2013 IODE Violet Downey Book Award Shortlist

The National Chapter of Canada IODE (Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire), a women's charitable organization, has been offering Violet Downey Book Award since 1985.  This award of $3000 is offered annually for the best English language book for children up to age 13 containing at least 500 words of text published in Canada in the previous year and selected from submitted books. 

The shortlisted books for the National Chapter of Canada 2013 Violet Downey Book Award have just been announced.  The five finalists are:

Enemy Territory 
by Sharon E. McKay
Annick Press
184 pp.
Ages 9-12
2012

My Name is Parvana 
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
201 pp.
Ages 10-13
2013

One Year in Coal Harbour 
by Polly Horvath
Groundwood Books
216 pp.
Ages 10-14
2012

Yesterday's Dead 
by Pat Bourke
Second Story Press
249 pp.
Ages 10+
2012 

The Green Man 
by Michael Bedard
Tundra Books
304 pp.
Ages 11-14
2012






The winner will be announced at IODE Canada’s 113th National Annual Meeting being held at the Carriage House Inn in Calgary, Alberta on May 31, 2013.

ALA 2013 Notable Children's Books and Videos

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division within the American Library Association announced its 2013 Notable Children's Books  and Videos on January 28, 2013 at the ALA's Midwinter Meeting in Seattle.  For the committee, the term "notable" is used to refer to a book that is...

...worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding.  As applied to children's books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children's interests in exemplary ways.

Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists

The lists for all notables (and their descriptions, as used here) are posted at the ALSC website.  However, I would like to note those Canadian books that made the list, bolding the Canadian author or illustrator or publisher. Congratulations to all of you for creating outstanding work for our children.

CATEGORIES

2013 Notables Children's Books

Notables for Younger Children

This is Not My Hat
by Jon Klassen
Candlewick Press
A tiny fish knows it’s wrong to steal a hat, but it fits him just right. And the big fish wants his hat back.

Extra Yarn 
by Mac Barnett
Illustrated by Jon Klassen
HarperCollins/Balzer and Bray
A selfish archduke threatens to halt a little girl's transformation of a colorless town and steal her box of magical yarn.

Notables for Older Readers

Seraphina 
by Rachel Hartman
Random House
In Goredd, dragons and humans live in uneasy peace. Hartman pulls Seraphina, a half-human/half-dragon teen musician, into the intrigue at court.  Internally logical, suspenseful with just a hint of romance.

 


2013 Notables Children's Recordings

The Mighty Miss Malone 
Written by Christopher Paul Curtis
Listening Library
8 hrs.
Grades 4 to 7
The hardships and courage of Deza Malone and her family during the Great Depression are read passionately by Bahni Turpin.

One Year in Coal Harbor
Written by Polly Horvath
Listening Library
5.5 hrs.
Grades 4 to 7
With a great deal of wit and charm, Kathleen McInerney voices Primrose Squarp's continuing story in Coal Harbor as she plays matchmaker and supports an effort to stop logging on the town mountain.

2013 Notable Children's Videos

55 Socks 
National Film Board Canada
8 min. DVD, $129, 800-542-2164

During World War II in the dark "winter of hunger" in Holland, women and a girl unravel a beautiful bedspread to make socks to barter for food. Based on a poem by Marie Jacobs, this animated, poetic film leaves viewers with hope for a brighter future. 

Big Drive 
National Film Board of Canada
9 min., DVD, $129, 800-542-2164

Squeezed into the back of the family car, four restless sisters find magic in a road trip across the prairie. This exuberant animated film beautifully captures the bond between sisters and the power of the imagination.

Kali the Little Vampire
National Film Board of Canada

9 min., DVD, $129.00, 800-542-2164

Viewers are alternately terrified and deeply moved by the plight of a little vampire who is isolated and lonely, but willing to risk life and limb to save a potential companion. Told in stark black, white and red, this animated short will linger long in memory.

Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend 

Weston Woods, 

12 min., DVD, 800-243-5020

Based on Mélanie Watts' book about Scaredy Squirrel's uncertainty about the nature of friendship.

2013 Canadian Library Association Book Awards Short lists announced

On March 1st, the Canadian Library Association announced via press release 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 2012, that appeals to children up to the age of 12 years.

French Fry King
Illustrated by Rogé
Tundra Books








Goodnight, Canada
Illustrated by Andrea Beck
North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada

Into the Woods
Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks
Kids Can Press

Mr. King’s Things
Illustrated by Geneviève Côté
Kids Can Press

Night Sky Wheel Ride
Illustrated by Yayo
Tradewind Books

Ojibway Clans
Illustrated by Mark A. Jacobson
Native Northwest

The Stamp Collector
Illustrated by François Thisdale
Fitzhenry & Whiteside

The Tooth Mouse
Illustrated by Janice Nadeau
Kids Can Press

Virginia Wolf
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Kids Can Press

You Are Stardust
Illustrated by Soyeon Kim
Owlkids Books Inc.

This notable award recognizes a Canadian author of an outstanding book published in Canada in 2012, which appeals to children up to and including age 12.

And Nothing But the Truth
Written by Kit Pearson
HarperCollins Publishers

Becoming Holmes
Written by Shane Peacock
Tundra Books

The Grave Robber's Apprentice
Written by Allan Stratton
HarperCollins Publishers

The Green Man
Written by Michael Bedard
Tundra Books

Island of Doom: The Hunchback Assignments IV
Written by Arthur Slade
HarperCollins Publishers

Middle of Nowhere
Written by Caroline Adderson
Groundwood Books

One Year in Coal Harbour
Written by Polly Horvath
Groundwood Books

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
Written by Susin Nielsen
Tundra Books

A Tinfoil Sky
Written by Cyndi Sand-Eveland
Tundra Books

Ungifted
Written by Gordon Korman
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 2012, that appeals to young adults between the ages of 13 and 18.

40 Things I Want to Tell You
Written by Alice Kuipers
HarperCollins Canada

Bright's Light
Written by Susan Juby
HarperCollins Canada

The Calling
Written by Kelley Armstrong
Doubleday Canada

The Last Song
Written by Eva Wiseman
Tundra Books

My Book of Life by Angel
Written by Martine Leavitt
Groundwood Books

One Good Hustle
Written by Billie Livingston
Random House of Canada

The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
Written by Susin Nielsen
Tundra Books

Such Wicked Intent
Written by Kenneth Oppel
HarperCollins Publishers

What Happened to Ivy
Written by Kathy Stinson
Second Story Press

Yesterday
Written by C.K. Kelly Martin
Doubleday Canada

On April 15, 2013, the winners of these three awards will be announced, and presented on May 30, 2013 at the Canadian Library Association National and Conference and Trade Show in Winnipeg at a reception sponsored by TD Bank Group.