The 2018 National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature

Elizabeth Acevedo, “The Poet X”
HarperTeen / HarperCollins Publishers

M. T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, “The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge”
Candlewick Press

Bryan Bliss, “We’ll Fly Away”
Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins Publishers

Leslie Connor, “The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle”
Katherine Tegen Books / HarperCollins Publishers

Christopher Paul Curtis, “The Journey of Little Charlie”
Scholastic Press / Scholastic, Inc.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, “Hey, Kiddo”
Graphix / Scholastic, Inc.

Tahereh Mafi, “A Very Large Expanse of Sea”
HarperTeen / HarperCollins Publishers

Joy McCullough, “Blood Water Paint”
Dutton Children’s Books / Penguin Random House

Elizabeth Partridge, “Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam”
Viking Children’s Books / Penguin Random House

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Vesper Stamper, “What the Night Sings”
Knopf Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House

The judges for the category this year are
Robin Benway, whose book “Far From the Tree” won the 2017 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
Lamar Giles, the author of “Fake ID” and a founding member of the nonprofit organization We Need Diverse Books
Grace Worcester Greene, who has spent her career working at libraries with and for young people
Valerie Koehler, the owner of the Blue Willow Bookshop, in west Houston
Mitali Perkins, the author of numerous books, most recently “You Bring the Distant Near.”

via The 2018 National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature | The New Yorker.

Kate Milner has won the 2018 Klaus Flugge Prize (for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration) with her book My Name is Not Refugee (Barrington Stoke).

Kate studied illustration at St Martin’s College and illustrated magazines on Commercial and Housing Law for a while but has since spent most of her working life as a librarian, developing a passion for children’s books in the process.

When cuts to the library service resulted in her losing her job, she applied to do an MA in children’s book illustration at Anglia Ruskin University and for her degree show created the story that was to become My Name is Not Refugee and with it won Student Illustrator of the Year in the V&A Illustration Awards.

Winning the Klaus Flugge Prize marks her out as an important and extremely talented illustrator with a very special gift for creating picture books.

Judge, Children’s Laureate Lauren Child says: “The questions My Name is Not Refugee asks us to consider help us to think ourselves into someone else’s shoes. And the illustrations do just what they should, allowing the reader time to contemplate the predicament of the storybook child, a chance to imagine and to empathize.”

The Klaus Flugge Prize was founded to honour publisher Klaus Flugge, a supremely influential figure in picture books. Flugge set up Andersen Press in 1976 and has discovered and nurtured many of today’s most distinguished illustrators including David McKee, Tony Ross, Satoshi Kitamura and Susan Varley.

Chair of the judges, Julia Eccleshare said: “The 2017 Klaus Flugge Prize was awarded to Francesca Sanna for her book The Journey, so for the second year running the prize has gone to a book which describes the refugee experience. Klaus Flugge has always championed picture books for children that challenge them to think about the world and how it works, from The Conquerors by David McKee to An Anty-War Story by Tony Ross, and it’s fitting that the prize in his name once again demonstrates that picture books can cover the most important and most topical subjects.”

Kate Milner said: “I felt absolutely amazed and delighted when I heard that I’d won. I was very, very pleased to be shortlisted but I explained to everyone at the time that there was absolutely no chance of me winning. I was quite clear about this. When I got the good news I was alone in the house apart from my son who was still asleep. I was beside myself with delight; he didn’t get to stay asleep long.

I have done all sorts of things in my working life. I have painted pub signs and made prints; been a teacher and a carer. I have always made images and thought up stories, but it was a job at the local library that changed everything for me: I fell in love with children’s books. Part of my job was to read to groups of pre-school children at Rhyme Time, which was an excellent way of discovering which books kept their attention, indeed which books kept my attention. I also helped with Chatterbooks and the Summer Reading Challenge, both of which involved talking to children about books. It was an education. We wondered why picture books contain lots of farm yard animals but no mobile phones, yet most children know all about mobile phones and have never met a lamb. We discussed whether Moody Margaret would beat My Naughty Little Sister in a fight, and we decided she definitely would. Despite my great age, I am, in many ways, about eight years old, and I still love to draw and make up stories. Becoming part of the world of children’s book feels like coming home.”

Victoria Semykina was awarded Highly Commended for her illustrations for The Real Boat (Templar). Lauren Child said: “Here is illustration that is not only exquisitely decorative but also uses the page to great effect. There are many original viewpoints, crops and changes of scale and these beautifully carry the reader across the storybook seas.”

Kate Milner received her award at a ceremony in London on Wednesday 12th September 2018 and was presented with a cheque for £5,000 by Lauren Child. We were very sorry not to be able to attend the event in person this year.

Alongside Lauren Child, the judges were Goldy Broad; Charlotte Colwill of Foyles bookshop; and 2017 Klaus Flugge Prize winner Francesca Sanna. Julia Eccleshare, director of the Children’s Programme at the Hay Festival, is Chair of the Judges.

The shortlist in full

The Night Box, Ashling Lindsay, written by Louise Greig (Egmont)
My Name is Not Refugee, Kate Milner (Barrington Stoke)
Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover, Markus Motum (Walker Studio)
The Real Boat, Victoria Semykina, written by Marina Aromshtam (Templar)
Big Box, Little Box, Edward Underwood, written by Caryl Hart (Bloomsbury)

LONGLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2019 UKLA BOOK AWARDS

The UKLA Selection Panel, chaired by outgoing Chair Lynda Graham, have whittled down the 372 publisher submissions to arrive at a set of longlists, which feature books in translation, poetry, verse novels and nonfiction. They were pleased to highlight exciting debut authors as well as established and familiar names in children’s literature. Of particular note is the success of small publishing houses like Sweet Apple Publishing, Laurence King, Pushkin Press, Barrington Stoke, Otter-Barry Books, Gecko Press and Tiny Owl. The new Chair of the awards Chris Lockwood says: “the quality of the record number of submissions this year was of a particularly high standard and the panel had no easy task, but we are confident that the teachers and schools involved in the judging will benefit enormously from the impact of these quality texts in their schools” All of the books exemplify the award criteria of writing which offers language rich in layered meanings, imaginative expression and exciting vocabulary. Where present, high quality illustration is also an important feature of the chosen texts.

Longlist 3-6

Longlist 7-11

Longlist 12-16

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has announced the finalists in eight award categories, celebrating the best in Canadian children’s literature. Not surprisingly, Town is By the Sea, by Joanne Schwartz and illustrator Sydney Smith, and The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Demaline, are nominated. Both books have already won multiple awards in Canada and internationally and were named Quill & Quire books of the year.

Adding to the excitement for this year’s awards is the news that TD Canada has raised the value of their sponsored awards – TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award prize and le Prix TD de littérature pour l’enfance et la jeunesse – from the already significant amount of $30,000 to $50,000.

At two separate galas – in Toronto on Oct. 29 and in Montreal on Nov. 19 – the CCBC will announce the winners of the English- and French-language awards respectively.

Here are the English-language nominations:

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award ($50,000)
Sponsored by TD Bank Group
Dragonfly Song, Wendy Orr (Pajama Press)
Picture the Sky, Barbara Reid (North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada)
Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, Monique Gray Smith (Orca Book Publishers)
Town is by The Sea, Joanne Schwartz and Sydney Smith, ill. (Groundwood Books)
When the Moon Comes, Paul Harbridge and Matt James, ill. (Tundra Books)

Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award ($20,000)
Sponsored by A. Charles Baillie
Little Blue Chair, Cary Fagan and Madeline Kloepper (Tundra Books)
My Beautiful Birds, Suzanne Del Rizzo (Pajama Press)
Sam & Eva, Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Stolen Words, Melanie Florence and Gabrielle Grimard, ill. (Second Story Press)
When the Moon Comes, Paul Harbridge and Matt James, ill. (Tundra Books)
You Hold Me Up, Monique Gray Smith and Danielle Daniel, ill. (Orca Book Publishers)

Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction ($10,000)
Sponsored by the Fleck Family Foundation
#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women, Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale, eds. (Annick Press)
Meatless? A Fresh Look at What You Eat, Sarah Elton and Julie McLaughlin (Owlkids Books)
The Sockeye Mother, Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) and Natasha Donovan (HighWater Press)
Rewilding: Giving Nature a Second Chance, Jane Drake and Ann Love (Annick Press)
When Planet Earth Was New, James Gladstone and Katherine Diemert (Owlkids Books)

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People ($5,000)
Sponsored by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Bilson Endowment Fund
The Agony of Bun O’Keefe, Heather Smith (Penguin Teen Canada)
The Assassin’s Curse (The Blackthorn Key, Book 3), Kevin Sands (Aladdin)
A Blinding Light, Julie Lawson (Nimbus Publishing)
Clutch, Heather Camlot (Red Deer Press)
Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh, Uma Krishnaswami (Tu Books/Lee & Low)

John Spray Mystery Award ($5,000)
Sponsored by John Spray
The Assassin’s Curse (The Blackthorn Key, Book 3), Kevin Sands (Aladdin)
Blood on the Beach, Sarah N. Harvey and Robin Stevenson (Orca Book Publishers)
The Hanging Girl, Eileen Cook (Houghlin Mifflin Harcourt)
Recipe for Hate, Warren Kinsella (Dundurn)
The Case of the Missing Mage (Tank & Fizz, Book 3), Liam O’Donnell and Mike Deas, ill. (Orca)

Amy Mathers Teen Book Award ($5,000)
Sponsored by Sylvan Learning
The Agony of Bun O’Keefe, Heather Smith (Penguin Teen Canada)
Everything Beautiful is Not Ruined, Danielle Younge-Ullman (Razorbill Canada)
The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline (DCB)
Munro vs. the Coyote, Darren Groth (Orca)
The Way Back Home, Allan Stratton (Scholastic Canada)

Mitch Johnson and editors Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker of Usborne have won the 2018 Branford Boase Award for Kick.

Last year’s winner, M.G. Leonard, a judge for the 2018 award said: “Kick is a skillfully written and perfectly paced. Mitch Johnston has produced a fantastically original debut that champions hope, dogged optimism in the face of adversity, and friendship. This book needs to be on the bookshelf of every school library, not just because it will encourage empathy, but because it’s a great book. Mitch Johnston is definitely one to watch.”

Johnson the winning author said: “The Branford Boase Award has recognized many of my favourite authors over the years, and so to receive the award myself is a wonderfully surreal experience. Kick is a novel that I came close to abandoning on several occasions, but the thought that kept me going was that perhaps one day my book would get published, and perhaps if it got published someone might read it, and perhaps if someone read it they might question the way things are made. The plight of garment workers is a global issue affecting millions of people, and yet somehow it manages to remain largely out of sight. My hope is that Kick will make this problem more visible, and winning the Branford Boase will undoubtedly encourage more readers to find out about the subject for themselves, and for this I am extremely grateful.

I am very fortunate that Kick found two brilliant editors, Rebecca Hill and Becky Walker, who understood exactly what I was trying to achieve and shared my passion for telling Budi’s story. Their insight, expertise, and sensitivity improved Kick immeasurably, and I am thrilled that the Branford Boase acknowledges the crucial role they played in making this book a success.”

via Branford Boase Award Winners.

Inexplicably and highly annoyingly I missed being at this award, one of the most pleasurable to attend, owing to it disappearing from my online calendar. 
Can recommend checking the set of photos taken at the event by its regular photographer Paul Carter:
http://www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk/BBA_Current/bbapartyphotos.html