Award Applications

The Children's Literature Association (ChLA) is a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting serious scholarship and high standards of criticism in children's literature. To encourage these goals, the association offers various awards and grants annually, in addition to organizing an annual academic conference.

ChLA Faculty Research Grants have a combined maximum fund of up to $5,000 per year; individual awards may range from $500 to $1,500, based on the number and needs of the winning applicants. The grants are awarded for proposals dealing with criticism or original scholarship with the expectation that the undertaking will lead to publication and will make a significant contribution to the field of children's literature in the area of scholarship or criticism. In honor of the achievement and dedication of Dr. Margaret P. Esmonde, proposals that deal with critical or original work in the areas of fantasy or science fiction for children or adolescents will be awarded the Margaret P. Esmonde Memorial Grant. Applications will be evaluated based upon the quality of the proposal and the potential of the project to enhance or advance children's literature studies. Funds may be used for—but are not restricted to—research-related expenses such as travel to special collections or purchasing materials and supplies. The awards may not be used for obtaining advanced degrees, for researching or writing a thesis or dissertation, for textbook writing, or for pedagogical projects. Winners must either be members of the Children's Literature Association or join the association before they receive any funds. Winners should acknowledge ChLA in any publication resulting from the award. The annual deadline for applying is February 1.

ChLA Hannah Beiter Graduate Student Research Grants were established to honor the memory of Dr. Hannah Beiter, a long-time supporter of student participation in ChLA. The Beiter Grants have a combined maximum fund of up to $5,000 per year, and individual awards may range from $500 to $1,500, based on the number and needs of the winning applicants. The grants are awarded for proposals of original scholarship with the expectation that the undertaking will lead to publication or a conference presentation and contribute to the field of children's literature criticism. Beiter Grant funds are not intended as income to assist in the completion of a graduate degree, but as support for research that may be related to the dissertation or master's thesis. The grant may be used to purchase supplies and materials (e.g., books, videos, equipment), as research support (photocopying, etc.), or to underwrite travel to special collections or libraries. Winners must either be members of the Children's Literature Association or join the association before they receive any funds. Winners should acknowledge ChLA in any publication resulting from the award. The annual deadline for applying is February 1.

In addition to grants, ChLA recognizes outstanding works in children's literature by presenting numerous awards annually. The ChLA Article Award is presented for an article deemed the most noteworthy literary criticism article published in English on the topic of children's literature within a given year. The ChLA Book Award is presented for the most outstanding book of criticism, history, or scholarship in the field of children's literature in a given year. The ChLA Edited Book Award is presented for a book-length edited collection that makes a distinct or significant contribution to the scholarly and/ or theoretical understanding of children's literature from a literary, cultural, historical, or theoretical perspective.

The Phoenix Award is given to the author, or estate of the author, of a book for children published twenty years earlier that did not win a major award at the time of publication, but which, from the perspective of time, is deemed worthy of special recognition for its high literary quality. When possible, the award is presented to the winner at the annual ChLA conference. Similarly, the Phoenix Picture Book Award, inaugurated in 2013, is given to both the author and the illustrator of an illustrated book for children published twenty years previously that was not then the recipient of a major award, but that has been deemed to have withstood...