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Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award 

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Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award 

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The (Robert F.) Sibert Award Medal was established by the Association for Library service to Children in 2001. The award is in honor of Robert F. Sibert. Sibert was a proud advocate for library education, encouraged excellence in informational books, and overall supported the upbringing of children's literature. Sibert was the president of Bound to Stay Bound Books made in 1984. The Bound to Stay Bound Books provides a BTSB Scholarship. The scholarship helps individuals with financial assistance for their education, to those who intend to pursue an MLS or advanced degree, and who plan to work in the area of library service to children.

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Criteria

Excellent, engaging, and distinctive use of language and visual presentation.

Appropriate organization and documentation.

Clear, accurate, and stimulating presentation of facts, concepts, and ideas.

Appropriate style of presentation for subject and for intended audience.

Supportive features (index, table of contents, maps, timelines.)

Respectful and of interest to children.

Terms

Folktales and other traditional literature are not eligible. There are no other limitations as to the character of the book providing it is an original work.

The award is restricted to authors, author/illustrator, co-authors, or author and illustrator named on the title page who are citizens or residents of the United States only.

The award is restricted to original work first published in the United States.

The award may be given after an author's death.

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The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus 

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The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus 

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In "The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus" author Jen Bryant and illustrator Melissa Sweet bring to life the story behind the man who created the first thesaurus, Peter Mark Roget. Bryant captures the essence of Roget's lifelong passion for words and language. The book details his accomplishments but also emphasizes the importance of language shaping human expression. The book highlights Roget’s quiet determination and his struggles with shyness, as well as his drive to categorize and define the world through language/words.

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One main reason Brown Girl Dreaming did not win the award was because Brown Girl Dreaming is a memoir. The Sibert Medal is focused on non-fiction works that present factual information in a way that is engaging and informative. Brown Girl Dreaming, although an incredibly powerful book, is more of a personal narrative of Woodson's childhood and her experiences growing up as an African American girl in the 1960s and 1970s. While it is deeply insightful and addresses important social and historical themes, its poetic nature and focus on storytelling places it outside of the terms and criteria of the award.

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Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, written by Kevin Noble Maillard and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (Medal Winner)

Grand Canyon, written and illustrated by Jason Chin

Jumper: A Day in the Life of the Backyard Jumping Spider, written and illustrated by Jessica Lanan

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The reason not all books can win the Robert F. Sibert Medal Award is due to the selection process. The winner of Sibert Award is determined by a committee of experts and children's librarians who evaluate a large number of books that meet the criteria. The committee looks for several key factors such as accuracy of information, clarity, appeal, design, illustrations, and presentation style. It can be hard to include all that in one book and nail it. Books that did not win may have lacked the same balance of high-quality writing and illustrative design and may have not been as engaging or impactful as the winner, The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus.

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If I am being honest, I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. The author detailed Roget's early life, how he developed the thesaurus due to his passion for words, with key theme of pursuit of knowledge. I really feel like the author showed Roget's persistence to always keep writing down words and how he kept up with other things. The author did a great job of being educational but also kept me engaged. What I most enjoyed was the illustrations. The illustrations at first, I did not get. The illustrations included scribbles of words, almost like annotations but once I started getting more context the illustrations became clear. Once I got the illustrations down, I understood the book completely.