Last night, a spectacular youngCanLit celebration was held at The Carlu in Toronto. It was the 2015 TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards and it was grand. Hosted by the Canadian Children's Book Centre and the TD Bank Group and emceed by Shelagh Rogers from CBC Radio One's The Next Chapter, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Awards honoured a plethora of youngCanLit authors and illustrators and shared those honours with their peers and a multitude of publishers, publicists, literacy experts, librarians, teachers and bloggers who sang their praises.
The evening started with the presentation of the
Fan Choice award, young readers' selection from the finalists for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award. The winner, presented by the darling seven-year-old Nora Julia Vukadinovic from Calgary, was
Any Questions?
Written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
Groundwood Books
Then the winners of other eight major children's book awards were announced (though the winner of the Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse had been awarded last week in Montreal).
Congratulations to the following winners
(as well as the finalists from which the winners were chosen!
TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group
The Night Gardener
Written by Jonathan Auxier
Puffin Canada
Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse ($30,000) Sponsored by TD Bank Group
L'autobus
Written and illustrated by Marianne Dubuc
Comme des géants
Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000) Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie
Nancy Knows
Written and illustrated by Cybèle Young
Tundra Books
Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction ($10,000) Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation
Why We Live Where We Live
Written by Kira Vermond
Illustrated by Julie McLaughlin
Owlkids Books
Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000) Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund
Dance of the Banished
Written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Pajama Press
John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000) Sponsored by John Spray of Mantis Investigation Agency
Julian
Written by William Bell
Doubleday Canada
Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000) Sponsored by HarperCollins Canada
The Night Gardener
Written by Jonathan Auxier
Puffin Canada
Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000) Sponsored by Amy Mathers' Marathon of Books
What We Hide
Written by Marthe Jocelyn
Tundra Books
I've already said it, but this was a spectacular evening of celebrating youngCanLit but it was a great chance for people-watching for the who's who in Canadian children's literature. Although I was only able to speak with a handful of illustrious authors and illustrators, I saw the following in attendance, in no particular order: Kenneth Oppel, Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Caroline Pignat, Sigmund Brouwer, Bill Swan, Wesley King, Nancy Hartry, Lesley Livingston, Adrienne Kress, Wallace Edwards, Gisela Sherman, Sylvia McNicoll, Gillian Chan, Patrick Bowman, Vikki VanSickle, Eric Walters, Matt James, Don Cummer, Marina Cohen, Deborah Kerbel, Jan Dolby, Marthe Jocelyn, Jess Keating, Marie-Louise Gay, Cybèle Young, Rona Arato, Kathy Stinson, Peter Carver, E. K. Johnston, Hugh Brewster, Eugenie Fernandes, Cary Fagan, Natalie Hyde, Kari-Lynn Winters, Lena Coakley, Anne Laurel Carter, Teresa Toten, Karen Krossing, Karen Patkau, Patricia Storms, Barbara Reid...but there were 600 people there so I've undoubtedly missed a few hundred!
If you're interested in youngCanLit, become a member of the Canadian Children's Book Centre and you too will get an invite to this event and be able to participate in its workshops and such, as well as receive copies of its publications Canadian Children's Book News and Best Books for Kids & Teens. Maybe I'll see you next year! (And many thanks to those lovely people who came up and introduced themselves to me. It was a pleasure making the acquaintance of more lovers of youngCanLit!)
