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IBBY Names David Almond and Jutta Bauer 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Award Winners

Bologna, Italy...The Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), has announced that David Almond, from the United Kingdom is the winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Author Award and that Jutta Bauer, from Germany is the winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award. The announcement was made at the Bologna International Children's Book Fair, and the Andersen medals and diplomas will be presented to the winners on Saturday, 11 September 2010 at the international IBBY congress in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children's books. In awarding the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for writing to David Almond, the jury has recognized the unique voice of a creator of magic realism for children. Almond captures his young readers' imagination and motivates them to read, think and be critical. His use of language is sophisticated and reaches across the ages.

The 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration recognizes Jutta Bauer as a powerful narrator who blends real life with legend through her pictures. The jury admired her philosophical approach, originality, creativity as well as her ability to communicate with young readers.

David Almond was selected from 28 authors for the award. The four finalists were: Ahmad Reza Ahmadi from Iran, Bartolomeu Campos de Queiros from Brazil, Lennart Hellsing from Sweden and Louis Jensen from Denmark.

Jutta Bauer was selected from 27 illustrators nominated. The four finalists were Carll Cneut from Belgium, Etienne Delessert from Switzerland, Svjetlan Junakovic from Croatia and Roger Mello from Brazil. The full list of candidates can be read at www.ibby.org.

The ten members of the 2010 Jury, led by Jury President Zohreh Ghaeni from Iran, met in Basel, Switzerland on 13 and 14 March 2010. The Jury of children's literature experts comprised Ernest Bond (USA), Karen Coeman (Mexico), Nadia El Kholy (Egypt), María Jesús Gil (Spain), Jan Hansson (Sweden), Annemie Leysen (Belgium), Darja Mazi-Leskovar (Slovenia), Alicia Salvi (Argentina), Helene Schär (Switzerland) and Regina Zilberman (Brazil). Elda Nogueira from Brazil representing IBBY and Liz Page as Jury Secretary attended the meeting ex officio.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is considered the most prestigious in international children's literature, is given biennially by IBBY to a living author and illustrator whose complete works are judged to have made lasting contributions to children's literature. Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark is the Patron of the Andersen Awards. The Author's Award has been given since 1956 and the Illustrator's Award since 1966. Nami Island Inc. is the sponsor of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards. Information, including a history of the awards is available at www.ibby.org.

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Vale Patricia Wrightson

Pioneer of Australian idiom for kids dies
From: The Australian, March 25, 2010 12:00AM

PATRICIA Wrightson, who died this week aged 88, was one of the first children's writers to use Australian places and idioms in her novels.

Born in the northern NSW town of Lismore, Wrightson's first books were published in the 1950s, and she continued writing until ill health forced her retirement in the late 1990s.
The Rocks of Honey (1960) and The Nargun and the Stars (1973) were two of her four books to be awarded the Children's Book Council Book of the Year. She was also awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal.
In 1999, the NSW Premier's literary awards honoured Ms Wrightson by naming their children's literary prize after her. Minister for the Arts, Virginia Judge, yesterday acclaimed Ms Wrightson as an "Australian literary great".

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/pioneer-of-australian-idiom-for-kids-dies/story-e6frg8nf-1225844972765

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The winner of the 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is Kitty Crowther

Kitty Crowther is an illustrator and author, born in 1970, who lives and works in Belgium. The jury's citation reads as follows:
Kitty Crowther is the master of line but also of atmosphere. She maintains the tradition of the picture book while transforming and renewing it. In her world, the door between imagination and reality is wide open. She addresses the reader gently and personally, but with profound effect. In her deeply felt empathy with people in difficulty, she shows ways in which weakness can be turned into strength. Humanism and sympathy permeate and unify her artistry.

In Kitty Crowther's books, text and pictures form an integral whole. Her principal works are her own picture books, including L´enfant racine (2003), La visite de Petite Mort (2004), Le grand désordre (2005) and the Poka & Mine series (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010).

She addresses readers personally using a limited repertoire of tools, principal among them pencil, ink and coloured pencils. Facial expressions, posture and atmosphere are captured with unfailing precision. In Kitty Crowther?s world there are no basic stereotypes. The landscapes in which the stories are set resemble the ones we know, but Kitty Crowther sees beyond them to a world richer in possibilities than we imagine.

One of the cornerstones of her authorship is to show how weakness can be turned into strength. Her loyalty to children is unconditional. The sympathy and intense empathy Kitty Crowther shows with her fictional characters is an expression of the deep humanism that runs through all her works.

Examples of Kitty Crowther?s world of imagery can be downloaded from www.alma.se. For more images and interviews with the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award winner and jury, please contact the ALMA office: agnes.lidbeck@alma.se or +46 76 540 10 17.

The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) is the world's largest prize for children's and young adult literature. The award, with a total value of SEK 5 million, is awarded annually to one or more recipients. Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and reading activists are eligible. The award is designed to promote interest in children's and young adult literature, and to promote children's rights, globally. An expert jury selects the winners from candidates nominated by institutions and organizations worldwide. The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award is administered by the Swedish Arts Council.

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John Newberry Medal winner announced!

The 2010 Newbery Medal winner is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, published by Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books.

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Your chance to Vote for the best Young Adult Non Fiction

This is a new award, introduced in 2010.  Everyone is welcome to vote once for each award between now and January 15 at http://bit.ly/4uok4d
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Award-winning, wide-ranging, inventive, deeply moving short stories

boatThe Boat

by Nam Le

A stunningly inventive, deeply moving fiction debut: stories that take us from the slums of Colombia to the streets of Tehran; from New York City to Iowa City; from a tiny fishing village in Australia to a foundering vessel in the South China Sea, in a masterful display of literary virtuosity and feeling.

Read more, or check it out at Amazon

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A Gripping thriller from Sophie McKenzie

Winner of the Red House Children's Book Awards

A Kid's Review

fab book
u can't put the book down, i have read all her other books and this is the best so far...

Read a synopsis here

Buy the book here

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‘Blood Ties’ Takes Red House Prize


Sophie McKenzie's Blood Ties, a YA thriller that explores genetic engineering, has won Britain’s Red House Children's Book Award, the only prize voted for entirely by children (this year, more than 143,000). U.S. rights, which are held by agent Rosemary Canter, have not yet been sold. more » » »

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LIANZA Children’s Book Awards 2009 finalists

From stories exploring the lives and ideals of family and communities to the reminiscence of roly-poly pudding the finalists of the LIANZA Children’s Book Awards are a true celebration of New Zealand writers and illustrators.

The LIANZA Children’s Book Award 2009 Finalists are:

LIANZA ESTHER GLEN AWARD (Fiction)
Juno of Taris by Fleur Beale (Random House New Zealand)
Old Drumble by Jack Lasenby (HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Ltd)
The Tomorrow Code by Brian Falkner (Walker Books Australia)
The 10pm Question by Kate de Goldi (Longacre Press)
Violence 101 by Denis Wright (Penguin New Zealand)

LIANZA RUSSELL CLARK AWARD (Illustration)
Every Second Friday by Kiri Lightfoot, Illustrated by Ben Galbraith (Hachette New Zealand)
Herbert by Robyn Belton (Craig Potton Publishing)
My Favourite Places by Martin Bailey (Mallinson Rendel)
Oliver Goes Exploring by Margaret Beames, Illustrated by Sue Hitchcock (Scholastic)
Roadworks by Sally Sutton, Illustrated by Brian Lovelock (Walker Books Australia)

LIANZA ELSIE LOCKE (Non Fiction)
Atoms, dinosaurs & DNA by Veronika Meduna & Rebecca Priestley (Random House New Zealand)
Back & Beyond: New Zealand Painting for the Young & Curious by Gregory O’Brien (Auckland University Press)
Juicy Writing by Brigid Lowry (Allen & Unwin)
Piano Rock by Gavin Bishop (Random House New Zealand)
High-tech Legs on Everest by Mark Inglis with Sarah Ell (Random House New Zealand)

TE KURA POUNAMU (te reo Maori)
Mihiroa by Peti Nohotima (He Kupenga Hao i te Reo Ltd)
Nau te Rourou, Naku te Rourou by Rosalind and Waaka Vercoe (Huia Education)
Ko Maraea Me Nga Toroa by Patricia Grace, Illustrator Brian Gunson, Translator Waiariki Grace (Penguin NZ)
Toheroa by James Te Tuhi and Ross Gregory (Huia Education)
Hinemoa te Toa by Tim Tipene, Illustrator John Bennett, Translator Katerina Te Heikoko Mataira (Scholastic)

The Awards including New Zealand's longest-running book award, the LIANZA Esther Glen Award, are for excellence in literature, illustration, non-fiction and te reo Maori.

Prerequisite to selection as a LIANZA Judge is being a Librarian, along with passion to promote children’s experiences in the literary world; the Judges firmly believe reading and good books are the code to unlocking any child’s hidden potential.

The LIANZA Esther Glen, LIANZA Elsie Locke, and LIANZA Russell Clark Award judges are: Belynda Smith (Panel Convenor), Takapuna Library Auckland; Pene Walsh, District Librarian Gisborne; and Colleen Shipley, Librarian Marlborough Girls College.

The Te Kura Pounamu Award judges are: Alice Heather (Panel Convener); National Library Auckland, Kathleen Tamaki, Manukau Public Libraries and Haromi Williams, The Library and Information Advisory Commission and Tuhoe Education Authority.

The 2009 Award Ceremony will take place in Wellington on Monday August 10th at Caffe L’affare, College Street.

The LIANZA Children’s Book Awards 2009 are supported by Wheelers Books and Caffe L’affare.

For further information please contact:

Wendy Walker, LIANZA Children’s Book Awards Coordinator,

http://www.lianza.org.nz/events/childrensbookawards/index.html

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2008 Philip K. Dick Award Winner Announced

It was announced at Norwescon 32, in SeaTac, Washington, that the winner for the distinguished original science fiction paperback published for the first time during 2008 in the U.S.A. is a tie between:

EMISSARIES FROM THE DEAD by Adam-Troy Castro

(Eos Books)

and

TERMINAL MIND by David Walton

(Meadowhawk Press)

http://www.philipkdickaward.org/