It was a wonderful night! On October 29 the 2018 TD Children’s Literature Awards Gala celebrated the best in Canadian children’s books. The TD prize for most distinguished books of the year was awarded to writer Joanne Schwartz and illustrator Sydney Smith for their stunning book Town is by the Sea. You can learn about all the finalists here find all the winners here.
The CCBC and TD Bank Group worked with CBC Books to present the Fan Choice Award. The CBC’s Fan Choice Contest invited readers between the ages of five and 12 years old from across Canada to cast a vote for the book they thought should win the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award — Canada’s richest prize for kids lit. The book that received the most votes was Picture the Sky. I was surprised speechless!
I did perform an impromptu happy dance, but here are a few of the words I wished to say: ALL of the creators of the nominated and winning books have made stories celebrating connections of one kind or another – to family, place, traditions, and emotions, as well as recognizing broken connections and helping to mend them. Tremendous thanks to TD Canada Trust, trust, CBC Books, The Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Scholastic Canada and the inspiring Canadian children’s literature community for helping to further connect these stories with young readers. And thank you young readers! It’s a great honour to create for this audience. Congratulations all round, and happy reading. Now, back to dancing…
