We surprised ourselves when we did the research.

The Great Books Foundation has always prided itself on selecting only the highest-quality literature for our anthologies. There is a good reason that we do so: the best literature inspires the highest levels of engagement. When stories are well-written, they are multilayered and provoke the kind of curiosity, discussion, and ongoing wonder that keep students coming back to read, discuss, research, and write more.

Here are some of the award-winning authors whose works appear in our Great Books anthologies, arranged by series (which is equivalent to grade level), with a sampling of the many awards that they have won appearing in the right-hand column.

For a full list of our award-winning authors:

Newbery Medal

Sheila Hamanaka American Book Award
Leo Lionni Caldecott Honor
Eve Merriam NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children, Obie Award
Margot Zemach Caldecott Medal
Maribeth Boelts ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award, Humane Society KIND Children’s Picture Book Award
Joseph Bruchac American Book Award, Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Fiction
Betsy James Tiptree Award Honor List
Daniel Pinkwater American Library Association Notable Children’s Book, Parents’ Choice Award
James Berry Cholmondeley Award
Andrea Davis Pinkney Medgar Evers College Lifetime Achievement Award
Harriet Rohmer American Book Award, American Library Association Notable Children’s Book
Cynthia Rylant Newbery Medal
Alma Flor Ada Belpré Medal for Narrative
Jennifer Armstrong Golden Kite Honor for Fiction, NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
Sid Fleischman Newbery Medal, Parents’ Choice Award
Diane Wolkstein National Storytelling Network Lifetime Achievement Award
Langston Hughes Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction, Spingarn Medal
Lois Lowry Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award, Newbery Medal
Philippa Pearce Carnegie Medal
Isaac Bashevis Singer National Book Award for Fiction, Newbery Medal, Nobel Prize in Literature
Shirley Jackson Edgar Award for Best Short Story, O. Henry Award
Kim L. Siegelson Coretta Scott King Book Award
Tove Jansson Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing, Selma Lagerlöf Prize
Ray Bradbury Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, National Medal of Arts, World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement
William Saroyan Academy Award for Best Original Story, Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Doris Lessing Nobel Prize in Literature, Somerset Maugham Award
Toni Cade Bambara American Book Award
William Trevor Costa Book Award, Costa Book of the Year, Hawthornden Prize, Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
Gish Jen Lannan Literary Award for Fiction
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Playwright, Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation
Edward P. Jones International Dublin Literary Award, PEN/Hemingway Award, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Cristina Henríquez Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation Award
Carson McCullers New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play
Mary La Chapelle PEN/Nelson Algren Fiction Award
Zora Neale Hurston Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Nonfiction
Martin Luther King Jr. Congressional Gold Medal, Nobel Peace Prize
Truman Capote Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime
Penelope Lively Booker Prize, Carnegie Medal
Alan Paton Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction
Margaret Laurence Governor General’s Literary Award for English-Language Fiction
Sigmund Freud Goethe Prize
Flannery O’Connor National Book Award for Fiction
William Faulkner National Book Award for Fiction, Nobel Prize in Literature, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Isak Dinesen Holberg Medal, Ingenio et Arti Medal
Rachel Carson National Book Award for Nonfiction, Presidential Medal of Freedom
James D. Watson Copley Medal, John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, Lomonosov Gold Medal, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Jennifer Doudna Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, Canada Gairdner International Award
Robert M. Sapolsky Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Rockefeller University Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing About Science, Washington Post Best Books of 2017