Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan, winner of the Newbery Medal. Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan, winner of the Newbery Medal. (http://theoneandonlyivan.com)

Canadian writer Jon Klassen's This Is Not My Hat received the Randolph Caldecott Medal for outstanding illustration, the American Library Association announced Monday.

Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan won the John Newbery Medal for the outstanding children's book of 2012. The Newbery and Caldecott awards are the top honours for American children's literature.

Applegate's book tells of a daydreaming gorilla and the life lessons he receives through his friendship with a baby elephant. It was inspired by a real gorilla, one who lived decades without meeting another of his kind before spending his final, happy years at an Atlanta zoo.

Klassen was the author and illustrator of This Is Not My Hat, a picture story about a fish and his blue hat, and the successor to Klassen's popular I Want My Hat Back.

Klassen, who was born in Winnipeg and grew up in Niagara Falls, Ont., won the Governor General's Literary Award in 2010 for Cat's Night Out. He also worked on the films Coraline and Kung Fu Panda.

Other winners announced Monday:

  • Coretta Scott King illustration prize: Bryan Collier, illustrator for Langston Hughes' poem I, Too, Am America.
  • Coretta Scott King text prize: Andrea Davis Pinkney's for Hand in Hand.
  • Stonewall Book Award (for works about the gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender experience): Alire Saenz for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
  • Pura Belpre Award for best Latino/Latina author: Alire Saenz for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
  • Pura Belpre Award for best Latino/Latina illustrator: David Diaz for Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert.
  • Best non-fiction book: Steve Sheinkin's Bomb: The Race to Build — and Steal — the World's Most Dangerous Weapon.

Katherine Paterson, 80, author of Bridge to Terabithia and The Sign of the Chrysanthemum, won the Laura Ingalls Wilder prize for lifetime achievement. She is a past winner of the Newbery, the National Book Award and many other honours.