Coretta Scott King Award

Established in 1969 by the American Library Association, this award is designed to commemorate the life and work of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination in continuing to work for peace and world brotherhood. It is presented annually to an African American author and an African American illustrator of children's books, for an outstandingly inspirational and educational contribution. The separate award for illustrator was added in 1979.

2003: author Nikki Grimes, Bronx Masquerade
    illustrator E.B. Lewis, Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman
2002: author Mildred D. Taylor, The Land
    illustrator Jerry Pinkney, Goin' Someplace Special
2001: author Jacqueline Woodson, Miracle's Boys
    illustrator Bryan Collier, Uptown
2000: author Christopher Paul Curtis, Bud, Not Buddy
    illustrator Brian Pinkney, In the Time of the Drums
1999: author Angela Johnson, Heaven
    illustrator Michele Wood, i see the rhythm, text by Toyomi Igus
1998: author Sharon M. Draper, Forged by Fire
    illustrator Javaka Steptoe, In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers
1997: author Walter Dean Myers, Slam!
    illustrator Jerry Pinkney, Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman, text by Alan Schroeder
1996: author Virginia Hamilton, Her Stories, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon
    illustrator Tom Feelings, The Middle Passage: White Ships Black Cargo, introduction by John Henrik Clarke
1995: author Patricia and Frederick McKissack, Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters
    illustrator James Ransome, The Creation, text by James Weldon Johnson
1994: author Angela Johnson, Toning the Sweep
    illustrator Tom Feelings, Soul Looks Back in Wonder
1993: author Patrica McKissack, The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural
    illustrator Kathleen Atkins Wilson, The Origin Of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth, text by David A. Anderson
1992: author Walter Dean Myers, Now Is Your Time! The Africian-Americian Struggle for Freedom
    illustrator Faith Ringgold, Tar Beach
1991: author Mildred D. Taylor, The Road To Memphis
    illustrator Leo and Diane Dillon, Aida, text by Leontyne Price
1990: author Patricia and Frederick McKissack, A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter
    illustrator Jan Spivey Gilchrist, Nathaniel Talking, text by Eloise Greenfield
1989: author Walter Dean Myers, Fallen Angels
    illustrator Jerry Pinkney, Mirandy And Brother Wind, text by Patricia McKissack
1988: author Mildred D. Taylor, The Friendship
    illustrator John Steptoe, Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale
1987: author Mildred Pitts Walter, Justin And The Best Biscuits In The World
    illustrator Jerry Pinkey, Half A Moon And One Whole Star, text by Crecent Dragonwagon
1986: author Virgina Hamilton, The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales
    illustrator Jerry Pinkney, The Patchwork Quilt , text by Valerie Flournoy
1985: author Walter Dean Myers, Motown and Didi
    illustrator No award
1984: author Lucille Clifton, Everett Anderson's Goodbye
    illustrator Pat Cummings, My Mama Needs Me, text by Mildred Pitts Walter
1983: author Virgina Hamilton, Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush
    illustrator Peter Magubane, Black Child
1982: author Mildred D. Taylor, Let the Circle Be Unbroken
    iIllustrator John Steptoe, Mother Crocodile: An Uncle Amadou Tale From Senegal, text adapted by Rosa Guy
1981: author Sidney Poitier, This Life
    illustrator Ashley Bryan, Beat The Story-Drum, Pum-Pum
1980: author Walter Dean Myers, The Young Landlords
    illustrator Carole Byard, Cornrows, text by Camille Yarbrough
1979: author Ossie Davis, Escape To Freedom: A Play about Young Frederick Douglass
    illustrator Tom Feelings, Something On My Mind, text by Nikki Grimes
1978: author Eloise Greenfield and illustrator Carole Byard, Africa Dream
1977: James Haskins, The Story Of Stevie Wonder
1976: Pearl Baily, Duey's Tale
1975: author Dorothy Robinson and illustrator Herbert Temple, The Legend Of Africania
1974: author Sharon Bell Mathis and illustrator George Ford, Ray Charles
1973: Jackie Robinson, as told to Alfred Duckett, I Never Had It Made: The Autobiography of Jackie Robinson
1972: Elton C. Fax, Seventeen Black Artists
1971: Charlemae H. Rollins, Black Troubador: Langston Hughes
1970: Lillie Patterson, Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace