Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades

Winners List

Since 1992, the Children's Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society has recognized outstanding work in children's folklore. In that year, they awarded two books the Aesop Prize. Beginning in 1993, they also award several Accolades to books that meet the committee's criteria.

Books are eligible if they are written in English and are published in the previous two years. Books can be nominated to the committee which then determines the winner.

For a book to win, it must meet the following criteria (taken from the American Folklore Society):

1. Folklore should be central to the book's content and, if appropriate, to its illustrations.

2. The folklore presented in the book should accurately reflect the culture and worldview of the people whose folklore is the focus of the book.

3. The reader's understanding of folklore should be enhanced by the book, as should the book be enhanced by the presence of folklore.

4. The book should reflect the high artistic standards of the best of children's literature and have strong appeal to the child reader.

5. Folklore sources must be fully acknowledged and annotations referenced within the bound contents of the publication.