Toronto, May 16, 2024 – Today, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) and the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) released the shortlists for the 2024 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards. The Schwartz Awards are the only Canadian literary award where student juries work together to choose the winning books.
Student juries from John English Junior Middle School in Toronto, Ontario will debate the shortlisted books and come to a consensus on the 2024 winners. The winning books will be announced at an event in June.
ABOUT THIS YEAR’S SHORTLIST
The 2024 shortlists feature Canadian authors and illustrators from across the country, working in a variety of literary and artistic styles. The Children’s Picture Book category features stories that contemplate vast landscapes – the richness and diversity of the natural world that inhabits these spaces, and also how networks of belonging and remembering teach us respect for ourselves, others and the planet. The Young Adult / Middle Reader category features stories that navigate difficult themes, including grief, social exclusion and mental illness. The young protagonists all journey through personal struggles to understand their place in the world – worlds that include breathless adventure, spirit guides, deadly scavenger hunts, rousing swordplay, first love and the apocalypse.
CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK AWARD CATEGORY | |
| A Tulip in Winter: A Story About Folk Artist Maud Lewis by Kathy Stinson (Rockwood, Ont.) illustrations by Lauren Soloy (Bridgetown, N.S.) Greystone Kids |
| Do You Remember? |
| Nutshimit: In the Woods |
| Skating Wild on an Inland Sea |
 | The Little Green Envelope
|
YOUNG ADULT / MIDDLE READER | |
| Something More |
| Swept Away: Ruth Mornay and the Unwanted Clues |
| The Probability of Everything |
| Raven’s Revenge |
 | Visions of the Crow, Dreams, Vol. 1
|
ABOUT THE RUTH AND SYLVIA SCHWARTZ CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS
The two awards, of $6,000 each are presented annually to recognize artistic excellence in writing and illustration in English-language Canadian children’s literature. The winners are selected by two juries of young readers, this year comprising students at John English Junior Middle School. Five students in grade 4 will select the recipient(s) of the Children’s Picture Book Award. Five students in grade 8 will select the recipient of the Young Adult / Middle Reader Award.
LEARN MORE
The Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards were established in 1976 by Sylvia Schwartz in memory of her sister, Ruth Schwartz, a respected Toronto bookseller. In 2004, the family renamed the awards to honour both sisters. The Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) administers the awards with the support of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC), which manages the nomination and jury process.
The nomination committee that chose this year’s shortlist consisted of Alexandra Byers (Co-owner Furby House Books, Port Hope and Public Librarian at Cobourg Public Library), and Cherisse Tullett (Teacher-librarian at Jesse Ketchum Junior and Senior Public School, Toronto).
Click here to see the complete list of past laureates
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MEDIA INQUIRIES
Shoshana Wasser, Associate Director of Public Affairs and Communications, OAC
swasser@arts.on.ca
ONTARIO ARTS FOUNDATION INQUIRIES
Bruce Bennett, Executive Director, OAF
bbennett@oafdn.ca
The Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2022-2023, the OAF paid $4 million in endowment income and $450,000 in awards and scholarships.
For 60 years, the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts and artists for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2022-2023 the Ontario Arts Council invested $55.9 million in 220 communities across Ontario through 2,269 grants to individual artists and 1,023 grants to organizations.
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