2026 Golden Kite Winners and Honors

Each category winner received $2,500, while honor recipients were awarded $500. Hosted by SCBWI, the 2026 Golden Kite Awards were hosted live on Zoom on Friday, February 6, 2026.

Congratulations to our 2026 winners:

Sid Fleischman Humor Award

Winner: NEVER TAKE YOUR RHINO ON A PLANE (Clarion) written by KE Lewis and illustrated by Isabel Roxas

Honor: BIG CHANGES FOR PLUM! (Greenwillow Books) by Matt Phelan

Picture Book Text

Winner: WE GO SLOW (Atheneum) written by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie and illustrated by Aaron Becker

Honor: FIREWORKS (Clarion) written by Matthew Burgess and illustrated by Catia Chien

Picture Book Illustration

Winner: WHEN ALEXANDER GRACED THE TABLE (Denene Millner Books) illustrated by Frank Morrison and written by Alexander Smalls and Denene Millner

Honor: FIREWORKS (Clarion Books) illustrated by Catia Chien and written by Matthew Burgess

Nonfiction for Younger Readers

Winner: SOME OF US: A STORY OF CITIZENSHIP AND THE UNITED STATES (Christy Ottaviano Books) by Rajani LaRocca and illustrated by Huy Voun Lee

Honor: ONE GIRL'S VOICE: HOW LUCY STONE HELPED CHANGE THE LAW OF THE LAND (Calkins Creek) by Vivian Kirkfield and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon

Nonfiction for Older Readers

Winner: WHITE LIES: HOW THE SOUTH LOST THE CIVIL WAR, THEN REWROTE THE HISTORY (Roaring Brook Press) by Ann Bausum

Honor: WORLD WITHOUT SUMMER: A VOLCANO ERUPTS, A CREATURE AWAKENS, AND THE SUN GOES OUT (Random House Studio) by Nicholas Day and illustrated by Yas Imamura

Middle Grade

Winner: ONCE FOR YES (Feiwel and Friends) by Allie Millington

Honor: GABBY TORRES GETS A BILLION FOLLOWERS (Roaring Brook Press) by Angela Dominguez

Illustrated Older Reader

Winner: SONG OF A BLACKBIRD(First Second) by Maria van Lieshout

Honor: LU AND REN'S GUIDE TO GEOZOOLOGY (Quill Tree Books) by Angela Hsieh 

YA

Winner: SONG OF A BLACKBIRD (First Second) by Maria van Lieshout 

Honor: ISLAND CREATURES (Atheneum) by Margarita Engle