The Gelett Burgess Award

The Gelett Burgess Center's mission is to provide valuable information about family-friendly books and media to educators, librarians, parents and counselors who want to take an active role in their child or student’s creative development.

Children deserve the very best resources we can provide. However, finding the best books can sometimes be challenging. Our advisory council spends the year reviewing children’s books from independent, self-published and mainstream publishing companies in an effort to find the best family-friendly, creative and educational books on the market.

Our Passionate Belief

• Children need to be creatively stimulated
• Learning does not have to be a chore
• An informed parent or teacher enables a child to thrive

Our Purpose

The Gelett Burgess Center takes pride in seeking out the best books and media available for children today. As evidenced by holiday catalogs and flashy television commercials, the messaging you and your children receive is not typically representative of the best the market has to offer. For this reason, our advisory council puts countless hours into locating the best books that are emotionally, creatively and educationally stimulating – providing a platform from which your child can explore our world.

Our Purpose In Action

Each year the Gelett Burgess Center produces a comprehensive list of what we deem the most unique children’s books on the market. With over 40 categories, books are selected in 4 distinct groups: Lifestyle, Arts and Letters, Society and Culture, and Education. This list is promoted throughout the year with additional activity and lesson plan resources made available.

Parents, Educators, Librarians and Retailers trust the high mark of distinction the Gelett Burgess honors provide a product. Informed decisions about purchasing products designed for children and families can be made knowing they have passed the foundation’s stringent evaluation process.

Additional Benefits to Award-Winning Authors

Book awards are an essential piece in the book marketing puzzle, allowing authors and publishers an advantage in promoting their titles. Award-winning books most often win other awards, and lend themselves to publicity more readily. Award-winning books are often displayed face-out, and generally attract more attention, faster.

The Gelett Burgess Center offers support in terms of providing press release templates, press photos of the awards, and background information on the Gelett Burgess Center. All honorees will be listed permanently on the Center website indicating their win.