2013 Governor General Literary Award winners announced!

Today, the Canada Council for the Arts announced the winners of the prestigious Governor General Literary Awards for 2013 including those in the two (English) Children's categories.

Congratulations to all the award winners and nominees for being recognized for their contributions to enriching our collection of phenomenal youngCanLit.

This year's winners in the two (English) Children's categories are: 

For Children’s Text:

The winner is 

Teresa Toten 

 

for her book  

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B

Doubleday Canada/Random House of Canada

978-0-385678346

255 pp.

Ages 14+

August, 2013

Reviewed here on August 15, 2013.

The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten is a transformative, high-energy novel that vibrates with the creativity of both the writer and main character. Adam struggles with OCD (obsessive‑compulsive disorder) and a troubled family life. His group therapy becomes an unlikely source of love and friendship. A powerful story with brilliant language and unexpected moments of humour. 

(Jury comments retrieved from

 http://canadacouncil.ca/en/council/news-room/news/2013/the-ggreat-books-of-2013)

For Children’s Illustration:

The winner is

Matt James 

for his book  

Northwest Passage

Text by Stan Rogers

Illustrated by Matt James
Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-153-3

56 pp.

All ages

September 2013

Reviewed here on July 17, 2013. 

Matt James’s unique illustrations set our imaginations soaring as they steer us through Stan Rogers’ famous ballad, Northwest Passage. The ink and acrylic paintings explode with raw effects and vivid colour, sometimes settling to small ice-blue vignettes. Each page is descriptive of the search that obsessed much of the world for hundreds of years.

(Jury comments retrieved from

 http://canadacouncil.ca/en/council/news-room/news/2013/the-ggreat-books-of-2013)

2013 TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards: Winners announced

Tonight, the Canadian Children's Book Centre and TD Bank Group presented the 2013 CANADIAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AWARDS at the Carlu in Toronto. A spectacular reception preceded the awards ceremony at which six awards were presented. (Le Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse will be presented next week  in Montreal.)
 

Hosted by CBC's Shelagh Rogers, the program began with addresses by Frank McKenna, Deputy Chair of TD Bank Group and Todd Kyle, President of the Canadian Children's Book Centre and an announcement of the TD Grade One Book Giveaway.

Boy Soup
by Loris Lesynski
Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Annick Press

Annually, TD sponsors a Canadian picture book giveaway for all children in Grade One in Canada.  This year the selection that will be distributed to fortunate children in Canada will be Boy Soup by author Loris Lesynski and illustrator Michael Martchenko. 

Then the following book award winners were announced:

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

• $30,000 Award
• Sponsored by TD Bank Group 
• Presented by Tim Hockey, President and CEO of TD Canada Trust

Winner

One Year in Coal Harbour
Written by Polly Horvath

Groundwood Books
Ages 9-13

     Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award   

• $20,000 Award
• Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie
• Presented by Marilyn Baillie

Winner

 

Mr. Zinger’s Hat
Written by Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Tundra Books
Ages 4-8

Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

• $10,000 Award
• Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation
• Presented by Quinn Fleck and David Fleck

 

 

Winner

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

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People

• $5,000 Award
• Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund
• Presented by  Todd Kylie

Winner

 

The Lynching of Louie Sam
Written by Elizabeth Stewart
Annick Press
Ages 12+

John Spray Mystery Award

• $5,000 Award 
• Sponsored by John Spray, President, Mantis Investigation Agency
• Presented by John Spray

Winner

The Lynching of Louie Sam
Written by Elizabeth Stewart
Annick Press
Ages 12+

Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy

• $5,000 Award  
• Sponsored by HarperCollins Canada
• Presented by Adrienne Hughes

Winner

 

Seraphina

Written by Rachel Hartman

Doubleday Canada

Ages 14+

***********************

New this year:

The TD Canadian Children's Literature Fan Choice Award 

was presented by fan Annaka Leib from Qu'appelle, Saskatchewan to 

Winner

One Year in Coal Harbour
Written by Polly Horvath

Groundwood Books
Ages 9-13

Congratulations to these winners and all the finalists for having their youngCanLit recognized as the exceptional reads that they are.

The celebration began with hors-d'oeuvres, drink, chatting, introductions, and ended with champagne, desserts, and congratulations, all to the accompaniment of magical company.  Amongst the hundreds of guests I spoke to, recognized, or remembered were the following authors and/or illustrators: Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Elizabeth Stewart, Rachel Hartman, Monica Kulling, Bill Swan, Jennifer Lanthier, Dušan Petričić, Stephanie McLellan, Tara Anderson, Gillian Chan, Loris Lesynski, Michael Martchenko, Rebecca Bender, Richard Scrimger, Kevin Sylvester, Natalie Hyde, Shane Peacock, Ken Setterington, Catherine Rondina, Mahtab Narsimhan, Hugh Brewster, Nancy Hartry,  Rona Arato, Jocelyn Shipley, Evan Munday, Nancy Runstedler, Vikki VanSickle, Deborah Kerbel, and Barbara Reid.  And it was delightful to meet and chat with so many Canadians passionate about youngCanLit, including publishers, publicists, editors, book sellers, teachers, librarians, literacy specialists and children's lit advocates.  The TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards Celebration is an event I always enjoy, with its richness of words, conversation, appreciation, camaraderie, and encouragement.  

Thanks to the TD Bank Group and the Canadian Children's Book Centre for hosting such a wonderful Canadian event.

The Vancouver Writers Fest 2013 (Vancouver)

As it has for the past 25 years, the Vancouver Writers Fest will revisit Granville Island for six days in October to share books, readings, thoughts, perspectives and self.  This year from October 22 to 27, the Vancouver Writers Festival will host over 100 Canadian and international authors of adult, children's and young adult books.  For more details, check out their website at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/

Below I've listed most of the children's and young adult authors scheduled to appear during the upcoming festival:

• Dan Bar-el, author of Dream Boats, That One Spooky Night, Things are Looking Grimm, Jill
• Rachelle Delaney, author of The Metro Dogs of Moscow, The Ship of Lost Souls, and The Lost Souls of Island X
• Rhéa Dufresne, l'auteure de Arachnéa
• Frank B. Edwards, author of Bug, A Dog Called Dad, Frogger and a biography of Robert Munsch
• Deborah Ellis, author of fiction and non-fiction, including Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids, My Name is Parvana, The Heaven Shop, and The Breadwinner
• Cary Fagan, children's fiction author of Oy Feh So?, Mr. Zinger's Hat, The Boy in the Box and The Fortress of Kaspar Snit 
• Julie Flett, author of Wild Berries/Pakwa Che Menisu, Owls See Clearly at Night/Lii Yiiboo Nayaapiwak lii Swer: A Michif Alphabet/L'Alfabet Di Michif
• Tomson Highway, author of Caribou Song, and numerous adult books
• Shar Levine, non-fiction author of Scary Science: 25 Creepy Experiments, Snowy Science, and Hockey Science: 25 Winning Experiments
• Elizabeth MacLeod, children's non-fiction author of A History of Just About Everything, Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History's Mysteries, Royal Murder: The Deadly Intrigue of Ten Sovereigns and Everything But the Kitchen Sink
• Ashley Spires, author and illustrator of Larf, Small Saul, Binky the Space Cat and Binky Under Pressure
• Kathy Stinson, author of The Man With the Violin, Highway of Heroes, and What Happened to Ivy
• Meg Tilly, children's author of A Taste of Heaven and Porcupine  
• Teresa Toten, YA author of The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B, The Taming, and Me and the Blondes 
• Eric Walters, picture book and middle-grade fiction author of My Name is Blessing, The Matatu, Camp X, and Between Heaven and Earth 
• Frieda Wishinsky, picture book and non-fiction author of A History of Just About Everything, Everything But the Kitchen Sink: Weird Stuff You Didn't Know about Food, Give Maggie a Chance, Canadian Flyer Adventures series, and Where Are You Bear?

YoungIFOA: International Festival of Authors (Toronto)

International Festival of Authors is held annually at Toronto's Harbourfront and always includes events for children and young adults. YoungIFOA programs provides them with the opportunities to meet authors, ask questions, listen to readings and get their books autographed. There are even bookplate-making workshops.

Here are the four YoungIFOA events for 2013, with a few images to remind readers of the authors' books:

Saturday, October 26, 2013
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Author:     Gordon Korman
Target audience:  Grades 4-6
Cost: $18

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Authors:     Lesley Livingston and Evan Munday 
Moderator:  author Vikki VanSickle
Target audience:  Grades 7-8
Cost: $14






Wednesday, October 30, 2013
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Authors: Charles de Lint and Elizabeth Wennick
Moderator: author Kevin Sylvester
Target Audience: young adults
Cost: $14

Friday, November 1, 2013

10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Authors:   Frank Viva and Eric Walters
Moderator: Vikki VanSickle
Target audience:  K - Gr. 3+
Cost: $14























Details are available at the IFOA website here

Annual Fall Author/Illustrator Breakfast (Vancouver)

The Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable

 presents 

its annual fall

Author/Illustrator Breakfast

on

Saturday, October 19, 2013

8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

at the University Golf Club

5185 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC

with special guests

author and illustrator  

Julie Morstad

nominated for a 2013 Governor General's Literature Award for Illustration

for her book How To (from Simply Read Books)

author and illustrator  

Julie Flett

and

storyteller and author  

Richard Van Camp

Ticket sales end October 15

Get details and register online at

www.vclr.ca

Recent Awards for youngCanLit

Silly me to take the time to run a book fair at school (and teach amidst the cases of books) and expect that I could keep up my reviews and updates of book award news.  So, check out the CanLit for LittleCanadians: Awards site and take note of the following announcements of finalists or winners of youngCanLit for new additions to your MUST READ lists.

The Governor General's Literary Awards: 2013 Nominees

 

 

Moonbeam Children's Book Awards: 2013 Winners announced

 

 

Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature: 2013 Winners announced

Aurora Awards (Prix Aurora) for Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy: 2013 YA winner

And heartiest congratulations to all winners and nominees!

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.

2013 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards' finalists announced

(Normally I don't post award short-lists or winners here but I always make a few exceptions for ones that I consider especially important to youngCanLit.  As such, I am posting here an identical post that will be added to my CanLit for LittleCanadians: Awards blog. No need to read it twice!)

Today, the Canadian Children's Book Centre, our nationally-renowned authority on all things related to youngCanLit, announced the finalists for the 2013 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards.

The seven major children's book awards, which will be awarded at two invitation-only galas in October, include:

1. TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
2. Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group;
3. Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000) Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie;
4. Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction ($10,000) Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation;
5. Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000) Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund;
6. John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000) Sponsored by John Spray; and
7. Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000)  Sponsored by HarperCollins Canada.

Here are the short lists for each award category, as announced by the Canadian Children's Book Centre today:

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award

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

  Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse 

À la recherche du bout du monde
Written by Michel Noël
Éditions Hurtubise HMH
Ages 11+

 
La clé à molette
Written and illustrated by Élise Gravel

Éditions La courte échelle
Ages 7+

Jane, le renard & moi
Written by Fanny Britt
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Éditions La Pastèque
Ages 11+

Mingan, mon village
Poems by Inuit schoolchildren
Illustrated by Rogé
Éditions de la Bagnole
Ages 9+

Tu me prends en photo
Written by Marie-Francine Hébert
Illustrated by Jean-Luc Trudel
Éditions Les 400 coups
Ages 10+

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

Mr. King’s Things
Written and illustrated by Geneviève Côté
Kids Can Press
Ages 3-7

Mr. Zinger’s Hat
Written by Cary Fagan

Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Tundra Books
Ages 4-8

The Stamp Collector
Written by Jennifer Lanthier
Illustrated by François Thisdale
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Ages 8+

Uncle Wally’s Old Brown Shoe

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards 

Orca Book Publishers 

Ages 4-8

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

Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

Going Up! Elisha Otis’s Trip to the Top

(Great Idea)
Written by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by David Parkins
Tundra Books
Ages 6-10

Kate & Pippin: An Unlikely Love Story
Written by Martin Springett
Photographs by Isobel Springett
Puffin Canada
Ages 5-8

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

Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death – The Story of Steven Truscott
(Real Justice)
Written by Bill Swan
James Lorimer 

Ages 13+

Rescuing the Children: The Story of the Kindertransport
Written by Deborah Hodge
Tundra Books
Ages 10+

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction 
for Young People

A Call to Battle: The War of 1812, Alexander MacKay, Upper Canada, 1812

(I Am Canada)
Written by Gillian Chan
Scholastic Canada
Ages 10-14

 

 
The Lynching of Louie Sam
Written by Elizabeth Stewart
Annick Press
Ages 12+

Making Bombs for Hitler
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Scholastic Canada
Ages 9-14

Violins of Autumn
Written by Amy McAuley
Walker Publishing Company, Inc.
Ages 12+

Yesterday’s Dead
Written by Pat Bourke
Second Story Press
Ages 10-14

John Spray Mystery Award

Becoming Holmes  

(The Boy Sherlock Holmes) 

Written by Shane Peacock

Tundra Books 

Ages 11-14

Breakaway
Written by Michael Betcherman
Razorbill / Penguin Group
Ages 13+

Devil’s Pass 

(Seven the series)
Written by Sigmund Brouwer
Orca Book Publishers
Ages 12-14

The Lynching of Louie Sam
Written by Elizabeth Stewart
Annick Press

Ages 12+

Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure
(The Neil Flambé Capers)
Written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Ages 8-13

Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Girl With Borrowed Wings
Written by Rinsai Rossetti 

Dial Books
Ages 14+

Island of Doom

(The Hunchback Assignments IV)
Written by Arthur Slade
HarperCollins Publishers
Ages 11-14

Rebel Heart
(Dustlands)
Written by Moira Young
Doubleday Canada
Ages 14+

Seraphina
Written by Rachel Hartman
Doubleday Canada
Ages 14+

Shadows Cast by Stars
Written by Catherine Knutsson
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Ages 12+

Hosted by the Canadian Children's Book Centre and TD Bank Group, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards will celebrate great Canadian children's books and present the winners of the awards on the evenings of October 22 and October 29 2013 in Toronto and Montreal, respectively.