The official website calls the awards "among the most prestigious honors in children's and young adult literature".

Taking the 2011–2012 cycle for illustration: books published June 2011 to May 2012 were eligible; submissions from publishers were accepted until May 15; the awards and honors were announced during June (when U.S. school years end), only one to twelve months after the eligible books were released.

The Nonfiction award was introduced in 1976 and the fiction category was revised to "Fiction and Poems" in 2001, when that award recognized Carver: A Life in Poems by Marilyn Nelson.

Author Virginia Hamilton and illustrator Ed Young have both won three Awards, both in two categories.

[25] Mitsumasa Anno, Avi, Jean Fritz, Cynthia Rylant, Allen Say and Vera B. Williams have all won two Awards.