Providence Journal files / Bill Murphy
Natalie Babbitt speaks to schoolchildren in this 2008 file photo.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Natalie Babbitt, author of the 1975 classic "Tuck Everlasting," has been awarded the inaugural E.B. White Award for achievement in children's literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Authors Louise Erdrich, Donald Hall and Alison Lurie served on the committee for children's literature, a new direction for the American Academy. The award carries a $10,000 prize.
In all, academy awards went to 19 writers, who will be honored at a ceremony in May in New York.
Babbitt, of Providence, won a Newbery Honor for her 1971 "Knee-Knock Rise." "Tuck Everlasting" was named an American Library Association Notable book and was twice made into films. Her most recent novel, "The Moon Over High Street," was published in 2012.