Launch of the inaugural TD Canadian Children's Literature Fan Choice Award

TD and CBC Books 

present 

the TD Canadian Children's Literature Fan Choice Award

Starting today, young readers will have a chance to go online and pick their favourite book

from the 5 finalists for the 2013 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

The book with the most votes will win and be awarded the 

TD Canadian Children's Literature Fan Choice Award

and

one lucky entrant will win a trip to Toronto 

to present the award at the gala ceremony on October 22.

See details at CBC Books (www.cbc.ca/books/kids).

Here are this year's 5 finalists:

Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War
Written by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
Ages 11+

One Year in Coal Harbour
Written by Polly Horvath

Groundwood Books
Ages 9-13

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
Written by Susin Nielsen
Tundra Books
Ages 11+

The Stamp Collector
Written by Jennifer Lanthier

Illustrated by François Thisdale

Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Ages 8+

Virginia Wolf
Written by Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Kids Can Press
Ages 5-10

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As an aside, I hope this experiment in a fan choice award works somehow.  Having been part of both juried award selections and readers' choice award selections, I suspect that different titles may be selected from the same short-list of finalists.  Although both award winners will be honest and worthy selections, I have to wonder how not being the fan choice might diminish the thrill of winning the juried award. 

Moreover, although juries can look at a wide variety of books, here ranging for readers from ages 5 to 13+, young readers will be limited as to the books they can and will read.  An eight-year-old is unlikely to select The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen because he or she would not have read it.  And a 12-year-old may too easily dismiss Virginia Wolf and The Stamp Collector as picture books, the realm of the youngest readers.  And how will Deborah Ellis' complex and heart-stopping Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War fare amongst die-hard fiction readers?

Mixing picture books, middle-grade fiction and non-fiction in a single list for adult jurors is not an issue but for young readers it is.  This is why popular readers' choice book awards like Ontario's Silver Birch,  BC's Red Cedar Book Award and the Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award compile lists of nominees according to age of readership and genre.  I suspect that, for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Fan Choice Award, readers and titles are at a disadvantage, making the ultimate selection less accurate and more subjective.

That said, young readers are still privileged to choose one of these fine titles for this new award and any title chosen from this complex list will be a worthy recipient of the award.  Good luck to all nominees.