Regina Medal

The Regina Medal award, established in 1959 and sponsored by the Catholic Library Association, is administered through the Regina Medal Committee at the will of the Catholic Library Association Executive Board. The only criterion for the award is that of excellence. The Regina Medal is awarded annually to a living exemplar of the words of the English poet, Walter de la Mare “only the rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young,” for continued, distinguished contribution to children’s literature without regard to the nature of the contribution.

2024 Regina Medal Award Winner - Eric A. Kimmel

4/10/2024

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Eric A. Kimmel, beloved author of over 150 children’s books, is the 2024 recipient of the Regina Medal, the prestigious annual award given by the Catholic Library Association (CLA) for a “continued, distinguished contribution to children’s literature.”  The Regina Medal Award ceremony will take place during the CLA Conference on April 25-26, 2024.

Kimmel has written books for children of all ages.  He is perhaps most famous for his 1990 Caldecott Award Honor Book Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. Growing up in Brooklyn, Kimmel could hear numerous languages spoken as he walked his neighborhood. His youth provided him with many experiences so he could better value getting to know people and the cultures that created them.

The Catholic Library Association is honored and privileged to be able to add the Regina Medal to Kimmel’s already extensive list of honors and awards. In addition to the Caldecott Honor, he is a five-time recipient of the National Jewish Book Award and was presented in 2008 with the Sydney Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award by the Association of Jewish Libraries. Various state school librarian associations have awarded him honors, including Iowa, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

Catholic school librarians may be particularly interested in The Lady in the Blue Cloak: Legend of the Texas Missions, which explores the history of these churches as well as many aspects of Catholic devotional life. This title received the June Franklin Naylor Award from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas in 2006 for best portrayal of Texas history for grades K-6. Another title of interest could be Brother Wolf, Sister Sparrow: Stories About Saints and Animals, which introduces readers to twelve saints and animals associated with them.

 

Past Regina Medal Recipients

2024 Eric A. Kimmel

2023 Pam Munoz Ryan

2022 Sophia de Mullenheim

2021 Jan Brett

2020 Christopher Paul Curtis (website)

2019 Kate DiCamillo

2018 Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney

2017 David A. Adler

2016 Lee Bennett Hopkins (CLW Regina Medal Award Transcript)

2015 Judy Blume (website)

2014 Patricia Reilly Giff

2013 Kevin Henkes (website)

2012 Patricia Polacco (website)

2011 Ashley Bryan

2010 Gail Gibbons (website)

2009 Lois Ehlert

2008 Vera B. Williams

2007 Margaret K. McElderry

2006 Paul Goble

2005 Jerry Pinkney

2004 Susan Hirschman

2003 Jean Craighead George (website)

2002 Charlotte Zolotow (website)

2001 E.L. Konigsburg

2000 Milton Meltzer

1999 Eric Carle (website)

1998 Patricia C. and Fredrick L. McKissack

1997 Eve Bunting

1996 Russell Freedman

1995 Gary Paulsen

1994 Lois Lowry (website)

1993 Chris Van Allsburg

1992 Jane Yolen (website)

1991 Leonard Everett Fisher

1990 Virginia Hamilton

1989 Steven Kellogg (website)

1988 Katherine Paterson (website)

1987 Betsy Byars (website)

1986 Lloyd Alexander

1985 Jean Fritz

1984 Madeleine L′Engle

1983 Thomas Anthony dePaola (website)

1982 Theodor Seuss Geisel

1981 Augusta Baker (website)

1980 Beverly Cleary (website)

1979 Morton Schindel (website)

1978 Scott O'Dell (website)

1977 Marcia Brown (website)

1976 Virginia Haviland

1975 May McNeer and Lynd Ward (website)

1974 Robert McCloskey

1973 Frances Clarke Sayers

1972 Meindert DeJong

1971 Tasha Tudor

1970 Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire

1969 Lois Lenski (website)

1968 Marguerite deAngeli (website)

1967 Bertha Mahony Miller

1966 Leo Politi

1965 Ruth Sawyer Durand (website)

1964 May Hill Arbuthnot (website)

1963 Ann Nolan Clark (website)

1962 Frederic G. Melcher (website)

1961 Padraic Colum (website)

1960 Anne Carroll Moore

1959 Eleanor Farjeon (website)