scholarly journals NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce

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!

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail De Vos

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. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce

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


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Mead-Willis

The end of summer and the beginning of autumn saw some notable developments in the world of children’s books, particularly in Canada. It is a great delight to announce that The Deakin Review’s namesake, Dr. Andrea Deakin, is one of the joint recipients of the 2011 Claude Aubry Award. Conferred every two years by the Canadian chapter of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), the Claude Aubry Award recognizes distinguished service within the field of children’s literature. Dr. Deakin, founder of the Deakin Newsletter (which this Review succeeds), is a prolific reviewer, collector, and critic of children’s literature, whose work has greatly enriched the study and appreciation of the genre. Also receiving the Claude Aubry Award is Chantal Vaillancourt. A resident of Longuiel, Quebec and a longtime promoter of children’s reading, Ms. Vaillancourt was instrumental in creating the Toup'tilitou reading program in daycare centres across Quebec. Her more recent work with the Canadian Children’s Book Centre sees her coordinating the French-language TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and managing the French-language component of TD Children’s Book Week. No mention of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award -- as well as the other awards administered by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre -- can pass without mention of this year’s winners. This October, five titles received these prestigious honours. Plain Kate by Erin Bow (Scholastic), winner of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. I Know Here by Laurel Croza; ill. by Matt James (Groundwood Books), winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award.Case Closed? Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science by Susan Hughes (Kids Can Press), winner of the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction.The Glory Wind by Valerie Sherrard (Fitzhenry & Whiteside), winner of the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. A Spy in the House (The Agency) by Y.S. Lee (Candlewick Press), winner of the John Spray Mystery Award. The CCBC will also be administering a new award this coming year: the Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy.In other award news, the International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) conferred its prestigious 2011 Award on Picturing Canada: a History of Canadian Children’s Illustrated Books and Publishing. Written by Gail Edwards and Judith Saltman, Picturing Canada has already garnered significant accolades, offering as it does a unique survey of Canadian illustrated works and picture books. The 2011 IRSCL Award confirms the work’s status as a significant contribution to the study of children’s literature. Amid these celebrations, however, the world of children’s literature also lost a major talent. Joanne Fitzgerald, Governor General’s Award-winning illustrator, passed away on August 14, at the age of 55. Fitzgerald’s distinctive style, with its gentle colour palette and cheerful, cartoon-like characters, made picture books such as Plain Noodles, Emily’s House, and Doctor Kiss Says Yes perennial favourites among young readers.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Sulz

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 


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-106
Author(s):  
Lucy Pearson ◽  
Karen Sands-O'Connor ◽  
Aishwarya Subramanian

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-79
Author(s):  
Jen McConnel ◽  
Clarissa De Leon

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy M. Collins

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanne Pearce

Greetings Everyone! There are only a few news items for the fall issue: International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Announces  List of 100 Children’s Books in Arabic "Here is a selection of 100 children’s books in Arabic published in various countries of the Arab world. This selection reflects the dynamism of a sector that has truly taken off in the past twenty years, with the publication of a wide range of titles whose quality is often recognised by international awards."Finalists Announced for the 2017 Canadian Children’s Book Centre AwardsThe CCBC has announced the finalists in for their annual book awards. This includes the $30,000 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. See the CCBC website for a full list of finalists."So you want to get Published?" SeminarThe Canadian Children's Book Centre is hosting a seminar for aspiring children's book authors on November 4, 2017 at 10:00 AM at the Northern District Library in Toronto, ON.  Details are found on the CCBC website.Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable (VCLR) The VCLR, announced the 2017 Information Book Award Shortlist. The shortlist can be found on the VCLR webiste. The winner will be announced in November 2017.Wishing you bright fall days!Hanne Pearce - Communications Editor


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