Kerlan Award
Encyclopedia
The Kerlan Award is a literary award given by the University of Minnesota
's Kerlan Collection, a special library focusing on children's literature. Many awards focus on the finished product, but the Kerlan Award is given based on the creative process. It is given "In recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation for generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature."
Further refinement of the original guidelines have defined 'singular attaiments' as peer acceptance, volume of work and a high standard of quality and the term 'generous donation' was tied directly to high research value in the area of children's literature.
native who earned his medical degree through the University of Minnesota
. Throughout a successful medical career, which included working for the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA), and lecturing throughout the United States he also collected children's books, artwork and manuscripts. His collection was so well respected that he loaned many of his piece out to libraries and museums both within the United States and abroad.
As his collecting hobby advanced, he began writing to authors and illustrators requesting meetings. He would invite them to his home, or visit them as his lecture schedule allowed. He often had books and manuscripts inscribed by these artists and writers. He became an Honorary Consultant on Children's Books for the Smithsonian Institution
from 1958 to 1961 and had three of his exhibits travel through Europe, Asia and the Middle East after being sponsored by the U. S. Department of State.
Kerlan was killed in an automobile accident in 1976 and his collection of over 9,000 books, 180 manuscripts and many illustrations was willed to the University of Minnesota. There were also many types of correspondence with authors, artists, editors.
Kerlan was the first of many estates given to the University of Minnesota libraries, and together these collections have become known as the Children's Literature Research Center (CLRC). Many famous authors and illustrators have donated works to the collection as well. Lois Lowry
has given her original corrected manuscripts for thirteen novels, including her Newbery Award winning Number the Stars
and The Giver
. James Marshall has donated hundreds of sketches including many from the George and Martha
and Miss Nelson series.
There are over 1,800 authors and illustrators represented in the collection with an item count of over 200,000.
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
's Kerlan Collection, a special library focusing on children's literature. Many awards focus on the finished product, but the Kerlan Award is given based on the creative process. It is given "In recognition of singular attainments in the creation of children's literature and in appreciation for generous donation of unique resources to the Kerlan Collection for the study of children's literature."
Criteria for award
- The writer or illustrator must be represented within the Kerlan Collection
- The award should promote the goals of the collection and,
- that 'contribution' would emphasize the creative process.
- Awards may be given to a living person or posthumously.
Further refinement of the original guidelines have defined 'singular attaiments' as peer acceptance, volume of work and a high standard of quality and the term 'generous donation' was tied directly to high research value in the area of children's literature.
The Kerlan Collection
Irvine Kerlan, M.D. was a MinnesotaMinnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
native who earned his medical degree through the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
. Throughout a successful medical career, which included working for the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
(FDA), and lecturing throughout the United States he also collected children's books, artwork and manuscripts. His collection was so well respected that he loaned many of his piece out to libraries and museums both within the United States and abroad.
As his collecting hobby advanced, he began writing to authors and illustrators requesting meetings. He would invite them to his home, or visit them as his lecture schedule allowed. He often had books and manuscripts inscribed by these artists and writers. He became an Honorary Consultant on Children's Books for the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
from 1958 to 1961 and had three of his exhibits travel through Europe, Asia and the Middle East after being sponsored by the U. S. Department of State.
Kerlan was killed in an automobile accident in 1976 and his collection of over 9,000 books, 180 manuscripts and many illustrations was willed to the University of Minnesota. There were also many types of correspondence with authors, artists, editors.
Kerlan was the first of many estates given to the University of Minnesota libraries, and together these collections have become known as the Children's Literature Research Center (CLRC). Many famous authors and illustrators have donated works to the collection as well. Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s...
has given her original corrected manuscripts for thirteen novels, including her Newbery Award winning Number the Stars
Number the Stars
Number the Stars is a work of historical fiction about the Holocaust of the Second World War by award-winning author Lois Lowry. The story centers around ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen, who lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1943 and was caught up in the events surrounding the rescue of the Danish...
and The Giver
The Giver
The Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life...
. James Marshall has donated hundreds of sketches including many from the George and Martha
George and Martha
George and Martha is an animated children's television show which comprises 26 episodes made in 1999. The program revolves around the lives of two hippos: George and Martha...
and Miss Nelson series.
There are over 1,800 authors and illustrators represented in the collection with an item count of over 200,000.
History of The Kerlan Award
The Kerlan Award was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kelan Collection coming to the University of Minnesota library. It was given the distinction of being a Presidential Citation at its creation.Kerlan Award recipients
| Year | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Marie Hall Ets Marie Hall Ets Marie Hall Ets is an American author and illustrator. She attended Lawrence College, and in 1918, Mrs. Ets journeyed to Chicago where she became a social worker at the Chicago Commons, a settlement house on the northwest side of the city. In 1960 she won the Caldecott Medal for her illustrations... |
|
| Marguerite Henry Marguerite Henry Marguerite Henry was an American writer. Henry inspired children all over the world with her love of animals, especially horses. The author of fifty-nine books based on true stories of horses and other animals, her work has captivated entire generations of children and young adults and won... |
||
| Elizabeth Coatsworth Elizabeth Coatsworth Elizabeth Jane Coatsworth was an American author of children's fiction and poetry. Her novel The Cat Who Went to Heaven won the 1931 Newbery Medal.... |
||
| 1976 | Roger Duvoisin Roger Duvoisin Roger Duvoisin was a Swiss-American author and illustrator. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, his first job was making textiles. He moved to New York City in 1927 where he wrote his first book.-Books and awards:... |
|
| 1977 | Wanda Gag Wanda Gág Wanda Hazel Gág was an American author and illustrator. She was born on March 11, 1893, in New Ulm, Minnesota. Her mother and father were of Bohemian descent. Both parents were artists who had met in Germany. They had seven children, who all acquired some level of artistic talent... |
|
| 1978 | Carol Ryrie Brink Carol Ryrie Brink Carol Ryrie Brink was an American author of over thirty juvenile and adult books. Her novel Caddie Woodlawn won the 1936 Newbery Medal... |
|
| 1979 | Margot Zemach Margot Zemach Margot Zemach was an American illustrator of more than forty children's books, many of them adaptations of folk tales from around the world.... |
|
| 1980 | Glen Rounds | |
| 1981 | Tomie dePaola Tomie dePaola Thomas Anthony "Tomie A." dePaola , is an American author and illustrator of over 200 children's books, including Caldecott Honor book Strega Nona and Newbery Honor book 26 Fairmount Avenue. DePaola was awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 2011.-Biography:DePaola was born in Meriden,... |
|
| 1982 | Jean Craighead George Jean Craighead George Jean Craighead George is an American author. She currently lives in Chappaqua, New York.Jean Craighead George has written over one hundred popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal and Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side... |
|
| 1983 | Katherine Paterson Katherine Paterson Katherine Paterson is an American author of children's novels. She wrote Bridge to Terabithia and has received several of the major international awards for children's literature.- Early life:... |
|
| 1984 | Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown Margaret Wise Brown was a prolific American author of children's literature, including the books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, both illustrated by Clement Hurd.-Biography:... and her Editors and Illustrators |
|
| 1985 | Eleanor Cameron Eleanor Cameron Eleanor Frances Butler Cameron was a Canadian children's author. Her first book was The Unheard Music, published in 1950.-Life:... |
|
| 1986 | Charlotte Zolotow Charlotte Zolotow Charlotte Zolotow is an American author, poet, editor, and publisher of many books for children .... |
|
| 1987 | Charles Mikolaycak | |
| 1988 | Jane Yolen Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen is an American author and editor of almost 300 books. These include folklore, fantasy, science fiction, and children's books... |
|
| 1989 | Gail E. Haley Gail E. Haley Gail E. Haley is an American author and illustrator. She was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She married mathematician Joseph A. Haley in 1959. Her first book, My Kingdom for a Dragon was published in 1962... |
|
| 1990 | Madeleine L'Engle Madeleine L'Engle Madeleine L'Engle was an American writer best known for her young-adult fiction, particularly the Newbery Medal-winning A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, and An Acceptable Time... |
|
| 1991 | Leonard Everett Fisher Leonard Everett Fisher Leonard Everett Fisher is an American artist who has illustrated about 260 books for young readers since 1955, authoring 90 of these.... |
|
| 1992 | Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney Barbara Cooney was an American children's author and illustrator of more than 200 books and double Caldecott Medalist. She has written books for six decades... |
|
| 1993 | Mary Stolz Mary Stolz Mary Stolz was an American writer of fiction for children and young adults. Her works received Newbery Honors in 1962 and 1966 and her entire body of work was awarded the George G. Stone Recognition of Merit in 1982.Her literary works range from picture books to young-adult novels... |
|
| 1994 | Myra Cohn Livingston | |
| 1995 | Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Phyllis Reynolds Naylor is an American author best known for her children and young adult fiction books. Naylor is best known for her children's-novel trilogy Shiloh , Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh, all made into movies... |
|
| Margot Tomes Margot Tomes Margot Ladd Tomes was an artist and children's book illustrator. In 1977 Jack and the Wonder Beans, which she illustrated was cited by The New York Times as one of the best Children's books of the year; a feat she repeated in 1984 with If There Were Dreams to Sell.-Life and career:She was born in ... |
||
| 1996 | Marion Dane Bauer | |
| Paul Galdone Paul Galdone Paul Galdone was a children's literature author and illustrator. He was born in Budapest and he emigrated to the United States in 1921. He studied art at the Art Student's League and New York School for Industrial Design... |
||
| 1997 | Theodore Taylor Theodore Taylor (author) Theodore Taylor was an American author of more than 50 fiction and non-fiction books for young adult readers, including The Cay, The Weirdo , Ice Drift, Timothy of the Cay, The Bomb, Sniper, and Rogue... |
|
| 1998 | Dahlov Ipcar Dahlov Ipcar Dahlov Ipcar is an American painter, illustrator and author. She is best known for her colorful, kaleidoscopic-styled paintings featuring animals - primarily in either farm or wild settings... |
|
| 1999 | Eve Bunting Eve Bunting Anne Evelyn Bunting , better known as Eve Bunting, is an Irish author who has written more than 250 books. Her work covers a broad array of subjects and includes fiction and non-fiction books. Her novels are primarily aimed at children and young adults, but her works also include picture books... |
|
| Lois Lenski Lois Lenski Lois Lenski was a popular and prolific American writer of children's and young adult fiction.One of her projects was a collection of regional novels about children across the United States... |
||
| Dr. Edward B. Stanford | Sandford had encouraged Kerlan to donate his collection to the U of M library and, upon Kerlan's unexpected death, he was the one to secure marshals to guard the house while the collection was evaluated, catalogued and moved. | |
| Dr. Norine Odland | Dr. Orland was one of the first to recognize the high research value of the collection and bring students to view the works presented. | |
| 2000 | Patricia Lauber | |
| 2001 | Jane Resh Thomas | |
| Don Freeman Don Freeman Don Freeman was a painter, printmaker, cartoonist, children's book author, and illustrator.-Early life:Freeman was born in San Diego, California, attended high school in Missouri, attended Principia College and later moved to New York City, where he studied etching at the Art Students League with... |
||
| 2002 | Joan Lowery Nixon Joan Lowery Nixon Joan Lowery Nixon was an American journalist and author, specializing in historical fiction and mysteries for children and young adults.-Biography:... |
|
| Barbara Esbensen | ||
| 2003 | Nikki Grimes Nikki Grimes Nikki Grimes is an American author and illustrator of books written for children and young adults, as well as a poet and journalist. Grimes was born in Harlem, New York.... |
|
| Gustaf Tenggren Gustaf Tenggren Gustaf Adolf Tenggren was a Swedish-American illustrator. He is known for his Arthur Rackham-influenced fairy-tale style and use of silhouetted figures with caricatured faces... |
||
| 2004 | Lois Lowry Lois Lowry Lois Lowry is an American author of children's literature. She began her career as a photographer and a freelance journalist during the early 1970s... |
|
| 2005 | Ted Rand | |
| 2006 | Karen Hesse Karen Hesse Karen Hesse is an American author of children's literature and literature for young adults, often with historical settings.-Life:... |
|
| 2007 | Karen Cushman Karen Cushman Karen Cushman is an American writer of historical fiction. Her 1995 novel The Midwife's Apprentice won the Newbery Medal for children's literature, and her 1994 novel Catherine, Called Birdy won a Newbery Honor... |
|
| Louis Slobodkin Louis Slobodkin Louis Slobodkin , born in Albany, New York was a sculptor, author and illustrator of numerous children's books.... |
||
| 2008 | Walter Dean Myers Walter Dean Myers Walter Dean Myers is an African American author of young adult literature. Myers has written over fifty books, including novels and nonfiction works. He has won the Coretta Scott King Award for African American authors five times... |
|
| Robert Kraus Robert Kraus Robert Kraus was an American children's author, cartoonist and publisher. Founder and publisher of Windmill Books, author and illustrator of award-winning children's books, Kraus began as a cartoonist and cover artist for The New Yorker.- Biography :Robert Kraus was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin... |
||
| 2009 | Jeanette Winter |
See also
- Newbery MedalNewbery MedalThe John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
- Caldecott MedalCaldecott MedalThe Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children , a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children published that year. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English...
for outstanding American picture books - Carnegie Medal in Literature for outstanding children's books published in the United Kingdom
- Coretta Scott King AwardCoretta Scott King AwardThe Coretta Scott King Award is an annual award presented by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association...
for outstanding children's books related to the African-American experience - Guardian AwardGuardian AwardThe Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a prominent award for works of children's literature by British or Commonwealth authors, published in the United Kingdom during the preceding year. The award has been given annually since 1967, and is decided by a panel of authors and the...
for works of children's literature written by British or Commonwealth authors - Kate Greenaway MedalKate Greenaway MedalThe Kate Greenaway Medal was established in the United Kingdom in 1955 in honour of the children's illustrator, Kate Greenaway. The medal is given annually to an outstanding work of illustration in children's literature. It is awarded by Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
for outstanding works of illustration in children's literaure from the United Kingdom - Laura Ingalls Wilder MedalLaura Ingalls Wilder MedalThe Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal is a prize awarded by the American Library Association to writers or illustrators of children's books published in the United States who have over a period of years made substantial and lasting contributions to children's literature...
for outstanding lifetime contribution to children's literature
External links
- http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/kerlan/awards.php#3, Kerlan Award
- http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/kerlan/index.php, Kerlan Collection
- http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/kerlan/auweblinks.php Author & Illustrator holdings
- http://special.lib.umn.edu/clrc/kerlan/notable_holdings.php Kerlan Collection Notable Holdings