Publishers

January 12, 2023

Dear Publisher:

It was with great pleasure that the University of Maine’s College of Education and Human Development announced the recipient of the very first Correll Book Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Informational Text in 2011. Past winners include Gail Gibbons for her book, Gorillas, Melissa Stewart for A Place for Bats and in 2014, for the first time, we awarded two awards, one for birth to 3, Ted Lewin for Look! and for the 4-8 year old group, Ingo Arndt’s wonderful Best Foot Forward. A comprehensive list of all past winners is available on our website. We are now looking for submissions for the 2023 awards which will be awarded to authors of informational text designed for young children, birth to age 8. This year, we will again be awarding two awards, one for birth to 3 and one for 4-8 year old children. This is the only national award of its kind.

As in the past, winners will be announced at our annual literacy conference on May 12th. This announcement will accompany a press release and an announcement on our webpage along with a brief videoed interview with each winner. We have reopened the submission window and extended the period to early March should you desire to submit books for review. A beautiful plaque commemorating the award will be mailed to each winning author.

As a publisher of children’s books, we urge you to submit books to the selection committee that you feel would be worthy of the award. Enclosed in this packet is the list of selection committee members (please note: there have been changes to the committee since the last award!), a submission form that should be copied and enclosed with each book, and a description of the characteristics of excellent informational text for young children. The deadline for submission is now March 3, 2023.

Qualifying Texts will: 

  • Have been published in English in the United States during 2022
  • Have been designed for and appeal to children birth to age 8
  • Serve as an exemplar of features and format of Informational Texts

 Should you have additional questions regarding this award or the procedures, please feel free to contact me via email susan.bennett-armistead@maine.edu at any time. We look forward to your submissions and the opportunity to promote excellent informational texts for our youngest children.

Sincerely,
Susan Bennett-Armistead, Ph.D.
Chair of the Correll Book Award Selection Committee
susan.bennett-armistead@maine.edu