About the Texas Bluebonnet Award

The winner of the 2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award is Memoirs of a Tortoise, written by Devin Scillian and illustrated by Tim Bowers. More than 70,000 students voted in this year’s contest. Learn more about the winning book here. See the video announcement here.

Here are the 2023 vote totals.

The Texas Bluebonnet Award is one of the most prestigious children’s choice literary awards in the United States. Each year, 20 books are chosen for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List. Schools and libraries around the state participate in the program, encouraging students to read a minimum of five books from the list. In January, students vote for their favorite title. The author of the book receiving the most votes wins the Texas Bluebonnet Award (TBA) which is presented at the Texas Bluebonnet Award presentation held during the TLA Annual Conference in the spring.

The 2023-2024 Texas Bluebonnet Master List (announced at Texas Book Festival on 11/5/22):

1.  Black Boy Joy edited by K. Mbalia.
2. Blue by N. E. Brew-Hammond, illustrated by D. Minter.
3.  Gladys the Magic Chicken by A. Rubin, illustrated by A. Rex.
4.  Haven: A Small Cat’s Big Adventure by M. Lloyd.
5.  Indelible Ann by M. P. Browne, illustrated by C. Whitt.
6. Invisible by C. Gonzalez & G. Epstein.
7.  Leave It To Plum! by M. Phelan.
8.  Once Upon a Tim by S. Gibbs, illustrated by S. Curtis.
9.  Solimar by P. M. Ryan.
10.  Tales to Keep You Up At Night by D. Poblocki, illustrated by M. Bergeron.
11.  The Beatryce Prophecy by K. DiCamillo.
12.  The Dirt Book: Poems About Animals That Live Beneath Our Feet by D. L. Harrison, illustrated by K. Cosgrove.
13.  The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza by M. Barnett, illustrated by S. Harris.
14.  The Last Beekeeper by P. Cartaya, illustrated by C. V. Aguilera.
15.  The Last Mapmaker by C. Soontornvat.
16.  The Legend of Gravity by C. Palmer.
17.  The Marvellers by D. Clayton.
18.  The Polter-Ghost Problem by B. Uhrig.
19.  Thirst by V. Bajaj.
20.  Unbound: The Life + Art of Judith Scott by J. Scott with B. Spangler, illustrated by M. Sweet.

2023-2024 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List Annotations

Need a pack of Texas Bluebonnet Award pencils? Or this year’s TBA bookmark? Order below.

Order Supplies from the TBA Online Store

Voting has closed for the 2023 TBA contest.

To register your school or public library for 2023 Texas Bluebonnet Award voting online, go here.

Or you can print and mail this form with a check:

Schools and public libraries wishing to enter the selection process for student participation in the Texas Bluebonnet Award ceremony to be held in Austin during the Texas Library Association (TLA) Annual Conference should complete the entry form HERE.

The TBA 2022-2023 Resources website is here!

Click on the image below for resources for the 2022-2023 Master List!

For free resources, including printable certificates, go to our Resources page.

The 2022-2023 Texas Bluebonnet Master List:

1.  Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston, illustrated by Godwin Akpan. (Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2021).
2.  Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs. (Sourcebooks Young Reader, 2021).
3.  Bartali’s Bicycle: The True Story of Gino Bartali, Italy’s Secret Hero by Megan Hoyt, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno. (Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2021).
4.  Becoming Muhammad Ali: A Novel by James Patterson & Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile. (Jimmy Patterson Books, an imprint of Little Brown & Company, 2020).
5.  Billy Miller Makes a Wish by Kevin Henkes. (​​Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2021).
6.  The Hungry Place by Jessie Haas. (Astra Young Readers, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, 2020).
7.  J.D. and the Great Barber Battle by J. Dillard, illustrated by Akeem S. Roberts. (Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House/Penguin, 2021).
8.  The Lion of Mars by Jennifer Holm. (Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House Publishers, 2021).
9.  Long Lost by Jacqueline West. (Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2021).
10.  Memoirs of a Tortoise by Devin Scillian, illustrated by Tim Bowers. (Sleeping Bear Press, 2020).
11.  Nightingale by Deva Fagan (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2021).
12.  No Place for Monsters by Kory Merritt (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, 2020).
13.  Once Upon a Camel by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by Eric Rohmann. (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2021).
14.  The One Thing You’d Save by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng. (Clarion, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing, 2021).
15.  Rock by Rock: The Fantastical Garden of Nek Chand by Jennifer Bradbury, illustrated by Sam Boughton. (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2021).
16.  Stella by McCall Hoyle. (Shadow Mountain Publishing, 2021).
17.  Swish! The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Don Tate. (Little Brown & Company, 2020).
18.  Twins by Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright. (Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic, 2020).
19.  Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper. (Carolrhoda, an imprint of Lerner Publications, 2021).
20.  Willodeen by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Charles Santoso. (Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, 2021).

2022-2023 TEXAS BLUEBONNET AWARD MASTER LIST BIBLIOGRAPHIES

• 2022-2023 Master List
• 2022-2023 Master List Annotations

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