Rebecca Caudill Award Winners

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award

What is the Award?

The Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award was developed to encourage children and young adults to read for personal satisfaction. It is an Illinois award and is sponsored by the Illinois Reading Council, the Illinois School Library Media Association, and the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. For more information about this award visit: http://www.rcyrba.org/.

1. Books are nominated by children in grades 4-8.
2. A master list of 20 titles is sent to participating elementary and middle schools.
3. Students read the books on the list and vote for their favorites each February.
4. Votes are sent to the award committee and they compile the final tally.
5. The winning title is announced in March of each year.
6. Postcards announcing the winner are mailed to each participating school or library.
7. A plaque is given to the author of the winning book.
8. Public libraries may sponsor the program if the schools in the area choose not to do so.

Who was Rebecca Caudill?

Rebecca Caudill discovered that she loved storytelling when she was five years old. She did not publish her first book until the age of 44. Her books are honest and they cross all geographic and social barriers.

Rebecca was born on February 2, 1899 in Harlan County, Kentucky, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. She was one of ten children. Her parents, George and Susan Caudill, were both teachers.

While she was a student at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, she was very active. After graduation, she taught English and history in a high school in Tennessee. In 1922, she received a fellowship to Vanderbilt University where she received a master's degree in International Relations.

A tip from a friend took Rebecca to Brazil where she taught English to children in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, she returned to Tennessee to help put her younger siblings through college. In Nashville, she edited a publication for young girls. She eventually landed a job at a Chicago publishing firm.

Rebecca Caudill married James Sterling Ayers in 1931 and they had two children. They moved to Urbana, Illinois in 1937. Her first book, Barrie and Daughter, was published in 1943. Rebecca's ideas for her books came from her childhood and the characters were based on people she knew in the hill country of Kentucky and Tennessee. Her children's books especially brought alive the pioneer era of the 1700s and 1800s.

Rebecca Caudill died on October 2, 1985. Her books included Tree of Freedom, a Newbery Honor winner; A Certain Small Shepherd; A Pocketful of Cricket; and Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley?

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Awards and Nominees