The 2023 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards: English-language winners announced

On Monday evening, a gala event was held to announce the winners of this year's English-language Canadian Children's Book Awards. From a fine list of nominees , the following winners were selected by juries of their peers from the kidCanLit world. (The French-language award will be announced on November 6, 2023.)

This year, the children's book awards include the following English-language awards:

• TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($50,000), 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;
• Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000), Sponsored by Amy Mathers' Marathon of Books;
• Jean Little First-Novel Award ($5,000);
• Arlene Barlin Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy ($5,000), Sponsored by Elly Barlin-Daniels;

• • • • • • •

 

Congratulations to all winners!

• • • • • • •

TD Canadian Children's 

Literature Award

 WINNER

Weird Rules to Follow
Written by Kim Spencer
Orca Book Publishers

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

WINNER 

Mina
Written and illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
Simon & Schuster Canada

Norma Fleck Award For 

Canadian Children's Non-Fiction

WINNER

The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation
Written by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
Orca Book Publishers

Geoffrey Bilson Award for 

Historical Fiction for Young People

WINNER

Weird Rules to Follow
Written by Kim Spencer
Orca Book Publishers

Amy Mathers Teen Book Award 

WINNER

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
Written by Zoulfa Katouh
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Jean Little First-Novel Award

WINNER 

Weird Rules to Follow
Written by Kim Spencer
Orca Book Publishers

Arlene Barlin Award 

for Science Fiction and Fantasy

WINNER 

Blood Scion
Written by Deborah Falaye
HarperTeen

 

 📚📚📚

Endgame: The Secret Force 136

Written by Catherine Little

Illustrated by Sean Huang

Plumleaf Press

978-1-738898244

32 pp.

All ages

October 2023

This is a picture book. But Endgame: The Secret Force 136 is more than a picture book. It's a story within a story with another story. There's an intergenerational story which segues into a story from World War II that is framed by the playing of a game of Chinese chess that is depicted as an actual battle in illustrations. It may sound complicated and yet it all works.

From Endgame: The Secret Force 136, written by Catherine Little, illus. by Sean Huang

A child regularly visits his great-grandfather Tai Gong with his mother and is gifted with his elder's Chinese chess set on his tenth birthday. The boy enjoys learning the new game, called Xiangqi or elephant chess, with its two battling armies of generals, advisers, elephants, chariots, cannons, and soldiers, but he can never win over his Tai Gong.  Tai Gong advises him:

“You have to plan ahead, Alex,” Tai Gong replied. “As I have told you many times, slow down and plan your strategies. Focus on the big picture.”

From Endgame: The Secret Force 136, written by Catherine Little, illus. by Sean Huang

During one visit, Tai Gong shows Alex some faded photographs he keeps in his wallet. The photos show groups of men, some in uniforms, and Tai Gong says he needs to tell Alex about the stories of these photos. As he recalls discrimination he and other Chinese Canadians endured, many still felt the need to fight for their country during World War II. Though they were rejected initially, when the enemy occupied much of Southeast Asia, they were accepted into Secret Force 136 for special missions. And though he speaks of dangerous situations, Alex's tai gong is convinced it was all worth it because of the progress that happened upon their return. It was all about the endgame, something he hopes to impart to his great-grandson as they play Xiangqi.

From Endgame: The Secret Force 136, written by Catherine Little, illus. by Sean Huang

There is a history lesson in Endgame: The Secret Force 136, and Catherine Little provides extensive historical notes about the racial discrimination Chinese Canadians faced, about the Secret Force 136 including bios of several of the team's members, and about the impact of the Chinese Canadian war effort. While her focus may be on the history, as shared through a boy's interaction with his great-grandfather, she also embeds in the playing of the ancient game of Xiangqi which she also highlights in her appended notes. This could have been a very dry exposé of a WWII special operation but by tying the story of the strategies employed in a game of chess with the memories of an elderly Chinese Canadian, Catherine Little makes the story more personal. This is his story, and he speaks of it because he knows of it. And he learned valuable lessons for war but also for life but now he can share that strategizing so that his great-grandson may also benefit.

The realism of the child's interactions with his great-grandfather and his Tai Gong's experiences are depicted well in the lush paintings of Saskatchewan artist Sean Huang who takes readers from a contemporary setting to that of World War II and also to a time when warriors wore lamellar armour and carried spears. Because the story is one based in history, it's appropriate that Sean Huang maintains that realism so that a young reader might visualize their own interaction with a grandparent, or asking about the past, or looking to understand who is in photos. (The illustration of the Tai Gong's hands and the photographs is so lifelike that it will be immediately familiar and evocative of age and nostalgia.)

Players of chess and other games often speak of the endgame as the final stage and Alex learns about the perspective he must take to have a successful endgame. But his Tai Gong knows that there are many endgames in life, those final steps that can lead to success, to progress, and to resolution. His life has had many endgames and while they may or may not have always felt triumphant, they were surely noteworthy, if not for him then for others.

2023 Le Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse: Finalists announced

On September 12, the finalists for the  English-language awards of the Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) were announced, and on October 18, the CCBC and Communication-Jeunesse (CJ) announced the finalists for the 2023 Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse.  The winning French-language title, which will be announced on November 6, 2023, will receive $50,000.

 

 

Dans les souliers d’Amédée
Écrit par Véronique Lambert
Illustré par Éléna Comte
Éditions Fonfon

 

Gloria sort du moule
Écrit par Guylaine Guay
Illustré par Bach
Éditions de la Bagnole

 

Mélie quelque part au milieu

Écrit par Mylène Goupil

Éditions Québec Amérique

 

Seuls

Écrit par Paul Tom

Illustré par Mélanie Baillairgé

Éditions la courte échelle

Toucher les étoiles
Écrit par Frédérick Wolfe
Leméac Éditeur

 

 

Félicitations et Bonne chance à tous!

2024 Forest of Reading® nominees: Le Prix Peuplier, Le Prix Mélèze, Le Prix Tamarac

This is the final listing of nominees for the 2024 Forest of Reading® book award programs of the Ontario Library Association.

 

Listed below are the nominees for the French-language reading programs:

• Le Prix Peuplier: French-language picture books, less text, simpler subject matters, perfect for read-alouds
• Le Prix Mélèze: shorter French-language chapter books with maximum 100 pages or more mature picture books, larger text with pictures, simpler vocabulary and verb tenses
• Le Prix Tamarac:  French-language chapter books from 100 to 250 pages, smaller text with little or no illustrations, more complicated verb tenses and vocabulary
  

Links for the other six reading programs follow.

LE PRIX PEUPLIER

Amadou et le 15 aout

Écrit par Samira Farhoud

Illustré par Jean-Luc Trudel

Bouton d’or Acadie

C'est mon corps!

Écrit et illustré par Élise Gravel

Scholastic

Congé pour papa

Écrit par Nicole Poirier

Illustré par Isabelle Léger

Bouton d’or Acadie

 

Dans les souliers d’Amédée
Écrit par Véronique Lambert

Illustré par Éléna Comte

Fonfon

 

Les gros problème de Noah
Écrit par Antony Antoniou

Illustré par Baptiste Amsallem

Bayard

 

Une histoire s’il te plaît!!!
Écrit par Anne Renaud

Illustré par Sophie Pa

La courte échelle

 

L'oiseau rouge
Écrit et illustré par Élodie Duhameau

Les 400 coups

 

On se tait s’il vous plaît!
Écrit par Andrée Poulin

Illustré par Audrey Malo

Québec Amérique

 

Papa est une princesse
Écrit par Dana Blue

Illustré par Catherine Petit

Boomerang

 

Pas de chevaux dans la maison!
Écrit par Mireille Messier

Illustré par Anna Bron

Orca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LE PRIX MÉLÈZE

À quoi servent les moustiques?
Écrite par Pierre- Alexandre Bonin

Illustré par Lucille Danis Drouot

Auzou

Alerte: culottes meurtrières! Fausses nouvelles, désinformation et théories du complot
Écrit et illustré par Élise Gravel

Scholastic

 

La chambre numéro 7
Écrit par Martine Latulippe

Illustré par Isabelle Malenfant

La courte échelle

Le Clan 1: QG pour quartier général
Écrit par Marc Beaudet

Illustré par Marc Beaudet

Édito jeunesse

Je ne m’appelle pas Coco!
Écrit par Pierrette Dubé

Illustré par Lucile Danis Drouot

Bayard

Je t’écris de mon lit
Écrit par Maude Nepveu-Villeneuve

Illustré par Agathe Bray-Bourret

Les 400 coups

Kellan et les papillons du cœur

Écrit par Dïana Bélice

Illustré par Audrey Jadaud

Dominique et compagnie

Mina et sa bête

Écrit par Caroline Merola

Illustré par Caroline Merola

La courte échelle

Morane adoooore parler!

Écrit par Émilie Ouellette

Illustré par Lidia-Ntombo Lulendo

Québec Amérique

 

Orbie, dessine-moi un billibouton
Écrit par Frédérick Wolfe

Illustré par Orbie

Fonfon

LE PRIX TAMARAC
 

L'antre des rebelles
Écrit par Caroline Auger

Illustré par Gabrielle Morrisseau

Isatis

As-tu peur du loup?
Écrit par Véronique Drouin

Illustré par Lucille Danis Drouot

Bayard

La balance du vide
Écrit par Julien Leclerc

Héritage jeunesse

La fin du monde est pour demain
Écrit par André Marois

Bayard

Gloire 01: Le hip-hop dans le sang
Écrit par Isabelle Roy

Hurtubise

Le jeu qui voulait ma peau
Écrit par Magali Laurent

Bayard

Mathéo à contre-courant
Écrit par Pierre-Alexandre Bonin

Hurtubise

Opération mange-gardiens: Non au gaspillage alimentaire!
Écrit par Joan Sénéchal

Illustré par Yves Dumont

Isatis

Parfois mon cœur reste accroché au trapèze
Écrit par Geneviève Dufour

Bayard

Zipolaris 1: La nuit des morloups
Écrit par J.L. Blanchard

Fides

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Nominees for the other programs can be linked to from below:

Blue Spruce

Silver Birch Express

Silver Birch Fiction

Yellow Cedar

Red Maple

White Pine