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Award-Winning Books

English Titles

Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award
(Canadian Library Association)
For best illustrations.
Gifts
Jo Ellen Bogart
Illustrations: Barbara Reid
Richmond Hill, Ont.: Scholastic Canada, 1996, ©1994, 31p.
ISBN 0590249355
Ages 3 to 8
Available in French: Cadeaux
(Richmond Hill, Ont.: Éditions Scholastic, 1995)
Cover reproduced by permission of Scholastic Canada Ltd.

When grandma returns from her travels, she brings wonderful gifts back to her granddaughter: "a baobob seed", "the whirr of a hummingbird's wing", "a long white hair from a polar bear", and, of course, the most important gift of all. With each trip, grandma grows a little older; the granddaughter a little bigger. Their love remains steadfast and true. The remarkable plasticine illustrations breathe life into the sparse but lively text (written in rhyme), providing the details, the drama, and the atmosphere of foreign lands and capturing the carefree, loving relationship between the two main characters.


Ann Connor-Brimer Award
(The Nova Scotia Library Association)
For best book by an Atlantic author.
Mabel Murple
Sheree Fitch
Illustrations: Maryann Kovalski
Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 1995, 24 p.
ISBN 0385254806
Ages 4 to 10
From Mabel Murple, copyright Sheree Fitch (text), copyright 1995 Maryann Kovalski (illustrations). Reproduced with the permission of Doubleday Canada Limited.

A little girl is quietly soaking in the tub when she asks herself, "What if...There was a purple planet / With purple people in it / Would those purple people play / Whatever purple way they wanted?" So begins this rollicking romp through the zany land of purple, where Mabel Murple (who else?) rides a purple motorbike, skis down purple slopes, and rests in a purple bed. The cartoon-like illustrations, drawn with a predominantly purple palate, explode across the page with humour and vitality. They are a perfect complement to the spunky, quirky verse which is used to tell the story. This is a delightful picture book -- not to be missed.


Arthur Ellis Awards
Children's Fiction
(The Crime Writers of Canada)
For best juvenile mystery novel.
Torn Away
James Heneghan
New York: Viking, 1994, 185 p.
ISBN 0670851809
Ages 11 to 14
When his mother and sister are killed in a Belfast bomb explosion, rage and grief drive 13-year-old Declan Doyle to join the "Holy Terrors", a gang of Catholic youth who commit petty acts of violence against the occupying "Brits". His brief foray in terrorism ends when he is arrested and sent to live with his uncle in B.C. "Torn away" from his home and his hope for revenge, Declan is determined to hate his new life, but he agrees to give it a try when his uncle promises that he can return home if, in four months, he is still not settled. Meanwhile Declan must weigh his grim aspirations against his new experience of living in peace.


Book of the Year for Children Award
(Canadian Library Association)
For best text.
Summer of the Mad Monk
Cora Taylor
Vancouver: Greystone Books, Douglas & McIntyre, 1995, ©1994, 145 p.
ISBN 1550544578
Ages 10 to 14
Summer of the Mad Monk. Copyright 1994 by Cora Taylor. Cover illustration by Jack McMaster. A Greystone Book/Douglas & McIntyre. Cover reproduced by permission of Douglas & McIntyre Ltd.

With dust and hard times blowing through his family's farm in depression-era Alberta, 12-year-old Pip is happy to forget his hunger pains and let his imagination roam free in the intriguing world of books. But a book about the Russian Revolution really sets his mind ablaze when he begins to suspect that a key figure from this dramatic event has escaped from Russia and taken refuge right here in his sleepy little town. Could Raspinsky, the mysterious Russian blacksmith, really be Rasputin, the notorious Mad Monk and confidant of the Tsar's family?

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Date Created: 2001-05-29
Date Modified: 2002-09-25

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