The Guardian Prize for children’s fiction has announced its shortlist:

Mr. Gum and the Biscuit Billionaire by Andy Stanton

The Truth Sayer by Sally Prue

The Falconer’s Knot by Mary Hoffman

Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine

I haven’t read a single one of them.  Anyone else have any reactions?

The award winner will be announced on October 5th.

The Quill Winners have been announced. 

Children’s Picture Book:  Flotsam by David Wiesner

Children’s Chapter/Middle Grade:  The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

Young Adult/Teen:  Sold by Patricia McCormick

Now it is your turn to vote for The Book of the Year. 

The British Booktrust Teenage Prize has announced their 2007 Shortlist. 

The Medici Seal by Theresa Breslin

Leaving Poppy by Kate Cann

The Penalty by Mal Peet

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

Just in Case by Meg Rosoff

My Swordhand Is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick

The 2007 Crichton Award for Children’s Book Illustration has been announced by The Children’s Book Council of Australia. 

Winner:  When Elephants Lived in the Sea illustrated by Vincent Agostino

Shortlisted:  Automaton illustrated by Aaron Hill and Clancy the Courageous Cow illustrated by Lachie Hume

The Children’s Book Council of Australia has awarded their Children’s Book of the Year for 2007.  They give an award in several age groups.

Older Readers:

Winner:  Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan

Honor:  Monster Blood Tattoo by D. M. Cornish and The Red Shoe by Ursula Dubosarsky.

Younger Readers:

Winner:  Being Bee by Catherine Bateson

Honor:  The Tuckshop Kid by Pat Flynn and Bird & Sugar Boy by Sofie Laguna

Early Childhood:

Winner:  Amy & Louis by Libby Gleeson

Honor:  Doodledum Dancing by Meredith Costain and Chatterbox by Margaret Wild

Picture Book:

Winner:  The Arrival by Tan Shaun

Honor:  The Rainbirds by Sally Rippin and Woolvs in the Sitee by Anne Spudvilas

Eve Pownall Award for Information Books:

Winner:  The Penguin Book: Birds in Suits by Mark Norman

Honor:  Red haze by Leon Davidson and Queenie: one elephant’s story by Corinne Fenton

The finalists for the Quills have been announced.  Each category will have a single winner decided by a board of 6,000 booksellers and librarians.  The category winners will be announced in mid-September.  Then the public will get the chance to vote for the overall winner of all categories.

Of course the categories of interest to me are the ones for children and teens.  Here are the lists of nominees:

Children’s Picture Books

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey

Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O’Connor

Flotsam by David Wiesner (My top pick!)

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett (My second to the top pick)

Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff

Children’s Chapter/Middle Grade

Clementine by Sara Pennypacker (YES!)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (one of my son’s favorites of the year)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (one of my favorites of the year, and my top pick)

Pick Me Up by Jeremy Leslie

The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan

Young Adult/Teen

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (YES!)

The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages

Incantation by Alice Hoffman (one of my favorites of last year)

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Sold by Patricia McCormick (my top pick)

It’s a very nice selection of great books.  What are your favorites?

VOYA has put some of its August 2007 issue’s content online.  One that you must take a look at is their Nonfiction Honor List for 2006.  Nonfiction is one of the areas that I feel very uncomfortable reviewing unless it is poetry or something that I am familiar with.  So often nonfiction is about things that I am just discovering, that I feel I can’t really check for how accurate it is.  Hence my love of lists like this.

VOYA only does middle school and up, so remember many of these may be edgy and very teen oriented. 

Note:  This is a pdf file, so patience may be required while it loads.

YALSA (the Young Adult Library Services Association) announced a new award for first-time authors writing for teens called the William C. Morris YA Debut Award.  The award can be given to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, short stories or graphic novels, but the author must not have published in any format before.  Sweet!  A whole new award to speculate about, and even better, this one will get everyone reading new authors.

Philip Pullman has won the Carnegie of Carnegies where people had the chance to vote for their favorite Carnegie winner.  This was done in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Carnegie Awards.  Pullman’s Northern Lights (known in the US as The Golden Compass) got 40% of the total votes. 

Here are the titles that were in contention:

Skellig by David Almond (1998)
Junk by Melvin Burgess (1996)
Storm by Kevin Crossley-Holland (1985)
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (2003)
The Owl Service by Alan Garner (1967)
The Family From One End Street by Eve Garnett (1937)
The Borrowers by Mary Norton (1952)
Tom’s Midnight Garden Philiby ppa Pearce (1958)
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (1995)