Articles

Celebrating Excellence in Canadian Children’s Books
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) presented its annual awards in November 2009 for accomplishments in writing for children.

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
Nicola Campbell was awarded the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award for Shin-chi’s Canoe. The book tells of the hardships endured by First Nations children attending residential school away from family and familiarity. It was illustrated by Kim LaFave. This award honours literature written for children aged 1 to 12 years old. It is sponsored by the TD Bank Financial Group and offers a prize of $25,000 (increased from its previous prize of $20,000).

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award
Mattland tells the story of a young boy discovering imagination and friendship in the seemingly ordinary landscape of the subdivision where he lives. Written by Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert, with illustrations by Dusan Petricic, Mattland is the 2009 winner of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. The award honours exceptional picture books for children aged 3 to 8 by Canadian authors. As of 2009, the prize is valued at $20,000 (increased from its previous award of $10,000).

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction
In The Bite Of The Mango, Mariatu Kamara shares her true story of surviving an attack in her Sierra Leone home to her triumphant survival and migration to Canada. As the winner of 2009’s Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction, Kamara is recognized for this moving contribution to children’s non-fiction. The award carries a purse of $10,000.

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
Recognizing outstanding historical fiction for youth, the 2009 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People was awarded to John Ibbitson for his Depression-era tale The Landing. Set on the shores of Lake Muskoka, the novel shares the experiences of a young boy who yearns to play the violin and escape his difficult existence. Ibbitson was awarded the $5,000 prize.

Prix TD de  iterature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse
Expressed in a letter format, Chere Traudi shares an old man’s memories of his childhood during the German occupation of his Dutch village and the young German girl his family adopted after the war. Anne Villeneuve’s book is the recipient of the 2009 Prix TD de  iterature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse, which honours French-language books written for children up to 12 years of age. The award includes a $25,000 prize, with an additional $10,000 shared amongst the other four finalists and $2,500 in promotional funds for the book’s publisher, Editions Les 400 coups.

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre was created in 1976 to promote, support and encourage the reading, writing and illustrating of Canadian books for children and teens. The CCBC offers book collections and extensive resources in five cities across Canada, and is a not-for-profit organization and registered charity.