“Our Lake,” written and illustrated by Angie Kang, is the winner of the 2026 Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. The award is given by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the UW–Madison School of Education.
“Our Lake” was edited by Namrata Tripathi and published in the United States in 2025 by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House. Three honor books and eight highly commended titles were also named.
A visit to a special place full of memories is both a challenge and a comfort for the grieving brothers at the center of this tender picture book. The younger of the two, the narrator, follows his older sibling as they hike to a bluff overlooking a serene, blue lake. The boy matches Brother’s motions as they warm up for their dive, but he hangs back when Brother leaps over the edge and “slips neatly into the lake.” Brother calls words of encouragement from the water, but the narrator’s “stomach is full of stones. How did I ever do this before?”
Then, on “the inside of my eyelids, I see Father.” In the boy’s mind, Father soars gracefully into the lake. “Father’s laugh leaps through my bones, making them bird-light.” The joy of the memory remains when the boy opens his eyes. As he dives, he glimpses something on the rippling surface — a reflection of himself? Father? — a person with arms outstretched, ready to meet him. When the boy surfaces, words aren’t needed; the brothers’ mutual emotions are understood as they share a hug. “Here, in our lake, the water holds us close. Here, in our lake, we are all together.” A polished narrative imparts the day’s significance and emotions with understated elegance in this poignant, affecting story.
The 2026 Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor Books:
- “Anything,” written by Rebecca Stead, illustrated by Gracey Zhang, edited by Ariel Richardson, and published by Chronicle Books, 2025, depicts the efforts of a thoughtful, creative father to ease a tough transition for his young. On the day they move into their new apartment, Daddy makes a cake and tells his daughter to make a wish — for anything. “Three Anythings,” in fact. “I can wish for very hard things. But Daddy didn’t look scared.” The narrator wishes for many things in her heart, but aloud she wishes for a rainbow in her room (Daddy paints one), pizza for dinner (granted), and to skip her bath (done). Waking up in the night, she asks Daddy for “one more Anything”: to go home. “Daddy opened his arms. ‘All aboard the train to home!’” Around the apartment they walk; Daddy’s repeated assurances that the trip is “not even close to being over” and that he’ll be carrying her “for a long time still” are comforting. Touching without being overly sentimental, this gentle story is bursting with childlike observations and emotions.
- “Fireworks,” written by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Cátia Chien, edited by Mabel Hsu and Kate O’Sullivan, and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, 2025, brings a dazzling fireworks display to life on the page. For two city children, a blissful day begins with breakfast made by their grandmother before they “venture out across steamy city sidewalks.” A splash in a leaky fire hydrant cuts the heat (“Whoop! Weee! Woohoo!”) and “shining red wedges” of watermelon quench their thirst. In this bustling neighborhood, “bubble cheeks [blow] brassy blasts” on a saxophone in the park, and “salsa music slips through wide-open windows.” The day is capped with a spectacular show. “Pop POP / Swish / Zing / Tizzle-ting / POOF!” Afterward, with only the “ghosts” of the fireworks drifting in the sky, the children return home “to be tucked in with summer on [their] skin, listening to the gentlest kaboom kaboom kaboom within.” A sensory delight, this immersive story revels in the joys of a carefree summer day.
- “To See an Owl,” written and illustrated by Matthew Cordell, edited by Lee Wade, and published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, 2025, explores a child’s passion for owls. “To see an owl is magic.” The narrator of this endearing and informative story dreams about owls, draws them, keeps a journal of owl facts, and goes in search of owls with her mom (who is not as “serious” about birding as her daughter is). There is a judiciously repeated refrain: “Perfectly stout. Large, round eyes. Silent, knowing faces. Birds of the night.” When the girl’s teacher, also a birder, sees the map she has drawn of the nearby woods, he shows her a spot where he has seen great horned owls nesting. After school that day, the girl and her mom head out. “When will I find you? Where could you be? What will it take?” The story unfolds patiently, building to a moment of wonder for the child and a jolt of happiness for readers and listeners. “Magic.”
The 2026 Charlotte Zolotow Award Highly Commended Titles:
- “And They Walk On,” written by Kevin Maillard and illustrated by Rafael López (Roaring Brook Press, 2025)
- “Every Monday Mabel,” written and illustrated by Jashar Awan (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
- “I Am We: Ho Crows Come Together to Survive,” written by Leslie Barnard Booth and illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey (Chronicle Books, 2025)
- “Island Storm,” written by Brian Floca and illustrated by Sydney Smith (Neal Porter Books / Holiday House, 2025)
- “Make New Friends,” written by Joshua David Stein and illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio (Abrams, 2025)
- “A Pocket Full of Rocks,” written by Kristin Mahoney and illustrated by B. Goodale (Alfred A. Knopf / Random House Children’s Books, 2025)
- “Sunflower Seeds,” written and illustrated by Ellen Heck (Levine Querido, 2025)
- “This Year, a Witch!,” written by and illustrated by Zoey Abbott (A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book / Atheneum/ Simon & Schuster, 2025)
Established in 1998, the Charlotte Zolotow Award honors the work of Charlotte Zolotow, a distinguished children’s book editor for 38 years with Harper Junior Books, and author of more than 70 picture books, including such classic works as “Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present” (Harper, 1962) and “William’s Doll” (Harper, 1972). Zolotow attended UW–Madison on a writing scholarship from 1933 to 1936, where she studied with professor Helen C. White. Zolotow died Nov. 2013, at the age of 98.
The annual award is given for outstanding writing in a picture book for children in the birth-through-seven age range published in the United States or Canada. This is the 27th time the award has been given. The 2026 award will be presented at an award ceremony in Madison in the spring.
Members of the 2026 Zolotow Award committee were: Madeline Tyner Freimuth, chair (librarian, Cooperative Children’s Book Center); Nancy Engle (former library media technology specialist, Dr. Virginia Henderson Elementary School, Madison, Wisconsin); Marissa Gehrke (community engagement librarian, Verona Public Library, Verona, Wisconsin); Christopher Olson (teacher, Dr. Virginia Henderson Elementary School, Madison, Wisconsin); and Kristin Pape (early childhood education teacher, Eagle’s Wing Child Care and Education Programs, UW–Madison).
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center is a noncirculating library for adults with a professional, career, or academic interest in children’s and young adult literature. The Friends of the CCBC, Inc., cosponsor of the award event, is a nonprofit organization offering lectures, book sales, and other benefits for members, in addition to supporting the work of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center.