FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 13, 2020: IBBY Canada (International Board on Books for Young People, Canadian section) is pleased to announce that author Angèle Delaunois and illustrator Sydney Smith are Canada’s nominees for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Awards.

Bestowed biennially, the Hans Christian Andersen Awards are internationally recognized as the highest honour for creators of children’s and youth literature. The Andersen Awards, known as the “little Nobel,” were established in 1956 to recognize authors and illustrators around the world whose complete works have made a lasting and significant contribution to children’s literature.

Author nominee Angèle Delaunois has 100 books to her credit with several publishers in Quebec and Europe. She is the founder and director of Éditions de l’Isatis. Her books have been translated into more than ten languages and received prestigious honours including the Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature — Text, which she won for Variations sur un même «t’aime» in 1998.
“For more than 35 years, Angèle Delaunois has written and published myriad books for children, many translated into different languages. Her creative process is quite versatile: she writes nonfiction, picture books, novels and more,” said IBBY Canada’s nomination committee co-chair Nicholas Aumais. “Many of her books are punctuated by cultural and social issues and represent children from around the world, and with each new book she has the talent to target the vocabulary to its intended readers. Angèle Delaunois is a teacher, publisher and author whose impressive literary production makes her the perfect candidate to represent IBBY Canada for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award.” A select list of Delaunois’s books follows.

Illustrator nominee Sydney Smith’s picture books have received wide critical acclaim in Canada and abroad, having been translated into 20 languages and garnered many honours. He has twice won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature — Illustrated Books: for Small in the City in 2019 and Sidewalk Flowers in 2015, a book that also had 4,000 copies distributed to Syrian refugee families in Canada through a special project with IBBY Canada and the Department of Canadian Heritage. In 2018, he was awarded CILIP’s Kate Greenaway Medal for Town Is by the Sea.

“Sydney Smith is recognized internationally for his outstanding body of work,” said IBBY Canada’s nomination committee co-chair Lesley Clement. “Readers, critics and jurors commend his artwork for its uncanny ability to reflect the world through the perspectives of young people and to celebrate their resilience and fortitude when challenged by an antagonistic world.” A select list of Smith’s books follows.

Each of the International Board on Books for Young People’s more than 70 national sections is invited to nominate candidates for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards. An international jury of distinguished children’s literature specialists selects the winners. Nominees are evaluated on qualities of their work including aesthetic and literary merit, the ability to stretch children’s curiosity and imagination, diversity of expression, and the continued relevance of the works to children and young people. The Awards will be presented at the IBBY Congress in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in September 2022.

IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People (www.ibby.org), was founded in 1953. It is a network of organizations in 79 countries committed to bringing books and children together. IBBY Canada, established in 1980 (www.ibby-canada.org), is a volunteer organization promoting quality French and English Canadian children’s literature nationally and internationally. For more information, please visit www.ibby-canada.org.

For more information about the awards and IBBY Canada’s nominations, please contact:

Allison MacLachlan
Promotions Officer, IBBY Canada
promotions@ibby-canada.org

A selection of books written by Angèle Delaunois
Les enfants de l’eau
Une petite bouteille jaune
Le grand voyage de monsieur Caca
Kissou
Une simple histoire d’amour
Les livres de Madame Sacoche
Venus d’ailleurs
Quatre héroïnes sur un fil
Parce que je t’aime
Aimer…

A selection of books illustrated by Sydney Smith
I Talk Like a River
Small in the City
Sidewalk Flowers
Town Is by the Sea
The White Cat and the Monk
Music is for Everyone
Inkling
Smoot: A Rebellious Shadow
Canada Year by Year
Grant and Tillie Go Walking