The 2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award Winner Is..

More than 70,000 students across Texas voted and the results are in! The winner of the 2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award is Memoirs of a Tortoise, written by Devin Scillian and illustrated by Tim Bowers.

In this beautifully illustrated book, Oliver the tortoise enjoys a wonderful friendship with his “pet,” his owner, Ike. They love spending time in the garden and looking at the stars. Both Ike and Oliver are 80 years old. But then Ike passes away, and Oliver makes the long journey – ten gardens away – to seek comfort from his mother, who is 137 years old. This gentle book reminds us to cherish the time we have with our pets and loved ones.

(View the Texas Bluebonnet award book trailer for Memoirs of a Tortoise here. You can hear the full book read aloud in this video.)

The Texas Bluebonnet Award is one of the oldest and most prestigious children’s choice literary awards in the country.

A total of 70,405 students, all in third through sixth grade, voted. Each student had to read at least five books from the 2022-2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master list in order to vote.

More than 1,300 schools, public libraries and homeschool groups registered to participate in this year’s contest.

Students representing 10 Texas school districts will present the award to Scillian and Bowers at the Texas Bluebonnet Award Author Session on Friday, April 21 at 11:45 AM, during the TLA 2023 Annual Conference in Austin. Register for conference and purchase tickets to the TBA Author Session today (tickets must be purchased by March 31.)

You can also show your support for the Texas Bluebonnet Award by purchasing one of our TBA T-shirts. Order online (men’s, women’s and children’s sizes available; women’s sizes run small) and have it shipped to your home. Proceeds go to the Texas Bluebonnet Award program.