Spring 2024 Book Awards Round-Up
There has been a lot of awards activity and announcements this spring in the Canadian kidlit world. We’ve decided to do a round-up of the most recent announcements—including award winners and honour books.
IODE Jean Throop Book Award
On April 20 at their annual meeting in Goderich, Ontario, IODE Ontario announced the winner of the 2024 IODE Jean Throop Award. Established in 1974 by IODE Toronto Education Officer Jean Throop to encourage excellence in Canadian children’s literature, the annual prize is awarded to an author and/or illustrator who resides in Ontario. Odd Couples: A Guide to Unlikely Animal Parts, written by Maria Birmingham, illustrated by Raz Lati (Owlkids Books) took home the honour. For the complete list of finalists, click here.
Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards
The winners of the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Awards (MYRCA) were announced on April 26 at the Gas Station Arts Centre Theatre in Winnipeg. Manitoba’s young readers have the opportunity to vote for their favourite Canadian book in two categories—the MYRCA Sundogs for Grades 4-6 and the MYRCA Northern Lights for Grades 7-9. The winners and honour book are listed below.
MYRCA Sundogs (Grades 4-6)
Apartment 713, written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester (HarperCollins Publisher)
HONOUR BOOK
Hidden on the High Wire, written by Kathy Kacer (Second Story Press)
MYRCA Northern Lights (Grades 7-9)
Echoes and Empires, written by Morgan Rhodes (Razorbill)
HONOUR BOOK
Scout is Not a Band Kid, written and illustrated by Jade Armstrong (RH Graphic)
Saskatchewan Book Awards
On May 3, 175 guests gathered at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre in Regina for the 31st Saskatchewan Book Awards. The event, hosted by Saskatchewan Library Association President James Hope Howard, celebrated the Saskatchewan literary community. Awards were handed our in 13 categories including children’s literature. Air Ronge author-illustrator Miriam Körner took home the honour for her picture book Fox and Bear (Red Deer Press). For the complete list of finalists, click here.
The Doug Wright Awards
Held in conjunction with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, the winners of the 20th Doug Wright Awards were announced on May 11 at Toronto’s Arts & Letters Club. Otis & Peanut by Naseem Hrab and illustrator Kelly Collier (Owlkids Books) won The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for Best Kids’ Book. The awards, founded in 2005, celebrate excellence in the field of Canadian comics and are named for cartoonist Doug Wright (1917–1983). For a complete list of finalists, click here.
Forest of Reading
A project of the Ontario Library Association, the Forest of Reading is Canada’s largest recreational reading program offering 10 reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. More than 270,000 readers participate annually from their school and/or public library. From May 14-16, the winners and honour books in the six English-language youth categories were announced. The three French-language awards were announced the following week on May 22. The winner of the Evergreen Award, for adult audiences, will be announced at a later date. The winners and honour books in the youth categories are listed below.
Blue Spruce Award
Benny the Bananasaurus Rex, written by Sarabeth Holden, illustrated by Emma Pederson (Inhabit Media)
HONOUR BOOKS
Cocoa Magic, written by Sandra Bradley, illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard (Pajama Press)
How to Party Like a Snail, written by Naseem Hrab, illustrated by Kelly Collier (Owlkids Books)
Silver Birth Express
Rock? Plant? Animal? How Nature Keeps Us Guessing, written by Etta Kaner, illustrated by Brittany Lane (Owlkids Books)
HONOUR BOOKS
Deep, Deep Down: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench, written by Lydia Lukidis, illustrated by Juan Calle Velez (Capstone Editions)
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)
Silver Birch Fiction Award
Apartment 713, written and illustrated by Kevin Sylvester (HarperCollins Publishers)
HONOUR BOOKS
PAWS: Mindy Makes Some Space, written by Nathan Fairbairn, illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn (Razorbill)
Swept Away: Ruth Mornay and the Unwanted Clues, written by Natalie Hyde (DCB Young Readers)
Yellow Cedar Award
Animal Eyes: How Creatures See and How Their Eyes Have Adapted to Their World, written by Françoise Vulpé (Firefly Books)
HONOUR BOOKS
IsThisAnOlogy?, written by Amanda Bulman and Ruth Lawrence, illustrated by Leon Chung (Breakwater Books)
The Raven Mother, written by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson), illustrated by Natasha Donovan (HighWater Press)
Red Maple Award
The Fort, written by Gordon Korman (Scholastic Canada)
HONOUR BOOKS
The Last Saxon King, written by Andrew Varga (Imbrifex Books)
Squire, written by Nadia Shammas, illustrated by Sara Alfageeh (Quill Tree Books)
White Pine Award
Pieces of Me, written by Kate McLaughlin (St. Martin’s Press)
HONOUR BOOKS
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow, written by Zoulfa Katouh (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Only This Beautiful Moment, written by Abdi Nazemian (Balzer + Bray)
Prix Peuplier
L'oiseau rouge, written and illustrated by Élodie Duhameau (Éditions Les 400 coups)
HONOUR BOOKS
C'est mon corps !, written and illustrated by Elise Gravel (Éditions Scholastic)
Pas de chevaux dans la maison ! La vie audacieuse de l’artiste Rosa Bonheur, written by Mireille Messier, illustrated by Anna Bron (Orca Book Publishers)
Prix Mélèze
La chambre numéro 7, written by Martine Latulippe, illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant (La courte échelle)
HONOUR BOOKS
Alerte : culottes meurtrières ! Fausses nouvelles, désinformation et théories du complot, written and illustrated by Elise Gravel (Éditions Scholastic)
Mina et sa bête, written and illustrated by Caroline Merola (La courte échelle)
Prix Tamarac
As-tu peur du loup ?, written by Véronique Drouin, illustrated by Lucille Danis Drouot (Bayard Canada)
HONOUR BOOKS
La balance du vide, written by Julien Leclerc (Héritage jeunesse)
Zipolaris : La nuit des morloups, written by J.L. Blanchard (Fides)
To see all of the nominated list, click here.
Chocolate Lily Book Awards
The winners of the BC’s 2024 Chocolate Lily Book Awards—one of two young readers’ choice awards in the province—were announced on May 17. In its 21st year, the goal of the program is to celebrate BC author and illustrators, as well as promote literacy. The prize is awarded in three categories: picture books, chapter books/early novels and novels. This year’s winners are listed below.
Picture Books (K-Grade 4)
The Flamingo, written and illustrated by Guojing (Random House Studio)
Chapter Books/Early Novels (Grades 2-4)
PAWS: Gabby Gets It Together, written by Nathan Fairbairn, illustrated by Michele Assarasakorn (Razorbill)
Novels (Grades 4-7)
Rescue, written by Marie Etchell (Red Deer Press)
For a complete list of finalists, click here.
Willow Awards
Also known as the Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Award (SYRCA), the Willow Awards promote reading and celebrate Canadian literature. Each year, Saskatchewan children and youth vote for Willow Award recipients from finalists nominated in three award categories. The three categories were established to encourage participation by all children, regardless of their reading level. The Shining Willow Award is for books written for young readers; the Diamond Willow Award is for books written for upper elementary readers in Grades 4 to 6; and the Snow Willow Award is for books written for readers in Grades 7 and up.
The 2023 winners were announced on May 24 at the SaskEnergy Willow Awards Gala at JP Gillen School in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan.
Shining Willow Award
The Wolf Suit, written and illustrated by Sid Sharp (Annick Press)
Diamond Willow Award
Taking the Ice, written by Lorna Schultz Nicholson (Scholastic Canada)
Snow Willow Award
Operation Do-Over, written by Gordon Korman (Scholastic Canada)
For the complete list of finalists, click here. To find out who’s nominated for the 2024 program, click here.
Crime Writers of Canada Awards
Since 1984, Crime Writers of Canada has recognized the best in mystery, crime, suspense fiction, and crime non-fiction by Canadian authors. The 2024 winners—including the Best Juvenile/YA Crime Book—were announced on May 29. Sponsored by Shaftesbury Films, Cherie Dimaline was awarded the $500 prize for her novel Funeral Songs for Dying Girls (Tundra Books). For the complete list of finalists, click here.
Prince Edward Island Book Awards
The 2024 PEI Book Awards were presented on May 30 at Charlottetown Library Learning Centre. Since 2006, the Prince Edward Island Book Awards have celebrated the best in books by Prince Edward Islanders. Awards are given in four categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and children's literature. Presented biennially, the awards are sponsors for the Department of Education and Early Years. This year, the children’s literature prize was awarded to Angel Jendrick for her coming-of-age novel Secret Me (Lorimer).
Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award
The winners of the 2023-2024 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award were announced on May 31 at the Paul O’Regan Hall of Halifax Central Library. Across Atlantic Canada, children in Grades 4-6 read from the shortlist of 40 titles (20 French and 20 English) and vote for their favourite in each category. The winners are listed below.
English-language Non-Fiction
How to High Tea with a Hyena (And Not Get Eaten), written by Rachel Poliquin and illustrated by Kathryn Durst (Tundra Books)
English-language Fiction
AWOL, written and illustrated by Marla Lesage (Orca Book Publisher)
French-language Non-Fiction (tied)
Raconte-moi : Nick Suzuki, written by par Joanie Godin (Boomerang)
L’histoire du cinéma en BD : L’apogée du mime, written by Philippe Lemieux, illustrated by Garry (Éditions Michel Quintin)
French-language Fiction (tied)
La fin du monde est pour demain, written by André Marois (Bayard Canada)
Le mystère de la tarte aux pommes, written by Laïla Heloua and Corinne De Vailly, illustrated by Sabrina Gendron (Boomerang)
Un bisou coquelicot, written by Marie-France Comeau, illustrated by Jean-Luc Trudel (Bouton d’or Acadie)
A complete list of the 2024/2025 nominated titles can be found at hackmatack.ca.
New Brunswick Book Awards
The winners of the New Brunswick Book Awards were announced on June 1 as part of the Writers Federation of New Brunswick’s annual WordSpring writing festival in Moncton. The evening celebrated books published in the 2023 calendar year in the categories of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and children’s picture books. Sara O’Leary’s The Little Books of the Litte Brontës, illustrated by Briony May Smith (Tundra Books) was awarded the Alice Kitts Memorial Award for Excellence in Children’s Writing. For the complete list of finalists, click here.
Red Cedar Book Awards
Organized by British Columbia’s Young Readers’ Choice Awards Society, the fiction and non-fiction winners of the Red Cedar Book Awards were announced on June 3. The goal of the program is to encourage students in Grades 4-7 to read more, to create an awareness of Canadian books and authors, and to develop a reader’s ability to judge published works. Kevin Sylvester took home the fiction honour for his novel Apartment 713 (HarperCollins Publishers), with the non-fiction prize being awarded to Anna Rosner for My Left Skate: The Extraordinary Story of Eliezer Sherbatov (Yellow Dog).
Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature
At the Atlantic Book Awards Gala on June 5, author-illustrator Jack Wong won the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature for his picture book The Words We Share. The annual $5,000 prize, which alternates between children's and young adult each year, celebrates outstanding contributions to writing for Atlantic Canadian young people. For the complete list of finalists, click here.
Alberta Literary Awards
The Writers’ Guild of Alberta announced the winners of the 2024 Alberta Literary Awards at an in-person gala in Edmonton on June 8. The event brought together authors from across Alberta. Middle-grade author Dee Hahn was awarded the R. Ross Annett Award for Children’s Literature for her debut novel The Grave Thief (Puffin Canada). For the complete list of finalists in the youth category, click here.
Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards
On June 12, the Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Foundation announced the winners of the 2024 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards. Two prizes of $6,000 each are awarded annually—Children’s Picture Book and Young Adult/Middle Reader. The winners were selected by two juries of young readers at John English Junior Middle School in Toronto, Ontario. The Children’s Picture Book prize was awarded to Innu author Melissa Mollen Dupuis and illustrator Elise Gravel for their book Nutshimit: In the Woods (Scholastic Canada). Author Kevin Sands took home the Young Adult/Middle Reader prize for his novel The Raven’s Revenge (Aladdin), the sixth and final instalment in the Blackthorn Key series. For a complete list of finalists, visit arts.on.ca.
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