CanLit for LittleCanadians: Awards: 2021

Thursday, 14 October 2021

2021 Governor General's Literary Awards: Finalists announced

Today, the Canada Council for the Arts announced the finalists for the highly prestigious Governor General's Literary Awards.

The seven categories of books, both in French and English, for which awards are given are:

Fiction
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Young People's Literature (Text)
Young People's Literature (Illustration)
Drama
Translation

Congratulations to the finalists

of all the awards
and I present here those of

works for young people.

English-language: Young People's Literature (Text)

Blood Like Magic

Written by Liselle Sambury

Margaret K. McElderry Books / Simon & Schuster

The Fabulous Zed Watson

Written by Kevin Sylvester and Basil Sylvester

HarperCollins

Firefly

Written by Philippa Dowding

DCB

Reviewed here

Peter Lee's Notes From the Field

Written by Angela Ahn

Tundra

Unravel

Written by Sharon Jennings

Red Deer Press

English-language: Young People's Literature (Illustration)

The Library Bus

Written by Bahram Rahman

Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard

Pajama Press

Reviewed here

Mii maanda ezhi-gkendmaanh/This is How I Know

Written by Brittany Luby
Illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley
Translated by Alvin Ted Corbiere and Alan Corbiere
Groundwood Books

Reviewed here

On the Trapline

Written by David A. Robertson

Illustrated by Julie Flett

Tundra

Out Into the Big Wide Lake

Written by Paul Harbridge

Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon

Tundra

The Wind and the Trees

Written and illustrated by Todd Stewart

Owlkids Books

French-language: Young People's Literature (Text)

Les avenues
Written by Jean-François Sénéchal
Leméac Éditeur

Comme un ouragan
Written by Jonathan Bécotte
Les éditions Héritage

Le Dernier Viking
Written by Mario Fecteau
Les Éditions du Boréal

Stella, qu'est-ce que tu fais là? (Tome 1)

Written by Sandra Sirois

Éditions Hurtubise

Tara voulait jouer

Written by Frédérick Wolfe

Leméac Éditeur

French-language: Young People's Literature (Illustration)

À qui appartiennent les nuages?
Written by Mario Brassard
Illustrated by Gérard DuBois
Les Éditions de la Pastèque

Bouées: dérives identitaires, amours imaginaires et détours capillaires
Written and illustrated by Catherine Lepage
Les Éditions de la Pastèque

La langue au chat et autres poèmes pas bêtes
Written by François Gravel
Illustrated by Laurent Pinabel
Éditions Les 400 coups

Ma maison-tête
Written and illustrated by Vigg
Fonfon

Le tricot
Written and illustrated by Jacques Goldstyn
Les Éditions de la Pastèque

Winning titles will be announced

on November 17, 2021.

Tuesday, 1 June 2021

2020 Governor General Literary Awards: Winners announced

Today, the Canada Council for the Arts announced the winners for the Governor General's Literary Awards for books published in 2020.

Please join me in congratulating this year's winners in the two categories for young readers.

Young People's Literature - Text

The King of Jam Sandwiches

Written by Eric Walters

Orca Book Publishers

Reviewed here

Young People's Literature - Illustrated Books

The Barnabus Project

Written and illustrated by The Fan Brothers

(Eric Fan, Terry Fan and Devin Fan)

Tundra Books

2021 Hackmatack Awards: Winners announced

On May 30th, the winners of the 2021 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Awards were announced in an online presentation broadcast on YouTube and on the Hackmatack Facebook Page. These awards are the all more special because young readers ages 9-12 in Atlantic Canada selected the winners from nominated lists.

Congratulations to the winners!

Award for English Nonfiction:

Beastly Puzzles

Written by Rachel Poliquin

Illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler

Kids Can Press

Award for English Fiction:

Pickles vs. the Zombies

Written by Angela Misri

DCB

Award for French Nonfiction:

Dragouilles 21 : Les Vertes de Honolulu

Written by Karine Gottot

Illustrated by Maxim Cyr

Éditions Michel Quintin

Award for French Fiction:

Trucs de peur 1: Perdues dans le noir

Written by Alexandra Larochelle

Illustrated by Yohann Morin

La Bagnole

Monday, 31 May 2021

2020 IODE Jean Throop Book Award: Shortlist and Winner

Since 1974, IODE, the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire, a women’s charitable organization that provides education support, community service and citizenship programs, has awarded the Jean Throop Book Award to encourage excellence in children’s literature. Originally awarded by the Municipal Chapter of Toronto IODE, the IODE Jean Throop Book Award is now funded from the IODE Toronto Legacy Fund and administered by IODE Ontario.

In March, IODE announced its shortlist for the Jean Throop Book Award. Congratulations to these picture book nominees published in 2020.

What If Bunny's Not a Bully?

Written by Lana Button
Illustrated by Christine Battuz
Kids Can Press

Reviewed here

What Grew in Larry's Garden

Written by Laura Alary
Illustrated by Kass Reich
Kids Can Press
Reviewed here

The Nut That Fell from the Tree

Written by Sangeeta Bhadra
Illustrated by France Cormier
Kids Can Press

Reviewed here

Scrub: How a Simple Soap Saved the Day

Written by Suzanne Belliveau

Illustrated by Jennifer Thornhill

Captus Creations

Fast Friends

Written by Heather M. O'Connor
Illustrated by Claudia Dávila
Scholastic Canada

Reviewed here

The winner of the 2020 IODE Jean Throop Book Award is...

What Grew in Larry's Garden

Written by Laura Alary
Illustrated by Kass Reich
Kids Can Press
978-1-5253-0108-7
32 pp.
Ages 4-7

2020

Congratulations

to all nominated authors and illustrators

and to the winners!

Friday, 21 May 2021

2021 Chocolate Lily Award Winners announced

Recently the 2021 Chocolate Lily Award Winners were announced to celebrate the work of children's authors and illustrators who live in British Columbia. Here are this year's winners, in the three categories.

Novel Category: Winner

Stowaway

Written by Pam Withers

Dundurn Press

Chapter Book/Early Novel Category: Winner

Sophie Trophy

Written by Eileen Holland

Illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan

Crwth Press

Picture Book Category: Winner

Princess Puffybottom...and Darryl

Written by Susin Nielsen

Illustrated by Olivia Chin Mueller

Penguin Random House Canada Young Reader

Congratulations to all winners!

Thursday, 20 May 2021

2021 Forest of Reading® Awards: Winners and Honour Books announced

It's the second year into the pandemic and again things at the Forest of Reading have had to be a little different. But kids have still been reading books nominated for the Ontario Library Association's Forest of Reading's readers' choice award programs and voting on their favourites. Again, rather than announcing the awards at the annual Festival of Trees, an enthusiastic but crowded event at Toronto's Harbourfront or at satellite celebrations around the province, this year's award ceremonies were held online, hosted by CBC Books on Curio.ca, an educational streaming platform (normally subscription based). Fortunately, these ceremonies, hosted by comic Ali Hassan, were posted for all to see. Judging by the faces of the authors and illustrators and young readers who spoke, the event was a resounding success, as always.

Here are this year's winners for each reading program. The ceremonies for all books were held on May 18, 19 and 20, and the screenshots of attending authors and illustrators were taken from these presentations. The presentations can be viewed at https://curio.ca/en/collection/forest-of-reading-2021-2822/ for the English-language awards and at https://curio.ca/fr/collection/la-foret-de-la-lecture-2021-2823/ for the French-language awards.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••

Winner

Bad Dog
Written and illustrated by Mike Boldt
Doubleday Books for Young Readers

Honour Books:

Boxitects

Written and illustrated by Kim Smith
HarperCollins

Fast Friends
Written by Heather O'Connor
Illustrated by Claudia Dávila
Scholastic Canada

Winner

Peter & Ernesto: Sloths in the Night
Written and illustrated by Graham Annable

First Second

Honour Books:

Planet Hockey: First Star of the Game
Written by J. Torres

Illustrated by Tim Levins

Scholastic Canada

Terry Fox and Me
Written by Mary Beth Leatherdale

Illustrated by Milan Pavlović

Tundra

Winner

The Jigsaw Puzzle King
Written by Gina McMurchy-Barber
Dundurn

Honour Books:

Ember and the Ice Dragons
Written by Heather Fawcett
Published by HarperCollins

Music for Tigers
Written by Michelle Kadarusman

Pajama Press

Winner

Trending: How and Why Stuff Gets Popular

Written by Kira Vermond

Illustrated by Clayton Hanmer

Owlkids Books

Honour Books:

The Boreal Forest
Written by L. E. Carmichael
Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon
Kids Can Press

Science Comics: Crows, Genius Birds
Written and Illustrated by Kyla Vanderklugt

First Second

Winner

Bloom

Written by Kenneth Oppel

HarperCollins Canada

Honour Books:

Broken Strings

Written by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer

Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers

Sara and the Search for Normal
Written by Wesley King
Paula Wiseman Books

Winner

Hunted By the Sky

Written by Tanaz Bhathena

Penguin Random House Canada

Honour Books:

Charming as a Verb
Written by Ben Philippe
HarperCollins

Like a Love Story
Written by Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins

Winner/Lauréat

Pas moi
Écrit et Illustré par Elise Gravel
Éditions Scholastic

Honour Books/Livres distingués:

Madame Grisemine et le petit chenapan
Écrit par Marie-Francine Hébert
Illustré par Mathieu Lampron
Éditions de la Bagnole