The Virginia Hamilton Literary Award was established in 1998 by the Advisory Board of Kent State University's Virginia Hamilton Conference. The award recognizes an American author or illustrator whose work demonstrates artistic excellence, makes a significant contribution to the field of multicultural literature for children and adolescents, and serves as a model for other artists in the field.

Jerry Pinkney  is the recipient of the second annual Virginia Hamilton Literary Award. He has been illustrating children's books for more than 35 years. He has the rare distinction of being the recipient of four Caldecott Honor Medals; namely, for John Henry by Julius Lester, The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci, Mirandy and Brother Wind by Patricia McKissack, and most recently The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Andersen. He has received the Coretta Scott King Award four times and a Coretta Scott King Honor Award twice. Many of his books have been cited as notable books by the American Library Association and the National Council of Social Studies/Children's Book Council. In 1990, Tales of Uncle Remus by Julius Lester was recognized as one of the best books of the decade by Booklist. In addition to The Ugly Duckling, he has recently illustrated Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl as well as Julius Lester's Black Cowboy, Wild Horses and Barbara Diamond Golden's Journeys of Elijah: Eight Tales of the Prophet. He has also designed postage stamps for the United States Postal Service Black Heritage Series and was part of the artistic team for the space shuttle Columbia. He has said of his work that his goal is "to continue acting as a role model, sharing my time with young artists and children. As for the work itself, my interest is in doing more multicultural projects."

Mr. Pinkney was honored at the 16th Annual Virginia Hamilton Conference on April 14, 2000.

For more information about Jerry Pinkney visit
Penguin/Putnam
View Jerry Pinkney's art online

The Virginia Hamilton Literary Award is sponsored by the Akron-Summit County Public Library, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Hamilton Arts, Inc., NOLA Regional Library System, and the Victor C. Laughlin, M.D. Memorial Foundation Trust.
 
 

jhill