and recognizing excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children. The name Orbis Pictus, commemorates the work of Johannes Amos Comenius, Orbis Pictus—The World in Pictures (1657), considered to be the first book actually planned for children.

2013 Winning Titles

Monsieur Marceau: Actor without Words

by Leda Schubert ; illustrated by Gérard DuBoi
(Roaring Brook Press)

 

Honor Books

Citizen Scientist: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard
by Loree Griffin Burns, photographs by Ellen Harasimonwicz (Henry Holt & Company)

Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin
by Robert Byrd (Dial Books for Young Readers)

The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity
by Elizabeth Rusch (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children)

Those Rebels, John & Tom
by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edward Fotheringham (Scholastic)

We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March
by Cynthia Levinson (Peachtree Publishers)