New York, N.Y.–(December 18, 2024)–The Jane Addams Peace Association is delighted to announce 12 finalist titles under consideration for the 2025 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award in the Picture Book category. Please find them listed at the conclusion of this release.

The Jane Addams Peace Association will announce winning and honor books from among these finalists on January 18, 2025. Awards will be presented to the winning and honored authors and illustrators at an in-person ceremony on April 24th at 5:30pm at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Since 1953, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award has annually recognized “children’s books of literary and aesthetic excellence that effectively engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people.” A national committee of members with passion for and expertise in children’s literature and social justice is responsible for making the choices each year.

We believe that these books, and others like them, can open up conversations between children and their adults–teachers, librarians and caregivers–about what is happening in the world around them and how they can be changemakers in their own families and communities. We hope that promoting our final contenders in this way will serve to highlight a greater number of excellent children’s books that can deepen understanding of peace and justice.

A special thanks to the Hastings Peace and Justice Fund for their generous support of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award for many years.

2025 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Finalist Titles 

(Each  book is linked to Teachingbooks.net for further information and resources)

Picture Books

A Map for Falasteen: A Palestinian Child’s Search for Home. Maysa Odeh, illustrated by Aliaa Betawi. Henry Holt Books for Young Readers/Macmillan.

Barrio Rising: The Protest that Built Chicano Park. María Dolores Águila, illustrated by Magdalena Mora. Dial Books/Penguin.

Dear You, Dream Big! Baptiste Paul, illustrated by Toni D. Chambers. Charlesbridge.

Freedom Braids. Monique Duncan, illustrated by Oboh Moses. Lantana Publishing/Lerner. 

I Heard: An American Journey. Jaha Nailah Avery, illustrated by Steffi Walthall. Charlesbridge.

Let Us March On! James Weldon Johnson and the Silent Protest Parade. Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, illustrated by Xia Gordon. Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster.

Seeker of Truth: Kailash Satyarthi’s Fight to End Child Labor. Srividhya Venkat, illustrated by Danica da Silva Pereira. Little Bee Books.

Small Shoes, Great Strides: How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality. Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Alex Bostic. Carolrhoda/Lerner.

The House Before Falling into the Sea. Ann Suk Wang, illustrated by Hanna Cha. Dial Books/Penguin.

The Last Stand. Antwan Eady, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphrey. Knopf Books for Young Readers/Random House.

They Call Me Teach: Lessons in Freedom. Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James E. Ransome. Candlewick. 

Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains. Anita Yasuda, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu. Clarion Books/HarperCollins.