Papertigers.org | June 2009 | Children's Book Awards

Interview w/ Book Award Committee Chair/Coordinator

Américas Award Coordinator, Julie Kline; Asian/Pacific American Award Committe Chair, Dora Ho; and Jane Addams Award Committee Chair, Susan C. Griffith tell us about the history of these book prizes; this year's selection process; and give their opinions on ethnic book awards...


	Winner of the 2008 Noma Concours Grand Prize, illustrator Wen Hsu reveals how her own mixed heritage has influenced her art and gives us a fascinating "sneak peak" at her many projects, both in her interview and in her gallery feature...

Prolific and prize- winning children's author and illustrator Meshack Asare shares a sample of his art and talks about his books and the prestigious awards they have received...


	Renowned artist Allen Say, whom PaperTigers has nominated for the 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, takes us on a journey through a selection of his prize-winning books...

The Surrender Tree

written by Margarita Engle (Henry Holt, 2008)

The 2009 winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, the Pura Belpré Award, and the Américas Award, among others, and also named a Newbery honor book, Margarita Engle’s ambitious novel in verse, The Surrender Tree, uses five narrators to tell the sad and little-known story of Cuba’s many wars toward independence during the second half of the 19th century...


			June 2009 Welcome to the current issue of PaperTigers, focusing on Children's Book Awards. Astrid Lindgren, whose Memorial Award is among the most prestigious in the world, once said: "Somewhere inside the secret rooms of the soul a child, alone with a book, creates personal images that surpass everything else. Such images are necessary for human beings. The day that children's imaginations no longer have the energy to create them will be the day when the human race becomes poor. All the big things that happened in the world happened first in the imagination of one person, and how the world of tomorrow will look depends largely on the measure of imaginative power in the minds of those who right now are learning how to read. That is why children need books." Her powerful words leave no doubt as to the importance of children's books... But how do we find the best books, if we can't read them all? That's one of the reasons why we need book awards. Our newly-added features highlight prize-winning books, book creators, and the many awards that honor them and help the shining light of great stories reach near and far... Enjoy! Personal Views: Ethnic Book Awards: Discriminatory or Necessary? by Mitali Perkins Cultural Hybridity in Literature and Life by Malathi MIchelle Iyengar Book Awards: And the winner is... the reader! by Aline Pereira Interview reprint: Cristy Burne, winner of the inaugural Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children's Book Award, speaks to Geraldine Brennan, one of the award's judges. Book Reviews: Make sure to read PaperTigers' new reviews of award-winning books, and to enjoy the new additions from our Canadian reviews source, Resource Links... Lists & Links: These links to award-related resources and booklists from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, as well as some international ones, should help you discover the vast world of children's book prizes. Explore and enjoy!

On the PaperTigers blog you will find our current and past themes unpacked and expanded, as well as news and views on multicultural and international books, world literacy, bedtime stories, children's literature events, and more...Come and join our ongoing conversation!


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