Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on children's books by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, having enough of the qualities of his work. Seventeen books were awarded in 1958, including only two from the 1950s. Seven were named in 1979, all except two from the 1970s. Although short, the last class was also diverse, with one wordless picture book, The Snowman (1978) by Raymond Briggs, and one fictionalized biography, The Road from Home (1979) by David Kherdian, about his mother's childhood during the Armenian genocide and its aftermath.

From the Wikipedia article “Lewis Carroll Shelf Award”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Check the official rules of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.