The Carter G. Woodson Book Award is an American literary award created in 1973 by the Racism and Social Justice Committee of the National Council for the Social Studies to promote cultural literacy in children and young adults.
[1] First presented in 1974, the award is named for American historian, author, and journalist Carter G. Woodson.
[2] In addition to announcing winners, the award recognizes honor books, referred to from 1980 to 1996 as those having "outstanding merit".
[2] As of 2024[update], Brent Ashabranner is the only author whose books have received the award three times, as well as the only to have winning books two years in a row.
Don Tate, who first had a book win the Woodson award in 2016, illustrated a second title that also (uniquely) won that year.