Julie Flett, Sydney Smith among finalists for $50K TD Canadian Children's Literature Award
CBC Books | | Posted: September 15, 2020 4:43 PM | Last Updated: September 17, 2020
The $50,000 recognizes the best Canadian book for readers up to age 12 in any genre
The finalists for the 2020 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards have been revealed. The six awards, which include prizes for nonfiction, YA and picture books, annually recognize the best in Canadian children's literature.
There are five titles nominated for the top prize, the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award. The $50,000 prize recognizes the best Canadian book for readers up to age 12 in any genre.
Two picture books are nominated this year: Birdsong by Cree-Metis illustrator Julie Flett and Small in the City by Nova Scotia illustrator Sydney Smith.
Birdsong is about a lonely girl who becomes friends with her new neighbour, an elderly woman. Together, they watch the seasons change, but as they both grow older, the young girl learns to cope with her friend's declining health
Birdsong was a finalist for the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustration.
Flett has illustrated several other picture books including Little You, My Heart Fills with Happiness and We Sang You Home.
Small in the City is about a young boy on the hunt for a precious item he has lost on a snowy day in a big city. Along the way, he navigates special shortcuts and shares secrets about the city he lives in.
Small in the City won the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustration. It was the first book both written and illustrated by Smith.
Other books he has illustrated include Town is by the Sea, written by Joanne Schwartz, and Sidewalk Flowers, written by JonArno Lawson.
Town is by the Sea won the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award in 2017.
Both Birdsong and Small in the City are finalists for the $20,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, which honours the best Canadian picture book for readers up to eight years old.
Also nominated for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award is previous winner Erin Bow.
Bow is nominated in 2020 for the middle-grade novel Stand on the Sky.
Stand on the Sky is about a young girl who goes against her community's traditions in order to follow her dreams. In Aisulu's nomadic community, only men have traditionally learned to train eagles. But when her parents take her brother to a distant hospital, Aisulu secretly nurtures an orphaned baby eagle. Stand on the Sky won the 2019 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — text.
Bow won the prize in 2011 for the middle-grade adventure novel Plain Kate.
You can see the finalists for all six awards below.
The finalists for the $50,000 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award are:
- Birdsong by Julie Flett
- Broken Strings by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer
- It Began With a Page by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad
- Small in the City by Sydney Smith
- Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow
The finalists for the $20,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award are:
- Birdsong by Julie Flett
- King Mouse by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Dena Seiferling
- My Winter City by James Gladstone, illustrated by Gary Clement
- The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden by Heather Smith, illustrated by Rachel Wada
- Small in the City by Sydney Smith
- When I Found Grandma by Saumiya Balasubramaniam, illustrated by Qin Leng
The $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction recognizes nonfiction for readers up to age 18.
The finalists are:
- Beastly Puzzles by Rachel Poliquin, illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler
- Cells by Carolyn Fisher
- Fairy Science by Ashley Spires
- Killer Style by Serah-Marie McMahon & Alison Matthews David, illustrated by Gillian Wilson
- Picking Up the Pieces by Carey Newman & Kirstie Hudson
The $5,000 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People recognizes historical fiction for readers up to age 18.
The finalists are:
- Among the Fallen by Virginia Frances Schwartz
- Be My Love by Kit Pearson
- The Big Dig by Lisa Harrington
- City on Strike by Harriet Zaidman
- Orange for the Sunsets by Tina Athaide
- Room for One More by Monique Polak
The $5,000 John Spray Mystery Award recognizes mystery books for readers between the ages of eight and 18.
The finalists are:
- The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif
- Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan
- The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane by Julia Nobel
- Song from the Deep by Kelly Powell
- The Starlight Claim by Tim Wynne-Jones
The $5,000 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award recognizes Canadian young adult books for readers between the ages of 13 and 18.
The finalists are:
- All Our Broken Pieces by L.D. Crichton
- The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad
- In the Key of Nira Ghani by Natasha Deen
- Keep This to Yourself by Tom Ryan
- Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali
The winners will be announced during the Toronto International Festival of Authors, which takes place Oct. 22 to Nov. 1, 2020.
There are also two awards for Canadian French-language books. The $50,000 Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l'enfance et la jeunesse recognizes the best Canadian children's book in French and the $5,000 Prix Harry Black de l'album jeunesse recognizes the best children's album for ages three to eight.
Last year's winner of the TD Canadian Children's Literature Prize was Heather Smith for her middle-grade novel Ebb & Flow.
Other past winners include Jonathan Auxier for The Night Gardener, Polly Horvath for One Year in Coal Harbour and Christopher Paul Curtis for Elijah of Buxton.