A national committee of people concerned with children's books and their social values is responsible for making the choices each year. Books may be submitted by the publishers or requested by the committee. Books for preschool through high school ages are eligible, including translations or titles published in English in other countries. Beginning in 1993, a Picture Book category was added to the award.
Announcement of the award is made each fall on the anniversary of Jane Addams' birth date, September 6. The award winning author receives a hand-illuminated scroll; silver seals are placed on the book jacket by the publisher. Honor books may also be chosen; honor scrolls are awarded to books that merit this recognition.
The Jane Addams Peace Association (777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017) was founded in 1948 "to foster a better understanding between the people of the world toward the end that wars may be avoided and a more lasting peace enjoyed." It is the educational affiliate of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, founded in 1915 with Jane Addams as its first president. Jane Addams was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which she received in 1931.
1992 JOURNEY OF THE SPARROWS. By Fran Leeper Buss with the assistance of Daisy Cubias. Lodestar, 1991.
1991 THE BIG BOOK FOR PEACE. Edited by Ann Durell and Marilyn Sachs. Dutton, 1990.
1990 A LONG HARD JOURNEY; THE STORY OF THE PULLMAN PORTER. By Patricia and Fredrick McKissack. Walker, 1989.
1989 ANTHONY BURNS: THE DEFEAT AND TRIUMPH OF A FUGITIVE SLAVE. By Virginia Hamilton. Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
LOOKING OUT. By Victoria Boutis. Four Winds Press, 1988.
1988 WAITING FOR THE RAIN; A NOVEL OF SOUTH AFRICA. By Sheila Gordon. Orchard Books/Franklin Watts, 1987.
1987 NOBODY WANTS A NUCLEAR WAR. By Judith Vigna. Albert Whitman, 1986.
1986 AIN'T GONNA STUDY WAR NO MORE; THE STORY OF AMERICA'S PEACE SEEKERS. Harper & Row, 1985.
1985THE SHORT LIFE OF SOPHIE SCHOLL. By Hermann Vinke. With an interview with Ilse Aichinger. (Translated from the German by Hedvig Pachter) First U.S. edition: Harper & Row, 1984.
1984 RAIN OF FIRE. By Marion Dane Bauer. Clarion/Houghton Mifflin, 1983.
1983 HIROSHIMA NO PIKA. By Toshi Maruki. (Translated from the Japanese) First U.S. edition: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1982.
1982 A SPIRIT TO RIDE THE WHIRLWIND. By Athena V. Lord. Macmillan, 1981.
1981 FIRST WOMAN IN CONGRESS: JEANNETTE RANKIN. By Florence Meiman White. Julian Messner, 1980.
1980 THE ROAD FROM HOME: THE STORY OF AN ARMENIAN GIRL. By David Kherdian. Greenwillow, 1979.
1979 MANY SMOKES, MANY MOONS: A CHRONOLOGY OF AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY THROUGH INDIAN ART. By Jamake Highwater. Lippincott, 1978.
1978 CHILD OF THE OWL. By Laurence Yep. Harper & Row, 1977.
1977 NEVER TO FORGET: THE JEWS OF THE HOLOCAUST. By Milton Meltzer. Harper & Row, 1976.
1976 PAUL ROBESON. By Eloise Greenfield. T.Y. Crowell, 1975.
1975 THE PRINCESS AND THE ADMIRAL. By Charlotte Pomerantz. Addison-Wesley, 1974.
1974 NILDA. By Nicholasa Mohr. Harper & Row, 1973.
1973 THE RIDDLE OF RACISM. By S. Carl Hirsch. Viking, 1972.
1972 THE TAMARACK TREE. By Betty Underwood. Houghton Mifflin, 1971.
1971 JANE ADDAMS: PIONEER OF SOCIAL JUSTICE. By Cornelia Meigs. Little Brown, 1970.
1970 THE CAY. By Theodore Taylor. Doubleday, 1969.
1969 THE ENDLESS STEEPE: GROWING UP IN SIBERIA. By Esther Hautzig. T.Y. Crowell, 1968.
1968 THE LITTLE FISHES. By Erick Haugaard. Houghton Mifflin, 1967.
1967 QUEENIE PEAVY. By Robert Burch. Viking, 1966.
1966 BERRIES GOODMAN. By Emily Cheney Neville. Harper & Row, 1965.
1965 MEETING WITH A STRANGER. By Duane Bradley. Lippincott, 1964.
1964 PROFILES IN COURAGE: YOUNG READERS MEMORIAL EDITION. By John F. Kennedy. Harper & Row, 1964.
1963 THE MONKEY AND THE WILD, WILD WIND. By Ryerson Johnson. Abelard-Schuman, 1961.
1962 THE ROAD TO AGRA. By Aimee Sommerfelt. Criterion, 1961.
1961 WHAT THEN, RAMAN? By Shirley L. Arora. Follett, 1960.
1960 CHAMPIONS OF PEACE. By Edith Patterson Meyer. Little Brown, 1959.
1959 No Award Given
1958 THE PERILOUS ROAD. By William O. Steele. Harcourt, Brace, 1957.
1957 BLUE MYSTERY. By Margot Benary-Isbert. Harcourt, Brace, 1957.
1956 STORY OF THE NEGRO. By Arna Bontemps. Knopf, 1955.
1955 RAINBOW ROUND THE WORLD. By Elizabeth Yates. Bobbs-Merrill, 1954.
1954 STICK-IN-THE-MUD. By Jean Ketchum. Cadmus Books, E.M. Hale, 1953.
1953 PEOPLE ARE IMPORTANT. By Eva Knox Evans. First published by Capital, 1951.