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Denotes that the book is either a translation or is available in translation.
Denotes an award-winning book with a family theme.
AMELIA FRANCES HOWARD-GIBBON AWARD
(Canadian Library Association)
For best illustrations.
Julie Lawson
Illustrations: Paul Morin
Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1992
32 p. ISBN 0195408438
Ages 6 to 9.
For Xiao Sheng, who lives in the "faraway days of cloud-breathing dragons", every day is the same. He supports his mother and himself by working from dawn to dusk cutting grass to sell for fuel or fodder. There is no time to fish or swim. One day, after a drought has forced him to travel farther than usual to find grass, he finds a pearl that magically reproduces everything it comes in contact with. Now, with a pot overflowing with rice, another with oil, and a box filled with gold coins, Xiao Sheng has time to play and dream by the river. He and his mother share their good fortune with their neighbours and all is well until two men try to rob them of the pearl. In desperation Xiao Sheng puts the pearl in his mouth and accidentally swallows it. Transformed into a dragon, Xiao Sheng causes it to rain and then disappears beneath the surface of the river. For the rest of her life, his mother goes to the river to talk with him and watches for him every spring "when dragons rise up from the rivers and breathe clouds to rain upon the earth".
The rich award-winning illustrations are painted in earth tones. The compositions involve cropping, interesting angles and close-ups more often used in photography. The Oriental motif making up the borders of each page is a design element in keeping with the book's Chinese setting.
Reproduced with the permission of Stoddart Publishing Co. Limited, Don Mills, Ont. M3B 2T6
BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR CHILDREN AWARD
(Canadian Library Association)
For best text.
Celia Barker Lottridge
Illustrations: Wendy Wolsak-Frith
Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre/A Groundwood Book, 1992
144 p. ISBN 0888991630
Ages 8 to 12.
Experience pioneer life on the prairies in 1915. This is the story of Sam Ferrier and his family as they struggle through their first year in the Alberta wilderness. They have many obstacles to surmount: the great distance to school and the lack of friends nearby to play with as well as a new friend who speaks no English. However, they overcome them one by one as they become settlers.
The pencil sketches attempt to capture the vast emptiness of the prairies and the large expanse of sky.
Ticket to Curlew Copyright © 1992 by Celia Barker Lottridge. Cover art by Wendy Wolsak-Frith. Douglas & McIntyre/A Groundwood Book.
ELIZABETH MRAZIK-CLEAVER PICTURE BOOK AWARD
(International Board on Books for Young People)
For best illustrations.
Barbara Reid
Richmond Hill, Ont.: North Winds Press, 1992
29 p. ISBN 0590736566
Ages 3 to 7.
Barbara Reid has done it again! The Noah's Ark theme is delightfully brought to life with her usual humour and attention to detail. Children will love pointing out all the plasticine animals packed into these pages as the male and female wander, two by two, through this well-known and ageless story.
Copyright © 1992 by Barbara Reid. Reproduced by permission of Scholastic Canada Ltd.
GEOFFREY BILSON AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION FOR YOUNG
PEOPLE
(Canadian Children's Book Centre)
Best historical fiction book.
Celia Barker Lottridge
Illustrations: Wendy Wolsak-Frith
Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre/A Groundwood Book, 1992
144 p. ISBN 0888991630
Ages 8 to 12.
Experience pioneer life on the prairies in 1915. This is the story of Sam Ferrier and his family as they struggle through their first year in the Alberta wilderness. They have many obstacles to surmount: the great distance to school and the lack of friends nearby to play with as well as a new friend who speaks no English. However, they overcome them one by one as they become settlers.
The pencil sketches attempt to capture the vast emptiness of the prairies and the large expanse of sky.
Ticket to Curlew Copyright © 1992 by Celia Barker Lottridge. Cover art by Wendy Wolsak-Frith. Douglas & McIntyre/A Groundwood Book.
GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD/CHILDREN'S
LITERATURE
(The Canada Council)
For best text.
Tim Wynne-Jones
Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 1993
136 p. ISBN 0888991924
Ages 10 to 14.
This collection of nine stories looks at the world from the point of view of kids—children like Harriet, who is worried about her science project and Tobias, who has to write a very special essay. Then there's Cluny who has started a magazine for people with unusual names and Sloane whose little brother Todd re-lives an adventure from Sloane's past. It also offers a little Canadian history in a story about an 1867 discovery.
Some of the Kinder Planets Copyright © 1993 by Tim Wynne-Jones. Cover art by Alina Gavrielatos. Douglas & McIntyre.