“Me and the Boss: A Story about Mending and Love,” written by Michelle Edwards and illustrated by April Harrison, is the winner of the 2023 Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book.
This award is given annually by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education, to the author of a picture book for children in the birth-through-seven age range published in the United States or Canada. This is the 25th time the award has been given.
“Me and the Boss” was edited by Anne Schwartz and published in the United States in 2022 by Anne Schwartz Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House. The captivating book focuses on the relationship between siblings Lee and Zora (“the boss”), as Lee learns how to sew while simultaneously strengthening his relationship with his older sister.
Three honor books and 10 highly commended titles were also named.
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. She died in November 2013 at the age of 98.
The 2023 Charlotte Zolotow Award will be presented at a ceremony in Madison at a date to be determined. Learn more about “Me and the Boss” and the other honored titles.