Jean E. Pendzivol and Jack Wong among Canadian Children’s Book Award winners

Jean E. Pendzivol and Jack Wong are among the winning authors of the 2024 Canadian Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Award.

Eight awards, including non-fiction, young adult literature and picture books, are presented annually to the best of Canadian children’s literature.

Ontario writer Pendzivol won the $50,000 Canadian Children’s Literature TD Award—the largest cash prize in Canadian children’s literature—along with illustrator Todd Stewart for their book. Ice skating in the inland sea.

Ice skating in the inland sea tells the story of two children discovering the magic of skating on wild ice. He is also shortlisted for the competition 2024 Young People’s Literature – Picture Books Governor General’s Award.

Pendzivol lives in northwestern Ontario and is the author of eight children’s books, including When I listen to silenceillustrated by Carmen Mock; I found hope in a cherry treeillustrated by Nathalie Dion; And One northern nightillustrated by Isabelle Arsenault.

Stewart is an illustrator and printmaker based in Montreal. His picture book Wind in the trees (Soufflé Quand le vent), was nominated for the TD Canadian Literary Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award.

Wong received the $20,000 Marilyn Bailey Picture Book Award. When can you swim?. Written and illustrated by Wong. When can you swim? about an adult explaining to a young girl all the joys of swimming in lakes, rivers and on the beach.

Wong is a Halifax-based author and illustrator born in Hong Kong but raised in Vancouver. When can you swim? this is his first book. This won the 2023 Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature – Picture Books.. He is also the author The words we share.

The full list of winners is as follows:

“Tonight’s winning books represent a spectrum of childhood experiences, including courage and resilience, being surrounded by the wonder and beauty of the natural world, and reflections on the joy and thrill of growing up,” said Stephanie Wells, executive director of CCBC. , in a press statement.

“These books are imbued with hope for a brighter future and the recognition that when there is someone close to you, be it a pair of faithful dogs, an old enemy, a stranger who approaches, family or friends, none of us At a time when the world seems increasingly divided, the books highlighted tonight bring us closer and remind us that we are more alike than we are different.”

Some of the winning titles are available in accessible formats on the website Center for Equal Access to Libraries.

The award winners will be announced in French on November 6.