2016 TD Canadian Children's Book 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!)

Recently, the Canadian Children's Book Centre, our nationally-renowned authority on all things related to youngCanLit, announced the finalists for the 2016 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards. (Press release here.)

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

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

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

TD Canadian Children's Literature Award

Missing Nimâmâ 
by Melanie Florence
Illustrated by François Thisdale
Clockwise Press
Reviewed here

The Nest
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins

That Squeak 
by Carolyn Beck
Illustrated by François Thisdale
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
Reviewed here

The Wolf-Birds 
by Willow Dawson
Owlkids Books

A Year of Borrowed Men 
by Michelle Barker
Illustrated by Renné Benoit
Pajama Press
Reviewed here







Le Prix TD de littérature pour l'enfance et la jeunesse canadienne

L’arbragan 
par Jacques Goldstyn
Éditions de la Pastèque

Aux toilettes 
par André Marois
Illustré par Pierre Pratt
Éditions Druide

Camille 
par Patrick Isabelle
Leméac Éditeur

L’épopée de Petit-Jules 
par Maryse Rouy
Éditions Hurtubise

Le prisonnier sans frontières 
par Jacques Goldstyn
Bayard Canada












Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award 

In a Cloud of Dust 
by Alma Fullerton
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Pajama Press
Reviewed here

InvisiBill 
by Maureen Fergus
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Tundra Books

Sidewalk Flowers
by JonArno Lawson
Illustrated by Sydney Smith
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox 
by Danielle Daniel
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

The Wolf-Birds 
by Willow Dawson
Owlkids Books












Norma Fleck Award For Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

The Art of the Possible: An Everyday Guide to Politics 
by Edward Keenan
Illustrated by Julie McLaughlin
Owlkids Books

A Beginner’s Guide to Immortality: From Alchemy to Avatars 
by Maria Birmingham
Illustrated by Josh Holinaty
Owlkids Books

Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War (CitizenKid)
by Jessica Dee Humphreys and Michel Chikwanine
Illustrated by Claudia Dávila
Kids Can Press
Reviewed here

Foodprints: The Story of What We Eat 
by Paula Ayer
Annick Press

Sex Is a Funny Word: A Book About Bodies, Feelings, and You 
by Cory Silverberg
Illustrated by Fiona Smyth
Seven Stories Press

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People 

Avis Dolphin 
by Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Willow Dawson
Groundwood Books

The Farmerettes 
by Gisela Tobien Sherman
Second Story Press

Mad Miss Mimic 
by Sarah Henstra
Razorbill Canada
Reviewed here

Uncertain Soldier 
by Karen Bass
Pajama Press
Reviewed here

The Unquiet Past (Secrets)
by Kelley Armstrong
Orca Book Publishers

John Spray Mystery Award

The Blackthorn Key (Blackthorn Key)
by Kevin Sands
Aladdin

The Case of the Missing Moonstone (The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency)
by Jordan Stratford
Alfred A. Knopf
Reviewed here

Delusion Road 
by Don Aker
HarperTrophy Canada

The Masked Truth 
by Kelley Armstrong
Doubleday Canada

Masterminds 
by Gordon Korman
HarperCollins Publishers
Reviewed here












Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy

Clover’s Luck (Magical Animal Adoption Agency)
by Kallie George
Illustrated by Alexandra Bolder
HarperCollins Publishers
Reviewed here

The Nest 
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins Publishers

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace)
by Erin Bow
Margaret K. McElderry Books

A Thousand Nights 
by E.K. Johnston
Disney-Hyperion

The Unquiet 
by Mikaela Everett
Greenwillow Books













Amy Mathers Teen Book Award

5 to 1 
by Holly Bodger
Alfred A. Knopf

The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace)
by Erin Bow
Margaret K. McElderry Books

Trouble is a Friend of Mine 
by Stephanie Tromly
Kathy Dawson Books

The Truth Commission 
by Susan Juby
Razorbill Canada
Reviewed here

Young Man With Camera 
by Emil Sher
Arthur A. Levine Books









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 November 1, 2016 and November 17, 2016 in Montreal and Toronto, respectively.

When the Rain Comes

by Alma Fullerton

Illustrated by Kim La Fave

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-012-3

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2016

When the Rain Comes may be the story of the monsoons hitting Sri Lanka and the flash floods that can occur but it’s also that of a little girl who finds the courage to do the right thing at the right time, demonstrating that it doesn’t matter how small or insignificant you may feel, you can make a difference.  Malini certainly does.

Alma Fullerton’s text takes the reader to Malini’s Sri Lankan village of choruses of spurfowls, bright warm colours and a ox-driven cart carrying a load of rice seedlings ready for the important seasonal planting. For Malini, it’s a milestone day because, as little as she is, she would finally learn how to plant those seedlings. Her worries that she might do it wrong are supplanted when the bullock driver asks her to keep on eye on the massive creature while he pops into a café for a break.

Then the  uproar of wind and rain takes over.

The skies go dark
and even the birds
take cover. 

Their songs silenced
by wind whipping
through the palms,
bringing a sheet of rain
toward the village
POUNDING
     POUNDING
  POUNDING.
                       (pg. 13)

From When the Rain Comes 

by Alma Fullerton, illus. by Kim La Fave

With an orchestration of flip-flap, whooshes, booms and cracks, the thunder claps and rains descend, creating a river of water down the road separating the bullock driver, as well as her parents, from Malini and the cart.  Yelling above the uproar of water and wind, they instruct the terrified little girl who is being knocked down by the wind to get to the barn on higher ground and save the rice seedlings.  It’s a monumental task of coordination and connection between Malini and the ox but one that ends in safety and a bond, even if only as long as the rain comes.

She leans close to him,
                                 stroking
                      whispering
           calming. 

They wait
slowly,
breathing together 

     in
         and
               out
     in
         and
               out.
                       (pg. 26)

When the Rain Comes may tell the circumstances of a single flash flood, but Alma Fullerton’s text, as well as her endnote about Sri Lanka, enlighten young readers about a life unknown to many: one of monsoons, poverty, agriculture, and children’s contributions to family needs.  But it’s Alma Fullerton’s rhythmic lines and sound scape of life and weather that carries the story, along with Kim La Fave’s stirring illustrations. From the brightly-coloured warmth of Malini’s home life to the turmultous gloominess of the storm of flashing water, wind and sound, Kim La Fave contrasts the two realities, echoing Alma Fullerton’s cheerful and fearful situations. Moreover, Kim La Fave’s distinction between the gargantuan ox and the tiny child reinforces a message that anyone, no matter how small or young, can move mountains, or oxen, if need be.

From When the Rain Comes 

by Alma Fullerton, illus. by Kim La Fave

When the Rain Comes is a resoundingly effective addition to our diverse youngCanLit collections and for enabling cultural competence for all readers, adult and young.

Friend or Foe?

by John Sobol

Illustrated by Dasha Tolstikova

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-407-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

October 2016

The beginning of Ottawa author John Sobol’s debut picture book Friend or Foe? is only missing the “Once upon a time…” because the sentiment is definitely that of a traditional tale, here based on a lonely, dark mouse who lives in a small house beside a great palace in which a white cat lives.

The two creatures have their evening routine, with the mouse creeping out onto the roof of the house, and the cat peering down from the palace’s tower window, each staring at the other. When the mouse notices a tiny hole in the palace’s exterior wall, he decides to slip into the palace, hopeful that he might find a friend in that cat with whom he feels a connection.  As he makes his way through the palace, he continues to wonder whether the cat really is a friend or perhaps a foe.

As the mouse climbed the stairs to the palace tower, he began to grow afraid.
What if he was wrong? If he was, the cat would tear him to pieces.  Still he kept climbing.
Was the cat friend or foe?
He had to know. (pg. 11)

But as he approaches the feline from behind, asking her aloud whether she is a friend or foe, the feline is startled and tumbles off the palace tower.  John Sobol ends Friend or Foe? with a twist, both in the animals’ reversal of fortunes and in the answer to the titular question that is probably reflective of many relationships though nebulous in its honesty.

From Friend or Foe? 

by John Sobol, illus. by Dasha Tolstikova

John Sobol's story is aptly illustrated by American Dasha Tolstikova’s austere artwork which emphasizes the disparity in the characters’ sizes and situations, powerfully using hues and tints of greys with only dashes of brightness in a red brick wall or orange light bulb.  Though there is little colour in Friend or Foe?, supporting the idea that there really is a subtle differentiation between the two situations of the title, Dasha Tolstikova uses colour cleverly both to reflect that contrast and suggest their similarity. Friend or Foe? is a very artful examination of connection in which only differences and likenesses are normally perceived.

From Friend or Foe? 

by John Sobol, illus. by Dasha Tolstikova

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A very special launch event is in the works for John Sobol’s Friend or Foe? 

Be part of Small Print Toronto’s Cat & Mouse City 

with author John Sobol 

for young readers 

(ages 2-8, who must be accompanied by an adult) 

on Saturday, October 22, 2016 

from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. 

at 

Lillian H. Smith Library 

(Toronto Public Library) 

239 College Street 

Toronto, ON 

The event is free but participants must sign up early as space is limited so register at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/cat-mouse-city-with-john-sobol-tickets-27655152305

Small Print Toronto’s invitation describes the event as follows: 

Our popular model city-building workshop, Mouse City, is about to face its its biggest urban planning challenge yet: the arrival of cats! Urban planners aged 2-8 can decide how Mouse City will accommodate its new, feline citizens. 

Ottawa author John Sobol will unveil his new book, Friend Or Foe?, and help young planners find the best place for their cardboard buildings on a large city grid.

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey

by Margriet Ruurs

Artwork by Nizar Ali Badr

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-459814905

28 pp.

All ages

October 2016

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey is a very important book on so many fronts.  At face value, it recounts in memorable artwork and text the plight of refugees from Syria, Nizar Ali Badr’s home, or elsewhere, now and forever.  But beyond bringing understanding to the refugee crisis, Stepping Stones is a book of encouragement to those arriving in Canada –the book is a dual-language edition in both English and Arabic–and to those who can contribute to the cause.

This is the story told from the perspective of a young girl, Rama, who recounts life in Syria, from the rooster crowing her family (Mama, Papa, grandfather Jedo and brother Sami) awake, and a breakfast of bread, yogurt and tomatoes, and memories of play and work, school and freedom.

But that was then.And this is now. (pg. 10)

From Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey 

by Margriet Ruurs, art by Nizar Ali Badr

But their freedom is an illusion, and after war comes, there is insufficient food and the bombings, and people begin to leave.

People began to leave our village.
First a trickle, then a stream,
across dusty fields under a burning sun,
a stream driven by hope. (pg. 14)

So too begins Rama’s family exodus, walking until reaching the sea, whereupon they “set sail on the waves of hope and prayer” (pg. 20), arriving on land where the gruelling trek begins again, until they arrive at their future, welcomed by neighbours who communicate with smiles and the sharing of clothes and food and more.

The lucky ones, they call us.
New memories, new hopes,
     new dreams.
Not of war,
but of peace. (pg. 25)

All told in the artistry of Nizar Ali Badr’s stunning arrangements of oddly-shaped and widely-coloured stones, Stepping Stones could be the story of any refugee family: a good life bombarded by war, a demanding and emotional flight from danger, and the arrival to a new life.  Though for each family the path is a unique arrangement of steps, its bearing is always the same: safety and opportunity.  Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey reveals this route with empathy and assurance.

Margriet Ruurs provides an extensive foreward that explains the background of Stepping Stones coming to publication.  She accounts her herculean efforts to contact artist Nizar Ali Badr after viewing his wondrous artwork of stones, about convincing him and Orca Book Publishers to take on the project, and arranging for a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the books to be donated to resettlement agencies.  The task may have been as arduous as that of Sisyphus but the ultimate story of Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family’s Journey, both within and externally, culminates with promise and purpose, the hallmarks of a good life.

From Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey 

by Margriet Ruurs, art by Nizar Ali Badr