BfK News: May 2010

AWARDS

2010 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlist
The shortlisted titles for this year’s Medal are Grahame Baker-Smith’s Leon and the Place Between (Templar); Freya Blackwood’s Harry & Hopper (Scholastic; text by Margaret Wild); Oliver Jeffers’ The Great Paper Caper (HarperCollins); Satoshi Kitamura’s Millie’s Marvellous Hat (Andersen); Dave McKean’s Crazy Hair (Bloomsbury; text by Neil Gaiman); Chris Riddell’s The Graveyard Book (Bloomsbury; text by Neil Gaiman); David Roberts’ The Dunderheads (Walker; text by Paul Fleischman) and Viviane Schwarz’s There are Cats in This Book (Walker).

Margaret Pemberton, Librarian at Bristol Schools Library Service and Chair of the judging panels, commented: ‘The 2010 shortlist proves that picture books are not just for pre-schoolers. Illustrations can enrich the reading experience of all age-groups, and the eight titles in contention for the 2010 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal are outstanding examples of this.’

2010 CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist
The shortlisted titles for this year’s Medal are Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chains (Bloomsbury); Nail Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book (Bloomsbury); Helen Grant’s The Vanishing of Katerina Linden (Penguin); Julie Hearn’s Rowan the Strange (OUP); Patrick Ness’ The Ask and the Answer (Walker); Terry Pratchett’s Nation (Doubleday); Philip Reeve’s Fever Crumb (Scholastic); and Marcus Sedgwick’s Revolver (Orion).

Margaret Pemberton commented: ‘It’s interesting that the eight titles that really stood out for us buck the current trend for escapism and the paranormal in young adult fiction. Their writers have been brave with their choice of subject matter and have confronted some very real issues, but the quality of the writing carries each and every story.’

Over 3,600 reading groups in schools and public libraries registered to take part in the shadowing scheme for the awards, involving nearly 90,000 children and young people. For further information visit www.ckg.org.uk/shadowing

The 2010 Kate Greenaway and Carnegie Medal winners will be announced on 24 June.

2010 Hans Christian Andersen Awards
The Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has announced that David Almond, from the United Kingdom, is the winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Author Award and that Jutta Bauer, from Germany, is the winner of the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award.

The Hans Christian Andersen Award is the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children’s books. In awarding the 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for writing to David Almond, the jury recognized the unique voice of a creator of magic realism for children: ‘Almond captures his young readers’ imagination and motivates them to read, think and be critical. His use of language is sophisticated and reaches across the ages.’ The 2010 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration recognizes Jutta Bauer as a powerful narrator who blends real life with legend through her pictures. The jury admired her ‘philosophical approach, originality, creativity as well as her ability to communicate with young readers’.

LETTER

Dear Editor
In the last paragraph of Brian Alderson’s article on The Eagle of the Ninth (Classics in Short No. 80) he says: ‘Sutcliff’s publishers are to bring out what they call “a bumper volume” containing the first three stories of the sequence… I find it sad that they will yet again ignore the illustrations of Walter Hodges for Eagle and of Charles Keeping…’

In fact, our three single volumes of The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch and The Lantern Bearers DO have the illustrations by Hodge and Keeping in them and these are the three single volumes that we will continue with as our main editions, alongside the Chronicles bind-up, which doesn’t have illustrations.

Kathy Webb
Managing Editor, Oxford University Press Children’s Books

EVENTS

Power of Reading Project Conference

Friday 21 May 2010, 10.00am-1.00pm
The Conference will discuss the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education’s highly successful Power of Reading project which demonstrably enhances teachers’ and children’s pleasure in reading, and raises children’s achievement through teachers’ knowledge of literature and its creative use in the classroom. The programme includes discussion of the project research findings, teachers talking about their work on the project, contributions from head teachers and local authority and strategy colleagues involved in the Power of Reading project. For further information heather@clpe.co.uk or tel: 020 7401 3382/3

Thinking in Pictures: Creativity, literacy and picture books

Friday 18 June 2010, 9.30am-3.00pm
The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education works with teachers and schools nationally to promote the creative use of children’s literature. This conference will explore two key themes emerging from work on the creative use of children’s literature at CLPE: drawing and the role of picture books in developing children’s understanding and response as readers and writers. The speakers include Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne, Professor Shirley Brice Heath, Dr Evelyn Arizpe and Mini Grey. For further information heather@clpe.co.uk or tel: 020 7401 3382/3