Letter from Rachel Alexander to Kevin Henkes Announcing His Win of the Jo Osborne Award

This is a copy of a letter sent from Rachel Alexander to author Kevin Henkes, announcing his selection as the 2002 winner of the Jo Osborne Award for Humor in Children's Literature, which was established in memory of librarian Jo Osborne.

The author and illustrator of nearly fifty picture books, chapter books and novels, Henkes is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Caldecott Medal for "Kitten’s First Full Moon," the Caldecott Honor for "Owen," and two Newbery Honors. He is well-known for his beloved mouse characters, including Lilly, Penny and Wemberly. In 2020, he won the Children’s Literature Legacy Award, which honors an author or illustrator whose books have made a significant and lasting contribution to literature for children.

Jo Osborne was a children's librarian at Worthington Libraries from 1979 until her death at age 59 in 1995. The Jo Osborne Award for Humor in Children's Literature was established in 1996 to honor her commitment to bringing children, books and humor together. The award recognizes the art of humor in either a single children's book or in the body of work of a children's literature author. As described in the brochure for the award, Jo "sought out the silly, the funny, the poignant, the witty for storytelling and puppet shows to impart a love of books to all the children who were lucky enough to cross her path" during her years as a librarian.

Henkes received his award during a ceremony at The Ohio State University's Children's Literature Conference, which took place in February, 2002.

In addition to Henkes' receipt of the award in 2002, the other Jo Osborne Award winners were Patricia Polacco (1996), Sid Fleischman (1997), Steven Kellogg (1998), Jon Scieszka (1999), William Steig (2000), Rosemary Wells (2001), Tomie dePaola (2003), Paula Danzinger (2004), Daniel Pinkwater (2010), and Betsy Lewin (2011).

Rachel Alexander was the chairperson for the Jo Osborne Award selection committee. She worked for Worthington Libraries from 1976 to 1985, and again from 1997 to 2008; during that time she served many roles, including community services librarian, children’s librarian, youth services manager and youth services materials selector.

The letter pictured here has been altered to remove addresses and contact information of the recipient and sender.