March: Book Three has become the first graphic novel to win a National Book Award.
These biographical graphic novels were co-written by Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin. The illustrations were created by Nate Powell.
Here’s more from the press release: “The March trilogy, published by Top Shelf Productions/IDW Publishing, depicts Lewis’ firsthand account of the Civil Rights Movement, reflecting on the role of young people in the ‘nonviolent revolution’ of the 1960s and its direct legacy in the modern day…Nate Powell dedicated the award to his children ‘and their generation that will inherit this earth,’ as well as to the incoming president of the United States, expressing a wish that it might transform his heart.”
In the past, the National Book Foundation has nominated three other graphic novel titles: American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (2006), Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang (2013), and Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (2015). Click here to view the complete 2016 longlist for this category. What was your favorite children’s book published in the year 2016?