2016 Atlantic Book Awards shortlists of nominated titles announced

Yesterday, the Atlantic Book Awards Society announced the shortlists of nominated titles for its various book prizes.  Winners of the 2016 Atlantic Book Awards will be announced at a gala at Moncton’s historic Capitol Theatre on April 27, 2016.

To get more information about the Atlantic Canada Book Awards, go to http://www.atlanticbookawards.ca

This year, there are twelve Atlantic Book Awards that will be presented:

• Alistair MacLeod Prize for Short Fiction
• Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature
• Les Éloizes - Artiste de l’année en littérature (Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick)
• Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing
• Robbie Robertson Dartmouth Book Award (Non-Fiction)
• Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical Writing
• Jim Connors Dartmouth Book Award (Fiction)
• Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration
• Margaret and John Savage First Book Award
• New Brunswick Book Award for Fiction
• Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick Book Award for Non-fiction 
• Westminster Books Award for Poetry

The nominees for the two 2016 Atlantic Book Awards for young readers are listed below.

ANN CONNOR BRIMER AWARD

 FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Delusion Road

by Don Aker

HarperCollins Publishers

Prison Boy

by Sharon E. McKay

Annick Press

Rain Shadow

by Valerie Sherrard

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

LILLIAN SHEPHERD AWARD 

FOR EXCELLENCE IN ILLUSTRATION

Doretta Groenendyk 

I’m Drawing a Picture

(Written by Doretta Groenendyk)

Acorn Press

Ron Lightburn 

Frankenstink!:  Garbage Gone Bad

(Written by Ron Lightburn)

Tundra Books

Tamara Thiebaux-Heikalo 

Mayann’s Train Ride

(Written by The Honourable Mayann Francis)

Nimbus Publishing

The 2016 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards Shortlists

The Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal are children's book awards presented by the CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the United Kingdom.  Shortlists and winners are selected by librarians who serve young readers.

To be eligible for the 2016 Awards titles must have been first published in the UK between September 1, 2014 and August 31,  2015.  Books first published in another country must have been co-published in the UK within three months of the original publication date.

The winning titles will be announced at an awards ceremony in June on their website here.

This year, there are no Canadian authors' books on the shortlist for the 2016 CILIP Carnegie Medal for the writer of an outstanding book for children.

However, among the eight nominated illustrators shortlisted for the 2016 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, two feature Canadian illustrators, Jon Klassen and Sydney Smith, whose books covers I've provided here.

Here is the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlist for 2016

Anthony Browne (author/illustrator)
Willy's Stories
Walker Books

Ross Collins (author/illustrator)
Bear on My Chair
Nosy Crow

Oliver Jeffers (author/illustrator)
Once Upon an Alphabet
HarperCollins

Jon Klassen (illustrator)
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole
Mac Barnett (text)
Walker Books









Jackie Morris (author/illustrator)
Something About a Bear
Frances Lincoln

Helen Oxenbury (illustrator)
Captain Jack and the Pirates
Puffin

Chris Riddell (illustrator)
The Sleeper and the Spindle
Bloomsbury

Sydney Smith (illustrator)
Footpath Flowers
JonArno Lawson (text)
Walker Books/Groundwood Books
  

2016 BC Book Prizes finalists announced

On March 9th, the West Coast Book Prize Society announced the finalists for the 2016 BC Book Prizes. Prizes will be awarded in the following seven categories:

• Fiction 
• Non-Fiction 
• Poetry 
• Regional 
• Children's Literature 
• Illustrated Children's Literature 
• Booksellers' Choice 

There is also the Lieutenant Governor's Award for Literary Excellence which will be announced separately and later this month.

Nominees for all the awards can be found at http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2016

The nominees for the 2 children's awards are provided here:

 Sheila A. Egoff 

 Children’s Literature Prize 

Are You Seeing Me? 
by Darren Groth 
Orca Book Publishers

The Case of the Missing Moonstone (The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency, Book 1) 
by Jordan Stratford 
Knopf Books for Young Readers

Reviewed here

Seven Dead Pirates 
by Linda Bailey 
Tundra Books

The Truth Commission 
by Susan Juby 
Razorbill

Reviewed here

We Are All Made of Molecules 
by Susin Nielsen 
Tundra Books

Reviewed here

 Christie Harris Illustrated 

 Children’s Literature Prize 

Orca Chief 
by Roy Henry Vickers, Robert Budd 
Illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers
Harbour Publishing

Peace is an Offering 
by Annette LeBox 
Illustrated by Stephanie Graegin 
Dial Books

The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle 
by Jude Isabella 
Illustrated by Simone Shin
Kids Can Press

Song for a Summer Night: A Lullaby 
by Robert Heidbreder 
Illustrated by Qin Leng
Groundwood Books

Reviewed here

This is Sadie 
by Sara O'Leary 
Illustrated by Julie Morstad
Tundra Books

The winners will be announced on Saturday, April 30, 2016.

2015 IBBY Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award winner announced

International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Canada, a non-profit volunteer organization that promotes quality French and English Canadian children's literature nationally and internationally, administers three National Awards (as well as submitting nominations for three International Awards) including the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award which is given annually to an artist of outstanding artwork in a Canadian picture book.

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This year

 the winner of the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award 
from 2015

for the Illustrator of a Canadian children's book 

 goes to

Sydney Smith

for

Sidewalk Flowers

by JonArno Lawson

Illustrated by Sydney Smith

Groundwood Books

978-1-55498-431-2

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

2015

Congratulations also to Honour Books:

L’arbragan
Written and illustrated by Jacques Goldstyn
La Pastèque

Orca Chief
Illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers
Co-written with Robert Budd
Harbour Publishing

That Squeak
Illustrated by Francois Thisdale
Written by Carolyn Beck
Fitzhenry & Whiteside

2016 Canadian Library Association Book Awards: Shortlists announced

On March 1st and 7th, the Canadian Library Association announced via press releases the shortlists for each of its annual book awards which are generously sponsored by Library Services Centre. Here are the lists of nominees:

This award recognizes an illustrator of a noteworthy Canadian book, published in 2015, that appeals to children up to the age of 12 years.

Bug in a Vacuum 
Illustrated by Mélanie Watt
Tundra Books

The Bus Ride 
Illustrated by Marianne Dubuc
Kids Can Press

Mr. Postmouse’s Rounds 
Illustrated by Marianne Dubuc
Kids Can Press

Oscar Lives Next Door 
Illustrated by Marie Lafrance
Owlkids Books
Reviewed here

The Princess and the Pony 
Illustrated by Kate Beaton
Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic
Reviewed here

Sidewalk Flowers 
Illustrated by Sydney Smith
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

Some Things I’ve Lost 
Illustrated by Cybèle Young
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

This Is Sadie 
Illustrated by Julie Morstad
Tundra Books

Way Back Then 
Illustrated by Germaine Arnaktauyok
Inhabit Media
Reviewed here

Wild Ideas
Illustrated by Soyeon Kim
Owlkids Books

This notable award recognizes a Canadian author of an outstanding book published in Canada in 2015, which appeals to children up to and including age 12.

The Blackthorn Key
by Kevin Sands
Simon & Schuster

Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls are Used in War
by Jessica Humphreys and Michael Chikwanine
Illustrated by Claudia Dávila
Kids Can Press
Reviewed here

The Choice
by Kathy Clarke
Second Story Press

The First Flute
by David Bouchard
Fitzhenry & Whiteside

Minrs
by Kevin Sylvester
Simon & Schuster

The Nest
by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins

A Pocket Full of Murder
by R. J. Anderson
Atheneum Books For Young Readers
Reviewed here

Seven Dead Pirates
by Linda Bailey
Tundra Books

Trash Talk
by Michelle Mulder
Orca Book Publishers

Young Man With Camera
by Emil Sher
Scholastic Canada

This award recognizes an author of an outstanding English-language Canadian work of fiction (novel, collection of short stories or graphic novel), published in 2015, that appeals to young adults between the ages of 13 and 18.

Boo
by Neil Smith
Knopf Canada

Calvin
by Martine Leavitt
Groundwood Books
Reviewed here

Delusion Road
by Don Aker
HarperCollins

An Inheritance of Ashes
by Leah Bobet
Scholastic Canada
Reviewed here

Mad Miss Mimic
by Sarah Henstra
Razorbill
Reviewed here

The Masked Truth
by Kelley Armstrong
Penguin Random House

The Outside Circle
by Patti LaBoucane-Benson
House of Anansi

Scorpion Rules
by Erin Bow
Simon & Schuster

The Truth Commission
by Susan Juby
Razorbill
Reviewed here

We Are All Made of Molecules
by Susin Nielsen
Tundra Books
Reviewed here









In April, the winners of these three awards will be announced, and later presented at the Canadian Library Association National Conference in Ottawa in June.