The Fan brothers among finalists for 2021 Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook Award
The prize awards $2,500 to the year's best picture book in Canada
The Barnabus Project by brothers Terry, Eric and Devin Fan is among five Canadian picture books shortlisted for the second annual Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook Award.
The prize awards $2,500 to the year's best picture book in Canada.
The prize was created in honour of the late Sheila Barry, who was the publisher and an editor for Toronto-based children's publisher Groundwood Books.
The Barnabus Project takes place in a world of cute, genetically engineered pets. Barnabus is half elephant and half mouse and considered a "failed experiment" by the creators of Perfect Pets. He leads a group of fellow "failures" to freedom in the natural world.
The picture book challenges the way "cuteness" is valued and takes readers on a suspenseful adventure. It won the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for young people's literature — illustrated books.
Eric Fan and Terry Fan are brothers and frequent collaborators on children's books. Their books include The Night Gardener and Ocean Meets Sky.
Devin Fan is an artist, poet and youth worker. The Barnabus Project is his first children's book and marks the first time all three brothers have written and illustrated a picture book together.
The complete shortlist is:
- I Will See You Again by Lisa Boivin
- The Barnabus Project by Terry, Eric and Devin Fan
- Nice Try, Charlie! by Matt James
- Story Boat by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh
- When Emily Was Small by Lauren Soloy
Maclear and Kheiriyeh's book, Story Boat, tells the story of a refugee child finding comfort in objects like a cup, a blanket and a lamp — things that represent family and home.
Maclear is a Toronto-based children's writer and essayist, whose acclaimed books include Birds Art Life, The Liszts and Virginia Wolf. Kheiriyeh is a Washington, D.C.-based illustrator who has received 50 awards for her work, including a Sendak Fellowship Award.
Author and illustrator Matt James is a finalist for the book Nice Try, Charlie! The picture book uses a mix of photography and cut-out art to depict an inventive child's day in his neighbourhood, from finding a car tire to throwing a ball.
Nice Try, Charlie! is Matt James's second book as an author and illustrator. His first was the picture book The Funeral.
Lisa Boivin is a finalist for I Will See You Again, an illustrated memoir about grief. The book follows a young Indigenous woman, as she travels to England to collect her older brother's remains and process his death.
Boivin is an artist, a member of Deninu Kue First Nation and a PhD student in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Her work explores the connection between art and healing. Boivin's latest book is called We Dream Medicine Dreams.
Lauren Soloy is shortlisted for When Emily Was Small. The picture book imagines the childhood of Emily Carr, as she immerses herself in the natural surroundings of B.C.
Soloy is a writer and illustrator in Nova Scotia. Her next book is called Etty Darwin and the Four Pebble Problem.
The winner will be announced on Sept 7, 2021.
Last year marked the first year for the Sheila Barry Best Canadian Picturebook Award. The inaugural winner was Sydney Smith for Small in the City.
