BfK News: May 2011

AWARDS

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals Shortlists 2011

Now in its seventy-fourth year, the CILIP Carnegie Medal is the UK’s oldest and most prestigious book award for outstanding writing for children. Its prestige is rooted in the unique judging process which pools the professional expertise of librarians from across the country to arrive at a long list of titles.

Twelve librarians from CILIP’s Youth Libraries Group then meet to agree on titles for the shortlist. Members of the panel combine an in-depth knowledge of books with daily experience of working and reading with young people.

The CILIP Carnegie Medal Shortlist 2011
‘In the context of a fascinating variety of settings, each novel shortlisted for this year’s Carnegie Medal offers a compelling narrative of its time,’ commented Ferelith Hordon, Children’s Librarian for Wandsworth Library Service and Chair of this year’s CILIP Carnegie Judging Panel. ‘These writers are brave, and some might say controversial in their choices of subject matter for young people – the Spanish Inquisition; gruesome investigations into the afterlife; and the violence at the heart of Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe to name but three. But the quality of their writing ensures that the big questions are always treated in a way that is both thoughtful and completely absorbing.’

Prisoner of the Inquisition by Theresa Breslin (Doubleday, 978 0 385 61703 1) 12+
The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean (Oxford Children’s Books, 978 0 19 275602 2) 10+
Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness (Walker, 978 1 4063 2612 3) 14+
The Bride’s Farewell by Meg Rosoff (Puffin, 978 0 14 138393 4) 12+
White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion, 978 1 84255 187 5) 12+
Out of Shadows by Jason Wallace (Andersen Press, 978 1 84939 048 4) 14+

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlist 2011
Five former winners are in contention for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2011, making this one of the most keenly contested shortlists for years.

Bob Graham, Mini Grey and Catherine Rayner are all former winners of the award, as is Juan Wijngaard who scooped the coveted Medal back in 1985. Current Children’s Laureate, Anthony Browne, winner of the Medal in 1983 and 1992, is bidding to become the first illustrator ever to win the award three times. Also in the running are Grahame Baker-Smith and Oliver Jeffers, both shortlisted in 2010, and Norwegian illustrator, Kristin Oftedal, with her first published picture book.

Farther by Grahame Baker-Smith (Templar, 978 1 84877 126 0) 8+
Me and You by Anthony Browne (Doubleday, 978 0 385 61489 4) 4+
April Underhill Tooth Fairy by Bob Graham (Walker, 978 1 4063 2155 5) 5+
Jim by Hilaire Belloc, ill. Mini Grey (Cape, 978 0 224 08367 6) 6+
The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins, 978 0 00 718230 5) 5+
Big Bear, Little Brother by Kristin Oftedal (Macmillan, 978 1 4050 5198 9) 3+
Ernest by Catherine Rayner (Macmillan, 978 0 230 52919 9) 3+
Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, ill. Juan Wijngaard (Walker, 978 1 4063 0092 5) 8+

Both the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Medal are awarded annually by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The 2011 winners will be announced on Thursday 23 June.

PUBLICATIONS

Missing Pieces is a collection of biographies written by Year 10 pupils from Lincolnshire secondary schools who interviewed young people who have come from abroad to live in Lincolnshire. As well as putting ‘a human face back into stories about immigration’ the interviewers include their own experiences of the interview process. A scheme of work to go with the book which links with the new English GCSE specifications as well as the PSHE curriculum and secondary SEAL is also available. £6 from Steve Willshaw, The Mary Knox Centre, Upper Floor, Smith Street, Lincoln LN5 8NY.

Multicultural Picture Books – recommended titles
Eileen Browne, the author of Handa’s Surprise amongst other picture books, has compiled a list of over two hundred recommended books for ‘teachers, librarians, bookshops, publishers of children’s books, parents, carers, and everyone who is interested in books for children aged 0-11+ years’ on her website, www.eileenbrowne.com. She hopes to update it every few months.

Good Books for Tough Times
Partnership for Children, a charity, has launched a guide to books which help children cope with stressful situations such as bereavement or bullying. To access the guide go to www.partnershipforchildren.org.uk

NEWS

More Dickens Competition
To celebrate the bi-centenary of Charles Dickens’ birth in 1812, the Dickens Fellowship and the English Association have announced the More Dickens Competition. A first prize of £500 will be awarded for an extended class project based on one of Dickens’ works. The runner up will receive £250. The competition is open to classes of all ages in primary schools in the UK and can be completed at any time during 2011 – the closing date for entries is 1 January 2012. For further information go to www.le.ac.uk/engassoc/prizes/moredickens.html

Commonword Children’s Diversity Writing Prize
Commonword, Puffin Books and Rogers, Coleridge & White Literary Agency (RCW) have announced a partnership for the Commonword Children’s Diversity Writing Prize, to be awarded annually from 2012. The prize will be the culmination of fortnightly Commonword writing workshops in Manchester and an annual Puffin and RCW-sponsored master class for budding writers who exhibit potential in children’s fiction writing for 7+ to teenage. The winning writer must embrace ethnic diversity either through their own ethnicity and culture and/or within their writing. The winning writer will receive a £500 cash prize, professional mentoring and £100 worth of Puffin books. For further information go to www.cultureword.org.uk

Richard and Judy Launch Children’s Book Club
The television presenting duo Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan have launched a Children’s Book Club exclusively with W H Smith. The Children’s Book Club is made up of three categories with six book titles in each: Reading Together, Reading by Yourself and Fluent Reader, and aims to help parents choose great books which children will love. Richard and Judy are working alongside Booktrust, an independent charity which aims to encourage people of all ages and cultures to enjoy books. For further information log on to www.whsmith.co.uk/richardandjudy

New Non-fiction Award
The School Library Association has launched the Information Book Award for non-fiction designed to support school libraries and emphasise the importance of non-fiction. The shortlist will be announced in July and the winners announced in November. The Award, which will be judged by school librarians and by a member of Peters Bookselling Service, is sponsored by Hachette.