Sibert MedalThe Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global CelebrityNicholas DayThis historical account interweaves two stories connected to the Mona Lisa. One follows the 1911 theft of the painting from the Louvre and the investigation that did not locate either the artwork or those who took it. The other examines Leonardo da Vinci: his wide-ranging interests, artistic skill, and the circumstances that led him to paint Lisa Gherardini’s portrait in the early sixteenth century. It also traces how public and media response to the theft changed the painting’s cultural prominence.All readersView book detailsRobert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal 2024
The 2024 Sibert Medal recognizes The Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity as its winner, alongside 4 Honor books. Presented by the Association for Library Service to Children, the award recognizes distinguished informational books for children through age fourteen. This annual group offers nonfiction choices for young readers, with attention to the presentation of facts through writing, illustration, organization, and supporting material.
2024 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal and Honor BooksSee the original list
Selections5
Published byAssociation for Library Service to Children (ALA)
SectionsAll readers
All readers
5 selections
Sibert MedalThe Mona Lisa Vanishes: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global CelebrityNicholas DayThis historical account interweaves two stories connected to the Mona Lisa. One follows the 1911 theft of the painting from the Louvre and the investigation that did not locate either the artwork or those who took it. The other examines Leonardo da Vinci: his wide-ranging interests, artistic skill, and the circumstances that led him to paint Lisa Gherardini’s portrait in the early sixteenth century. It also traces how public and media response to the theft changed the painting’s cultural prominence.All readersView book details
Sibert Honor BookThe Book of TurtlesSy MontgomeryThis informational picture book introduces turtles through their shells, anatomy, types, traits, and behaviors. It includes examples of unusually large, fast, long-necked, flat-bodied, and even smelly species. The book also explores turtles’ abilities to learn complex tasks, move athletically, and hunt. It notes that 61 percent of turtle species are declining dangerously or are already extinct in the wild, then offers ten ways people can protect and advocate for turtles. Detailed acrylic paintings show many species.All readersLexile Text Measure 870LATOS Book Level 5.6View book details
Sibert Honor BookHolding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie OrmesTraci N. ToddThis picture-book biography chronicles Jackie Ormes, the first Black woman cartoonist to be nationally syndicated. In the 1930s, she sought reporting work at a Black Pittsburgh newspaper while hoping to illustrate. Her comics included Torchy Brown’s move from Mississippi to New York during the Great Migration and Patty-Jo, a Black girl whose strips addressed racism and social justice. The book also follows Ormes’s political scrutiny and her creation of a Patty-Jo doll.All readersLexile Text Measure 701LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
Sibert Honor BookJumper: A Day in the Life of the Backyard Jumping SpiderJessica LananJumper looks at a day in the life of a jumping spider living in a backyard. A child playing outdoors is invited to think about the tiny arachnid’s sensory world and the difficulties it faces in staying alive. The book presents events from the spider’s perspective, with watercolor art illustrating that viewpoint. Back matter adds further material to the account of this small backyard animal.All readersLexile Text Measure AD560LATOS Book Level 5.5View book details
Sibert Honor BookShipwrecked!: Diving for Hidden Time Capsules on the Ocean FloorMartin W. SandlerThis nonfiction book examines shipwrecks and the histories they can reveal beneath the ocean’s surface. Some wrecks are found unexpectedly, while others require patient, collaborative searches and waiting for dangerous seas to settle. The investigation of these vessels involves solving mysteries about what lies below the water. Sidebars, archival images, photographs, diagrams, maps, and sources accompany the account of discoveries on the ocean floor.All readersLexile Text Measure 1300LATOS Book Level 8.9View book details