The Brightest Part of the Forest: A Grit Analysis of an Ontario Children’s Book Award

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-79
Author(s):  
Jen McConnel ◽  
Clarissa De Leon
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Blue Spruce ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Book Award

This study explores how grit manifests in the nominees of Ontario’s Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award children’s literature competition from 2013-2018. Performing a document analysis (Bowen, 2009), we used a modified version of Duckworth’s (2018) grit scale to gauge the grittiness of the nominees’ protagonists. We found that 28 of the 60 titles portrayed grit with 19 of those titles scoring four or higher on the modified grit scale indicating that protagonists had consistently high scores for the various aspects of grit. Our paper concludes with a discussion about implications to educators seeking to use these books to engage students in discussions about grit and resilience.

scholarly journals Prize Culture and Diversity in British Children's Literature

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-106
Author(s):  
Lucy Pearson ◽  
Karen Sands-O'Connor ◽  
Aishwarya Subramanian
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Cultural Value ◽  
Imagined Community ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Book Award ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Guardian ◽  
Prize Culture ◽  
Minority Ethnic

Literary prizes often determine eligibility in terms of nationality; this article posits that they also play a significant role in constructing national literatures. An analysis of the Carnegie Medal, the UK's oldest children's book award, and some of its competitors, including the Guardian Prize and Other Award demonstrates the tension between the desire to claim cultural value for children's literature and to construct a body of literature that represents the real and imagined community of the nation. In the UK, this tension appears most notably with regard to depictions of Black, Asian and minority ethnic Britons.

scholarly journals The Cultural Doings and Undoings of the Sydney Taylor Book Award

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy M. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Cultural Narratives ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Book Award ◽  
Implicit And Explicit

The children’s book award is an ideological vehicle that communicates both implicit and explicit values to the wider world. For half a century, the Sydney Taylor Book Award has invoked criteria of literary excellence and authentic portrayals of Jewish experiences and the implicit cultural values that underpin them in its mission to recognize, celebrate, and perpetuate quality Jewish children’s literature. The award upholds and subverts cultural ideas of childhood, literary excellence, and Jewish authenticity in order to resist systems of power and dominant cultural narratives that seek to erase or flatten Jewish representation.

scholarly journals News and Announcements

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail De Vos
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Young Adult Literature ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Young Readers ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Non Fiction ◽  
Book Award

News and AnnouncementsAs we move into the so-called “summer reading” mode (although reading is obviously not a seasonal thing for many people), here is a “summery” (pardon the pun) of some recent Canadian book awards and shortlists.To see the plethora of Forest of Reading ® tree awards from the Ontario Library Association, go to https://www.accessola.org/WEB/OLAWEB/Forest_of_Reading/About_the_Forest.aspx. IBBY Canada (the Canadian national section of the International Board on Books for Young People) announced that the Claude Aubry Award for distinguished service in the field of children’s literature will be presented to Judith Saltman and Jacques Payette. Both winners will receive their awards in conjunction with a special event for children's literature in the coming year. http://www.ibby-canada.org/ibby-canadas-aubry-award-presented-2015/IBBY Canada also awarded the 2015 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Picture Book Award to Pierre Pratt, illustrator of Stop, Thief!. http://www.ibby-canada.org/awards/elizabeth-mrazik-cleaver-award/The annual reading programme known as First Nation Communities Read (FNCR) and the Periodical Marketers of Canada (PMC) jointly announced Peace Pipe Dreams: The Truth about Lies about Indians by Darrell Dennis (Douglas & McIntyre) as the FNCR 2015-2016 title as well as winner of PMC’s $5000 Aboriginal Literature Award. A jury of librarians from First Nations public libraries in Ontario, with coordination support from Southern Ontario Library Service, selected Peace Pipe Dreams from more than 19 titles submitted by Canadian publishers. “In arriving at its selection decision, the jury agreed that the book is an important one that dispels myths and untruths about Aboriginal people in Canada today and sets the record straight. The author tackles such complicated issues such as religion, treaties, and residential schools with knowledge, tact and humour, leaving readers with a greater understanding of our complex Canadian history.” http://www.sols.org/index.php/links/fn-communities-readCharis Cotter, author of The Swallow: A Ghost Story, has been awarded The National Chapter of Canada IODE Violet Downey Book Award for 2015. Published by Tundra Books, the novel is suggested for children ages nine to 12. http://www.iode.ca/2015-iode-violet-downey-book-award.htmlThe 2015 winners of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards were selected by two juries of young readers from Toronto’s Alexander Muir / Gladstone Avenue Junior and Senior Public School. A jury of grade 3 and 4 students selected the recipient of the Children’s Picture Book Award, and a jury of grade 7 and 8 students selected the recipient of the Young Adult / Middle Reader Award. Each student read the books individually and then worked together with their group to reach consensus and decide on a winner. This process makes it a unique literary award in Canada.The Magician of Auschwitz by Kathy Kacer and illustrated by Gillian Newland (Second Story Press) won the Children’s Picture Book Category.The winner for the Young Adult/Middle Reader Category was The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel (HarperCollins Publishers).http://www.ontarioartsfoundation.on.ca/pages/ruth-sylvia-schwartz-awardsFrom the Canadian Library Association:The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier (Penguin Canada) was awarded CLA’s 2015 Book of the Year for Children Award.Any Questions?, written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay (Groundwood Books) won the 2015 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award.This One Summer by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood) was awarded the 2015 Young Adult Book Award.http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Book_Awards&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=16132The 2015 Winner of the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Juvenile/YA Book was Sigmund Brouwer’s Dead Man's Switch (Harvest House). http://crimewriterscanada.com/Regional awards:Alberta’s Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature 2015:Little You by Richard Van Camp (Orca Book Publishers) http://www.bookcentre.ca/awards/r_ross_annett_award_childrens_literatureRocky Mountain Book Award 2015:Last Train: A Holocaust Story by Rona Arato. (Owl Kids, 2013) http://www.rmba.info/last-train-holocaust-storyAtlantic Book Awards 2015 from the Atlantic Book Awards SocietyAnn Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature: The End of the Line by Sharon E. McKay (Annick Press).Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration: Music is for Everyone illustrated by Sydney Smith and written by Jill Barber (Nimbus Publishing) http://atlanticbookawards.ca/awards/Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award 2015:English fiction: Scare Scape by Sam Fisher.English non-fiction: WeirdZone: Sports by Maria Birmingham.French fiction: Toxique by Amy Lachapelle.French non-fiction: Au labo, les Débrouillards! by Yannick Bergeron. http://hackmatack.ca/en/index.htmlFrom the 2015 BC Book Prizes for authors and/or illustrators living in British Columbia or the Yukon:The Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize was awarded to Dolphin SOS by Roy Miki and Slavia Miki with illustrations by Julie Flett (Tradewind).The Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize for “novels, including chapter books, and non-fiction books, including biography, aimed at juveniles and young adults, which have not been highly illustrated” went to Maggie de Vries for Rabbit Ears (HarperCollins). http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners/2015The 2015 Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award (MYRCA) was awarded to Ultra by David Carroll. http://www.myrca.ca/Camp Outlook by Brenda Baker (Second Story Press) was the 2015 winner of the SaskEnergy Young Adult Literature Award. http://www.bookawards.sk.ca/awards/awards-nominees/2015-awards-and-nominees/category/saskenergy-young-adult-literature-awardFor more information on Canadian children’s book awards check out http://www.canadianauthors.net/awards/. Please note that not all regional awards are included in this list; if you are so inclined, perhaps send their webmaster a note regarding an award that you think should be included.Happy reading and exploring.Yours in stories (in all seasons and shapes and sizes)Gail de VosGail de Vos is an adjunct professor who teaches courses on Canadian children's literature, young adult literature, and commic books and graphic novels at the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Alberta and is the author of nine books on storytelling and folklore. She is a professional storyteller and has taught the storytelling course at SLIS for over two decades. 

scholarly journals Lots of Exciting Winter News!

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
North Atlantic Ocean ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Rocky Mountain ◽  
Graphic Novel ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Book Award

Greetings everyone! Well it seems winter weather has finally descended on much of Alberta. Before spring arrives there is still time to curl up under a quilt with some good books. In this issue’s news there are a number of new award winners and finalists you can look up to keep you occupied on snow days. There are also a number of events happening in late winter to early spring that you can put in your calendar to look forward to.2017 TD Canadian Children’s Literature AwardIn November the winner and finalists for the 2017 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award were announced. Jan Thornhill won the children’s book award with her book The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk. The book is a nonfiction picture book about the causes behind the North Atlantic Ocean bird's extinction in 1844. Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading AwardsFinalists for the OLA Forest of Reading Awards were announced in October of 2017.The competition is currently in process and voting concludes in April 2018.The Vancouver Children’s Literature RoundtableThe Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable (VCLR) awarded the 2017 Information Book Award to Jan Thornhill for The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk. Rocky Mountain Book Award NomineesNominees are in for the the Rocky Mountain Book Awards, the Albertan reader’s choice book award for grades 4 to 7. The 2017 Gold Medal Award was awarded to Svetlana Chmakova, author of the graphic novel Awkward. Serendipity 2018The Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable (VCLR) is hosting a meeting on March 3, 2018 at UBC Robson Square; the theme is Serendipity: Beasts, birds, and words: The poetics of children’s books. The event features several authors, including Isabelle Arsenault, Robert Heidbreder, Kyo Maclear, Tiffany Stone, and Frédéric Gauthier of Les Éditions de la Pastèque. Please visit the VCLR website for full details. Freedom to Read Week: February 25 to March 3, 2018Freedom to Read Week promotes advocacy against censorship across Canada. Events are being held across Canada, some include children’s and young adult authors whose work has been challenged. On February 28, 2018 from 1:00-2:00pm Jillian Tamaki will be speaking at the Toronto Public Library to discuss her graphic novel This One Summer, which was considered controversial at its publication in 2016 for LGBT characters, drug use, and mature content. A Celebration of Bilingual Books and Latinx CommunitiesOn March 3, 2018 in New York City the Bank Street Center for Children's Literature is hosting a Spring Mini-Conference. The keynote speaker is Duncan Tonatiuh.2018 Children’s & Teen Choice Book AwardsEvery Child a Reader Announces the Finalists for the 11th Annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards. Launched in 2008, these are the only national book awards voted on only by kids and teens. Voting begins March 1 and runs through May 6.Children's Book Week April 30 - May 6, 2018Children’s Book Week will celebrate its 99th anniversary in May 2018. Established in 1919, it is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the US. You can learn more about events and how to host one through Every Child a Reader or the Children’s Book Center website. This year’s poster art can be downloaded here.Wishing you happy and warm reading for the winter!Hanne PearceCommunications Editor

scholarly journals NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Research Society ◽  
French Language ◽  
40Th Anniversary ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
News Announcements ◽  
Book Award ◽  
Entry Requirements

Greetings everyone! Just a few news items for this issue:New Award for Children’s BooksThe Canadian Children’s Book Centre has announced a new children’s literature award, the Harry Black Picture Book Award. The award will honour the best French-language children’s book and comes with a $5,000 cash prize. The first award will be announced in Montreal at this year’s Prix TD Gala in November. The award is being established in honour of the late Harry Black, Order of Canada recipient and former director of UNICEF Canada. More information about entry requirements in French are available on the Canadian Children’s Book Centre website.TD Canada Book WeekTD Canadian Children’s Book Week 2017 runs from Saturday, May 6 to Saturday, May 13, 2017. Thirty Canadian children’s authors, illustrators, and storytellers will be visiting schools, libraries, community centres, and bookstores across Canada throughout the week. This year Book Week is celebrating its 40th anniversary, along with Canada’s sesquicentennial. The theme this year is Read across Canada. You can find more information about Book Week, pre-order posters, and view the tour schedule at the the Book Week Website.International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) Congress 2017This event will be held Saturday, July 29 through Wednesday, August 2, 2017 at York University (Keele Campus) in Toronto, Canada.For more info: http://irscl17.info.yorku.ca/ Best wishes for a warm and wonderful spring!

Recognizing Jewish Children's Literature For Forty Years: The Sydney Taylor Book Award

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-34
Author(s):  
Kathe Pinchuck
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Contemporary Jewry ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Award Committee ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Book Award ◽  
High Standards

The Association of Jewish Libraries has been presenting a children's book award for forty years. The author describes some of the history and background of the Sydney Taylor Book Award, as well as its mission of "encouraging the publication of outstanding books of Jewish content for children and teens." A description of the award's namesake and her importance to Jewish children's literature is followed by a review of some of the books and authors that have been honored. These demonstrate the high standards of the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, as well as the quality of Jewish children's literature. Prevalent themes and trends reflect the ever changing dynamic of contemporary Jewry.

Awards, Announcements, and News

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sulz
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Maternity Leave ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Rare Book ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Book Award ◽  
The University

First, we would like to follow up on news about award shortlists reported in the last issue of the Deakin Review. The UK’s Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (www.cilip.org.uk ) announced the winners for the 2012 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards. Interestingly, both the Carnegie Medal for outstanding book for children and the Kate Greenaway Medal for distinguished illustration in a book for children were awarded for the same book - A Monster Calls published by Walker Books. Patrick Ness received the Carnegie award as author and Jim Kay the Kate Greenaway award as illustrator. In fact, Patrick Ness also won the award in 2011 for Monsters of Men.  It sounds like a book not to be missed! www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/ and www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/greenaway/ For its part, the Canadian Library Association (CLA) announced the winners of its three children’s literature awards at the CLA conference in Ottawa at the end of May. The Whole Truth by Kit Pearson (HarperCollins Canada) won the Book of the Year for Children Award, My Name is Elizabeth illustrated by Matthew Forsythe (Kids Can Press) was awarded the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, and All Good Children by Catherine Austen (Orca) was chosen for the Young Adult Book Award. http://www.cla.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Book_Awards&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=12660 As for upcoming awards, the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (www.bookcentre.ca/award ) recently released the finalists for each of its seven children’s book award with winners to be announced at the TD Canadian Children`s Literature Awards and Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse events in Toronto and Montreal later this Fall. Notably, this year marks the inaugural year for the new Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Reviews of a few of the finalists have appeared in the Deakin Review. Pussycat, Pussycat, Where have you been? is up for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award (see Deakin review here: ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/17078) while This Dark Endeavour: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein is in contention for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People (see Deakin review here: ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/17096) On a local note since we are based out of the University of Alberta, Edmonton writer Nicole Luiken is a finalist for the inaugural Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy for her book Dreamline. Also, we note that Gail de Vos, a professor at our very own School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta is the chair of the jury for this award. Finally, we would like to note a few changes here at The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature. Sarah Mead-Willis who was the communication editor for the first four issues (and rare book cataloguer at the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta has, as she remarks, “moved to the other end of occupational spectrum” and is enrolled in a professional cooking program at the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. We wish her well and thank her for her contributions.Also, Maria Tan has joined the team filling in for Kim Frail who is off on maternity leave and Nicole Dalmer has stepped in as intern editor.Have a wonderful summer filled with great reads.David Sulz, Communications Editor 

Analysis of Latino award winning children’s literature

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Gomm ◽  
Melissa Allen Heath ◽  
Pat Mora
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Latino Children ◽  
Emotional Needs ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
Children's Picture Books ◽  
Award Winning

In this article, we offer information about the specific challenges US Latino immigrant children face. We then determine which of these challenges are included in 72 award winning children’s picture books, specifically created for and/or about Latino children. Our analysis offers information to assist school-based mental health professionals, children’s librarians, educators, and parents in prescriptively selecting books that align with Latino children’s social emotional needs. Additionally, we analysed each book’s proportion of Spanish/English text and described the book’s targeted age level and Horn Book Guide rating. From our perspective, books containing colorful illustrations that include Latino children, realistic situations, familiar Spanish words and phrases, and true-to-life characters help Latino children engage and identify with these stories. Children’s book author Pat Mora also explains her perceptions of quality children’s literature. Although this article is specific to Latino children’s literature, implications are offered that generalize to other ethnic and cultural groups that are typically underrepresented in children’s literature.

Reflecting Diversity

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-45
Author(s):  
Lea Shaver
Keyword(s):  
Children's Literature ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
White People ◽  
Culturally Specific ◽  
American Experience ◽  
Children's Book ◽  
The People ◽  
Upper Middle Class

This chapter describes the book Underpants Dance, which only depicts four white people out of all the thirty characters. However, the book still shows quite a significant underrepresentation of America's diversity. In this story, none of the people of color are important enough to have names. They serve only as a sprinkling of color in the background. The book's settings and events also reflect a distinctly upper-middle-class lifestyle. The chapter further explains that there is nothing wrong with any single children's book being culturally specific to a white, upper-income, American experience. The problem is that this pattern is so strong that children's literature as a whole is systematically less attractive or even alienating to children who do not fit that mold.

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