CABA 2026 Winners

The Winners of the 2026 Children’s Africana Book Awards are:

Best Chapter Books

Barracoon

by Zora Neale Hurston, Ibram X. Kendi and Jazzmen Lee-Johnson (illus.)
HarperCollins Publishers, 2024

Golden Threads

by Ariella Azoulay and Hagar Ophir (illus)
Ayin Press, 2025

Honor Chapter Book

After the Clotilda: Africatown's hidden history

by Anitra Butler-Ngugi
Capstone Editions, a Capstone Imprint, 2025

Best Picture Books

Kwesi and Nana Ruby learn to swim

by Kobina Commeh and Barbara Quintino (illus.)
Barefoot Books, 2025

Umm Khalthum: The Star of the East

by Rhonda Roumani and Ahmed Abdelmohsen (illus.)
Crocodile Books, USA, an Imprint of Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., 2025

Honor Picture Books

Through Sand and Salt: A Tale of Discovery Across the Sahara

by Elizabeth Zunon
Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2025

Prince Among Slaves: The Remarkable True Story of an African Prince Enslaved in Mississippi, and his Journey Home

by N.H. Senzai and Anna Rich (Illus.)
Nancy Paulsen Books, 2025