The National Council of Teachers of English announced the 2021 Orbis Pictus and Charlotte Huck awards during their annual conference.

Orbis Pictus Award

The winner of the 2021 Orbis Pictus Award for excellence in nonfiction for children is Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Frank Morrison.

The Orbis Pictus Honor Books are:

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat

Lifting As We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne

If You Take Away the Otter by Susannah Buhrman-Deever, illustrated by Matthew Trueman

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann

The Teachers March! How Selma's Teachers Changed History by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, illustrated by Charly Palmer

Charlotte Huck Award

The 2021 Charlotte Huck Award for outstanding fiction for children goes to I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James

Charlotte Huck Honor Books

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom, illus. by Michaela Goade

Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar

A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner

Quintessence by Jess Redman

Award for Excellence in Poetry

Janet S. Wong was named the winner of the biannual award that honors a living American poet for their aggregate work for children.