Tag: The Carlu

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2013 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award

The winners were announced on Tuesday night for the 2013 Canadian Children’s Literature Awards. Tundra is extremely happy to tell you that we took home the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, an award that honours excellence in the illustrated picture book format, for children aged 3 to 8. Congratulations to Cary Fagan and DuÅ¡an Petričić!

Mr Zingers HatMr. Zinger’s Hat
Written by Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
“A charming, marvelous tale surrounding the art of creating and telling stories, Mr. Zinger’s Hat celebrates the budding friendship between an elderly writer and a young boy who discovers a storyteller within … Fagan’s writing is beautifully crafted. The exchanges between his protagonists are so vivid that one feels as if one is eavesdropping in on a real conversation … Petričić’s engaging artwork deftly juxtaposes two distinct styles which portray a real-life setting and an imaginary world … The illustrations vividly depict the storyteller’s wry humour and the boy’s wide-eyed innocence.”

Many thanks to the jury memebers: Lorraine Filyer, former Literature Officer, Ontario Arts Council; Todd Kyle, CEO, Newmarket Public Library and President, Board of Directors, Canadian Children’s Book Centre; and Senta Ross, children’s book reviewer and former elementary teacher and teacher-librarian.

This year, TD Bank Group, sponsor of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, partnered with CBC Books to present the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Fan Choice Award. Young readers were asked to pick their favourite book from the shortlisted TD Award titles in an online poll. Annaka Leib of Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, was in attendance to present the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Fan Choice Award to Polly Horvath for her novel, One Year in Coal Harbour. The other winners were:

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
One Year in Coal Harbour written by Polly Horvath

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction
Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War written by Deborah Ellis

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People
The Lynching of Louie Sam written by Elizbeth Stewart

John Spray Mystery Award
The Lynching of Louie Sam written by Elizbeth Stewart

Monica Hughes Award for Science Fiction and Fantasy
Seraphina written by Rachel Hartman

Congratulations to all the authors and we have photos from the ceremony on Instagram!

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Canadian Children’s Literature Awards Celebration

Last night, Tundra came out to support our finalists in the Canadian Children’s Literature Awards. It was a beautiful night of fine dining, cocktails, and children books!

Charming Garvia Bailey, host of CBC’s Big City, Small World was our Master of Ceremony. The first award to be announced was the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. We have a short clip that you can watch by clicking here.

Drumroll please, the winner of the Geoffrey Bilson for Historical Fiction for Young People goes to…

Vanishing Girl: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His 3rd Case
Written by Shane Peacock
Hardcover | 320 Pages
ISBN 978-0-88776-852-1
For ages 9 and up
“Peacock delves into the young mind of one of the best-known characters in literature, creating a story that is well-plotted, with plenty of action, adventure and plot twists… Beautifully written and fast-paced… Peacock’s writing has a distinctive voice and tone that is perfectly suited to the story being told.” – Jury Comments

Congratulations to Shane Peacock! The first two books in the Boy Sherlock Holmes series, Eye of the Crow and Death in the Air are all finalists of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.

The Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction was next! Tundra’s A Thousand Years of Pirates by William Gilkerson was nominated. The award went to the much deserving team of Priscilla Galloway and Dawn Hunter for Adventures on the Ancient Silk Road. They received a standing ovation after Priscilla’s thank you speech.

Next up, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award! We had two finalists in this category (Our Corner Grocery Store by Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Laura Beingessner), but only one could win…

Timmerman Was Here
Written by Colleen Sydor, illustrated by Nicolas Debon
Hardcover | 32 Pages
ISBN 978-0-88776-890-3
For ages 4 – 8
“This is a sublimely humanistic and memorable story about the way we discover the difference between truth and appearances… Dramatic pictures equally involve the reader, while the artistic use of dark and light further affect our emotional response… This intriguing tale with a twist delves exceptionally well into values and perceptions, the rational and the irrational, achieving a conclusion that is profoundly self-affirming for the child… This emotionally rich and suspenseful story is capped by an uplifting ending that will stir hearts from 8 to 80… A perfect pairing of text and illustration.” – Jury Comments

Congratulations to Colleen Sydor and Nicolas Debon for their work on Timmerman Was Here!

Lastly, the big award we were all waiting for, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. Tundra has two finalists in the running!

And the winner is…

Arthur Slade for The Hunchback Assignments! Congratulations! Everyone got a copy in their gift bag and we can’t wait to read it!

A huge thank you goes out to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, TD Bank Financial Group, the jurors, sponsors, and staff for all your work and for the amazing celebration!

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2009 Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards

This year, Tundra had a number of finalists for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. We had all received lovely gold coloured invitations and were all invited for a glamorous night at the Carlu.

This was my first time at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre Awards and I was excited (but I totally played it cool). Pamela had told me that it would be a great event and last night did not disappoint (aside from us not winning).

Pamela and I left the office around 6:00 pm and swiftly arrived at the Carlu. There was a red carpet leading to the elevators. Interestingly enough, we shared our ride up to the 7th floor with the Fleck Family and Marilyn Baillie! Then, those elevator doors opened… and wow. I glanced at Pamela and she gave me the “I told you this gala is great” look.

The place was decorated with costumed bears. Here’s one that mimics love stories. I remember spotting a pirate, a mermaid, and an astronaut bear.

What an amazing atmosphere: the music, the chatter (who is going to win tonight?), and the clink of glasses. There were hot food stations, hor d’oeuvre, and drinks going around. A lot of Tundra’s authors and illustrators were there, most of our finalists were able to attend (they were not feeling nervous at all), and it was really nice to meet or see everyone.

The awards ceremony began at 7:00 pm with Eleanor Watchtel as our MC for the night.

The Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction went to The Bite of the Mango. Congratulations to Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland!

The Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People went to The Landing. Congratulations to John Ibbitson!

The Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award went to Mattland. Congratulations to Hazel Hutchins, Gail Herbert, and DuÅ¡an Petričić!

Finally, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award went to Shin-chi’s Canoe. Congratulations to Nicola I. Campbell and Kim LaFave!

Before we left, we were handed an environmentally friendly bag with the 2009 TD Grade One Book Giveaway Program’s book: Let’s Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Scot Ritchie.

Thank you to everyone at the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, to the jurors, to the sponsors, and to the wonderful staff that made the event a fantastic night! Until next year!

Tundra Book Group