The Earth. Terra. John Amos Comenius’ Orbis Sensualium Pictus, A World of Things Obvious to the Senses Drawn in Pictures | Source: Project Gutenberg
Considered to be the first children’s picturebook, Orbis Pictus is a work of nonfiction. Its author, John Amos Comenius (Jan Amos Komensky) | (1592 to 1670), was a Czech theologian, educator, and writer. Orbis Pictus, or Orbis Sensualium Pictus—translated as Visible World in Pictures, World Around Us in Pictures, or World of Things Obvious to the Senses Drawn in Pictures—was originally published in 1658 (or 1657 according to some sources), first in Latin and German, and later in English.
As a result of the Project Gutenberg, you can access as an eBook, the entire book of The Orbis Pictus (1887 edition) by John Amos Comenius, translated by Charles Hoole.
To learn more about Orbis Pictus and see images from different versions, you can visit Orbis Sensualium Pictus webpages on the University of Minnesota’s “Explore Education Iconics” website.
Orbis Pictus is the namesake for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children. This award started in 1989, and titles winning this award represent a variety of content areas. In addition to each year’s winner and honor books, the committee names recommended books, as well.
Other awards in the United States for nonfiction books for children and adolescents include the following:
Children's Book Guild Nonficition Awards
Cybils Award
Green Earth Book Awards
Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
SCBWI Golden Kite Award
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
ALA’s Newbery Medal and Caldecott Medal
Note:This following content uses a slide carousel. Once you have completed the current slide, please click on the subsequent sphere at the top of the carousel to learn more about each award.
This award from the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, DC, goes to an author or author-illustrator for a body of work that “has contributed significantly to the quality of nonfiction for children.” In 2015, for instance, Steve Sheinkin received the award for his books, including Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon.
The Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards recognizes “the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal.” For those looking for book apps, this can be a helpful resource. For our purposes, the categories of special interest are Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction, and Young Adult Nonfiction.
Described as “the nation’s first environmental stewardship book award for children and young adult books,” this award began in 2005. Categories are Picture Books, Children’s Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Children’s Nonfiction, and Young Adult Nonfiction.
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), which is a division of the American Library Association (ALA), established this award in 2001, in honor of Robert F. Sibert, who was President of Bound to Stay Bound Books, Inc. (Jacksonville, Illinois). The terms and criteria for this award include a broad definition of “informational books”: “those written and illustrated to present, organize, and interpret documentable, factual material.”
The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Awards “are the only children’s literary award judged by a jury of peers.” Categories are Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Book Text, and Picture Book Illustration. Examples of nonfiction award and honor books include David Meissner and Kim Richardson’s Call of the Klondike: A True Goldrush Adventure (2014 Winner) and Pamela Turner’s The Dolphins of Shark Bay (2014 Honor Recipient).
The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), which is a division of the ALA, makes this Award for Excellence in Nonfiction to identify and recognize “the best nonfiction book published for young adults (ages 12-18) during a November 1 – October 31 publishing year." Resources on the website include YALSA’s Teen Book Finder app.
Last but not least are awards such as ALA’s Newbery Medal “to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” and Caldecott Medal “to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.” These awards do not have nonfiction categories, but they include nonfiction titles in their medal and honors books lists. In fact, the first Newbery recipient was Hendrik Willem Van Loon in 1922 for his nonfiction book The Story of Mankind. More recent nonfiction Newbery Honor Books (2015) include the memoirs El Deafo, written and illustrated by Cece Bell, and Brown Girl Dreaming, written by Jacqueline Woodson. For the Caldecott, nonfiction examples include Locomotive, written and illustrated by Brian Floca (2014 Medal Winner) and Viva Frida, illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales (2015 Honor Book). Brown Girl Dreaming, Locomotive, and Viva Frida won other awards, as well.
There are many different ALA Book & Media Awards. Information about the awards and lists of winners can be found on their website.
Reference
Comenius, John Amos. The Orbis Pictus. Ed. Charles William Bardeen. Trans. Charles Hoole. Syracuse, NY: C.W. Bardeen, Publisher, 1887. Project Gutenberg: Release Date: March 9, 2009 [EBook #28299].
