by Barbara C. Thompson Book, Indiana University Southeast
While those of us living in the United States eagerly await a Monday in January for the announcement of the various American Library Association Awards, book lovers all over the world have their own days of wondering “who will win?” This week I will explore a variety of awards given in countries where English is the dominate language. Each country has its equivalent of a children’s writing award and an illustration award. However in most countries the award is given to books which have been pre-generated on a “short list” much like the National Book Awards in this country.
Canadian Awards
Our neighbor to the north, Canada, has several different types of awards. The Canadian Library Association (CLA) awards the Book of the Year for Children Award. The requirements for winning the award are “a book must have been published in Canada, during the previous year and its author must be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada. Any work that is an act of creative writing (i.e., fiction, poetry, narrative, non-fiction, retelling of traditional literature) shall be deemed eligible regardless of published format, including anthologies and collections” (CLA website, retrieved February 17, 2012). This year’s winner is Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. Other recent winners are Watching Jimmy by Nancy Harty, The Shepherd’s Granddaughter by Anne Laurel Carter and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Christopher Paul Curtis you ask? Isn’t he an American? Yes, but Scholastic publishes in both the US and Canada, so the book meets the requirements.
The CLA awards the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award. The criteria are as follows: “The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award is awarded to an outstanding illustrator of a children’s book published in Canada during the previous year. The Award shall be bestowed upon books that are suitable for children up to and including age 12. To be eligible for this award, an illustrator must be a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada, and the text of the book must be worthy of the book’s illustrations.” (CLA website, retrived February 17, 2012) This year’s winner is Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth! By Marie-Louis Gay. Other recent winners are Perfect Snow by Barbara Reid, Mattland by Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert, illustrated by Dusan Petricic and Chester by Melanie Watt.
Like the National Book Awards, Canada presents the Governor General Award which was started in 1987 “The Governor General’s Literary Awards are given annually to the best English-language and the best French-language book in each of the seven categories of Fiction, Literary Non-fiction, Poetry, Drama, Children’s Literature (text), Children’s Literature (illustration) and Translation (from French to English). Each laureate receives $25,000 and a specially crafted copy of the winning book. In addition, publishers of winning titles receive a $3,000 grant for the promotion of the prize-winning book. Non-winning finalists each receive $1,000.”
This year’s children’s writing award winners were:
•Christopher Moore, Toronto, From Then to Now: A Short History of the World (Tundra Books; distributed by Random House of Canada) and
•Martin Fournier, Québec, Les aventures de Radisson – 1. L’enfer ne brûle pas
(Les éditions du Septentrion; distributed by Diffusion Dimedia).
For illustration the winners were:
•Cybèle Young, Toronto, Ten Birds, text by Cybèle Young (Kids Can Press; distributed by University of Toronto Press) and
•Caroline Merola, Montreal, Lili et les poilus, text by Caroline Merola (Dominique et Compagnie, a division of Éditions Héritage; distributed by Messageries ADP, Groupe Sogides).
Awards in the United Kingdom
Awards given by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals are the UK’s version of the Newbery and Caldecott Awards. From its website the following descriptions were found:
“The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children.
It was established by in 1936, in memory of the great Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Carnegie was a self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA. His experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that “if ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries.”
Carnegie set up more than 2800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries.
First awarded to Arthur Ransome for ‘Pigeon Post’, the winner receives a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice.” The 2011 winner was Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness. Other recent winners include The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd, Here Lies Arthur by Phillip Reece and Just in Case by Meg Rosoff.
The Kate Greenaway Medal was established in 1955, for distinguished illustration in a book for children. It is named after the popular nineteenth century artist known for her fine children’s illustrations and designs.
The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded annually for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.
The winner receives a golden medal and £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice. Since 2000, the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal has also been awarded the £5000 Colin Mears Award. Colin Mears, a Worthing based accountant and children’s book collector, left a bequest providing every Greenaway winner with a cash award as well as the coveted Medal.”
This year’s winner was Grahame Baker-Smith for FArTHER. Other recent winners are Freya Blackwood for Harry and Hooper, Catherine Rayne for Harris Finds his Foot and Emily Gravett for The Mouse’s Big Book of Fears.
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