Mystery Writers of America Announces 2006 ‘Edgar’ Winners and the winners for teen and juvenile are:
Best Juvenile: The Boys of San Joaquin by D. James Smith
Best YA: Last Shot by John Feinstein

The 2006 Shortlist for Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards has been announced. One award is given to picture books and the other for a yound adult or middle book. The award winners are selected by two juries of schoolchildren. Here are the titles that made the shortlist:
Picture Books
* Caramba written and illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay
* Forever: The Annual Hockey Classic written by Roy MacGregor, illustrated by Brian Deines
* Gretzky’s Game written by Mike Leonetti, illustrated by Greg Banning
* The Nutcracker written by Karen Kain, illustrated by Rajka Kupesic
* Shi-shi-etko written by Nicola I. Campbell, illustrated by Kim LaFave
Young Adult/Middle Reader Books
* Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last by Susan Juby
* The Crazy Man by Pamela Porter
* The Gravesavers by Sheree Fitch
* Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel
* Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai

The short list for The Children’s Book of the Year Awards from The Children’s Book Council of Australia has been announced. 

Older Readers:

Burke, J. C.        The Story of Tom Brennan
Caswell, Brian    Double Exposure
Condon, Bill       No Worries
Crowley, Cath    Chasing Charlie Duskin
Jonsberg, Barry     It’s Not All About You, Calma!
Moloney, James      Lost Property           

Younger Readers:

Bateson, Catherine   Millie and the Night Heron
Fensham, Elizabeth   Helicopter Man
Flynn, Pat     To the Light
Gleitzman, Morris   Once
Godwin, Jane   The True Story of Mary: Who wanted to stand on her head
Jennings, Paul   How Hedley Hopkins Did a Dare, Robbed a Grave, Made a New Friend Who Might Not Have Really Been There at All, and While He Was at It Committed a Terrible Sin Which Everyone Was Doing Even Though He Didn’t Know It

Early Childhood:

Bourke, Nike   What the Sky Knows
Dubosarsky, Ursula   Rex
Matthews, Cecily   Emily’s Rapunzel Hair
Niland, Deborah   Annie’s Chair
Shanahan, Lisa   Daddy’s Having a Horse
Watts, Frances   Kisses for Daddy

Picture Book:

Crossett, Warren   The Sound of the Sea
Danalis, Stella     What the Sky Knows
Lissiat, Amy   The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley
Riddle, Tohby   Irving the Magician
Sheehan, Peter   The Island
Winch, John      Run, Hare, Run! The story of a drawing

Canada has a new children’s book award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award that will be given out annually starting this November.  To be considered for the award, the picture books must be written in English, targetted at readers age 3 to 6, written and illustrated by Canadians, and be published first in Canada. 

Margaret Mahy wins world’s top children’s book prize is great news! The award is given by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and honors an author who has made a “lasting contribution to international children’s literature.”
Mahy is a New Zealand author who writes two distinct types of books. She writes books for older children and teens that are dark, frightening and completely magical. She also writes zany picture books and chapter books for younger readers that have crazy pirates, silliness and pure fun.
She is one of my favorite authors for both types of books. What an achievement to be able to write such different books and to be so great at both! If you haven’t read Mahy’s work or haven’t read one type or the other, she is definitely worth the time.

BBC News reports that EH Shepard, the illustrator of the Winnie the Pooh books, disliked that his illustrations for a children’s book overshadowed the political cartoons he dedicated his life to.  I am not sure I agree with the title of the article, “The man who hated Pooh.”  But I am sure Shepard was frustrated by the huge response to a side project and the fact that he and Milne did not get along.  Yet no one can deny that those line drawings are a large part of the success of “that silly old bear” and that they are as beloved or even more beloved than Milne’s dancing words. 

Golly, I’ve got to dig out my copy of When We Were Very Young and read some poems.  This article has got me wanting to read those books once again. 

Katherine Paterson has won the 2006 Astrid Lingren Memorial Award which is given for lifetime achievement in children’s literature.  How wonderful!  She certainly deserves it for books like Bridge to Terabithia, The Great Gilly Hopkins, Lyddie, and Jacob Have I Loved, and those are only my personal favorites.  Her body of work is simply amazing. 

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has announced a brand new award for young adult science fiction and fantasy novels!  The award is named the Andre Norton Award and will be given for the first time later this year in conjunction with the Nebula Awards.  Any book published as a young adult science fiction or fantasy book is eligible, including graphic novels. 

The CILIP Carnegie Medal has released its long list of nominees. This will later be amended to a short list, but it is always fun to see what British books are catching the eye of award panels. This set of books are for the 2005 award which is awarded in 2006. Some of the titles will be familiar to American readers, but others are complete surprises.