Toronto, May 11, 2004 ó Students from Nelson Mandela Park Junior and Senior Public School in Toronto, Ontario, today announced the winners of the 2004 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards.These national awards ó one for a children’s picture book and one for a young adult/middle reader book ó recognize authors and illustrators from across Canada who demonstrate artistic excellence in children’s literature.
The younger student jury awarded the children’s picture book prize to The Subway Mouse (North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada Ltd.) written and illustrated by Toronto author, Barbara Reid. Ottawa writer Brian Doyle won the young adult/middle reader book category for his book Boy O’Boy (Groundwood Books). Each author receives $5,000.
The five grade 3 and 4 students chose The Subway Mouse because it was ìan exciting adventure book with beautiful pictures.î Five students in grades 7 and 8 chose Boy O’Boy as the best young adult/middle reader book, describing it as ìadventurous and powerfulî and showing the ìvalue of friendship.î
The Ruth Schwartz Children’s Book Award was established in 1976 by Sylvia Schwartz in memory of her sister, the late Ruth Schwartz, a respected Toronto bookseller. This year, the Schwartz family decided to rename the awards the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children’s Book Awards to honour Sylvia. Sylvia was a well-known photographer in Toronto from the 1940s to the early 1960s who had a great love of children. She specialized in children’s portraiture, delighting in her subjects’ spirit of fun.
Each year, the Ontario Arts Council selects an Ontario school to provide the juries for the prizes. The administration of these awards is shared by the Ontario Arts Council Foundation and the Ruth Schwartz Foundation; the Ontario Arts Council, which manages the jury process; and the Canadian Booksellers Association, whose members choose the short list of books.
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For more information, please contact:
Kirsten Gunter, Communications Manager, Ontario Arts Council
(416) 969-7403 or toll-free in Ontario at 1-800-387-0058 ext.7403
email kgunter@arts.on.ca