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Coretta Scott King Book Awards

The awards were founded in 1969 in order to promote minority writers, with the first author awarded the prize in 1970. Awards for illustrators were added in 1974.

Author Winners & Honor Books 1970-1979

Winner

Martin Luther King, Jr. : Man of Peace by Lillie Patterson

No Honor Books were given in 1970

Winner

Black Troubadour : Langston Hughesby Charlemae Rollins


Honor Books

  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
  • Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
  • I Am a Black Woman by Man Evans
  • Every Man Heart Lay Down by Lorenz Graham
  • The Voice of the Children by June Jordan and Terri Bush
  • Black Means by Gladys Groom and Barney Grossman
  • Ebony Book of Black Achievement by Margaret W. Peters
  • Mary Jo's Grandmother y Janice May Udry

Winner

17 Black Artists by Elton Fax

No Honor Books were given in 1972

Winner

I Never Had It Made : an Autobiography of Jackie Robinson by Alfred Duckett

No Honor Books were given in 1973

Winner

Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis ; illustrated by George Ford


Honor Books

  • A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwichby Alice Childress
  • Don't You Remember? by Lucille Clifton
  • Ms. Africa : Profiles of Modern African Women by Louise Crane
  • Guest in the Promised Land by Kristin Hunter
  • Mukasa by John Nagenda

Winner

The Legend of Africania by Dorothy Robinson

No Honor Books were given in 1975

Winner

Duey's Tale by Pearl Bailey


Honor Books

  • Julius K. Nyerer : Teacher of Africa by Shirley Graham
  • Paul Robeson by Eloise Greenfield
  • Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff by Walter Dean Myers
  • Song of the Trees by Mildred Taylor

Winner

The Story of Stevie Wonder by James Haskins


Honor Books

  • Everett Anderson's Friend by Lucille Clifton
  • Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
  • Quiz Book on Black Americaby Clarence N. Blake and Donald F. Martin

Winner

Africa Dream by Eloise Greenfield; illustrated by Carole Byard


Honor Books

  • The Days When the Animals Talked : Black Folk Tales and How They Came to Be  William J. Faulkner
  • Marvin and Tige by Francina Glass
  • Mary McCleod Bethune by Eloise Greenfield
  • Barbara Jordan  by James Haskins
  • Coretta Scott King  by Lillie Patterson
  • Portia : the Life of Portia Washington Pittman, the Daughter of Booker T. Washington by Ruth Ann Stewart

Winner

Escape to Freedom  by Ossie Davis


Honor Books

  • Benjamin Banneker  by Lillie Patterson
  • I Have a Sister, My Sister is Deafby Jeanne W. Peterson
  • Justice and Her Brothers by Virginia Hamilton
  • Skates of Uncle Richard by Carol Fenner

Illustrator Winners & Honor Books 1974-1979

Winner

Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis ; illustrated by George Ford

No Honor Books were given in 1974

No illustrator awards were given in 1975

No illustrator awards were given in 1976

No illustrator awards were given in 1977

Winner

Africa Dream by Eloise Greenfield; illustrated by Carole Byard


No Honor Books were given in 1974

Winner

Something On My Mind illustrated by Tom Feelings


No Honor Books were given in 1974