A poetry prize

Poetry prizes are thin on the ground so let’s notice this announcement of the LBH Award for a collection of poems by an American.   And here’s another  review of the winning book,  Button Up! by Alice Schertle, praising its playfulness and whimsy,  and which includes some extracts.

What really had me smiling though was a the definition  included in the award criteria:

Poet: A poet is, in the narrowest sense, a maker of verses. A poet is also imaginative in thought, expressive in language, and graceful in form.

I wasn’t aware that poets are graceful in form…

Like the Newbery prize, though, the LBH is limited to Americans. So I particularly enjoyed this blog posting which is from the US perspective but reminds us of children’s poetry around the world. How about this comment:

Across the globe, poetry’s roots go very deep, from Greek epics like “The Odyssey” to the holy writings from the Bible, the Koran, and Hindu holy books also written in verse. More than 3,000 years of songs of praise exist among the Arab, African, and Asian peoples. Many poetic forms have their beginnings in the Italian petrarchin sonnet, Icelandic epics, Japanese haiku, and the French villanelle. We’ve been “borrowing” poetry for kids from across the ocean since the days of William Blake (Songs of Innocence, 1789), Edward Lear (“The Owl and the Pussycat,” 1871), Robert Louis Stevenson (A Child’s Garden of Verses, 1885) and A. A. Milne (Now We Are Six, 1927).

(We are certainly borrowing back in our course anthology. I’ve spotted quite a few non-British poets: Atwood, Dickinson, Frost, Monro, Nichols, Dr Seuss- who have I missed? )

And here’s a more whimsical comment from the US perspective:

For one current sampling, look for Graham Denton’s British Wild! Rhymes that Roar, co-edited with poet James Carter, an anthology of animal poems (oyster, axolotl, lobster, crocodile, cockroach, crow, and more) running the gamut from silly to serious, with fun “Britishisms” sprinkled throughout, like “pyjamas” and “Mum.”

Prizes! Prizes!

First, I’ve listed the links in footnote 1 from Kenneth Kidd in our Reader (”Prizes! Prizes! Newbery Gold’ in Children’s Literature, Approaches and Territories):

Awards and Prizes Online: Children’s Book Council – unfortunately the awards and prizes database is subscription only

Book Award Annals – the link in the footnote takes you to a general page; this is the children’s books page

Coretta Scott King Book Award

Now here is a miscellany of award-related links I’ve happened across in the last few months:

list of awards “The most comprehensive guide to English-language children’s book awards on the Internet”

so many awards Waterstone’s shortlist – winner to be announced 10 February*

another sort of prize “Each year, the National Book Foundation awards a number of prizes of up to $2,500 each to individuals and institutions–or partnerships between the two–that have developed innovative means of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.”

Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award “to encourage and promote diversity in children’s fiction” also see here “The Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award is for a manuscript that celebrates cultural diversity in the widest possible sense, either in terms of its story or in terms of the ethnic and cultural origins of its author.”

Booktrust teenage prize “a national book prize that recognises and celebrates the best in contemporary writing for teenagers”

Guardian Children’s Fiction prize

Roald Dahl Funny Prize

Astrid Lindgren Award “The award is presented to authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and those active in reading promotion work. The award may be presented to a single recipient or to several, regardless of language or nationality.”

Wikipedias’s list of children’s literature prizes

Horn Book awards 2009 “the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards are among the most prestigious honors in the field of children’s and young adult literature. Winners are selected in three categories: Picture Book, Fiction and Poetry, and Nonfiction. Two Honor Books may be named in each category. On occasion, a book will receive a special citation for its high quality and overall creative excellence. The winning titles must be published in the United States but they may be written or illustrated by citizens of any country. The awards are chosen by an independent panel of three judges who are annually appointed by the Editor of the Horn Book.”

Governer general’s literary awards (Canada)  “The Governor General’s Literary Awards (GGs) are given annually to the best English-language and the best French-language books in each of the seven categories of Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Drama, Children’s Literature (text), Children’s Literature (illustration) and Translation (from French to English and English to French).”

Awards and more Awards “Several awards for children’s/YA literature have been announced recently…” a blog posting dated 7 January

Picture book can win award for historical fiction

*Later edit: Waterstone’s winner here

Carnegie and Greenaway

Around  50 nominations each for the Carnegie 2010 and Greenaway 2010 awards. Judging only by  the fact that I recognise many of the authors and illustrators as well-established names, and that they are in competition on such substantial lists, these will be competitions of great quality.

I have just read one of the nominations – Pratchett’s Nation – and loved it. It might make an interesting comparison with Treasure Island: it has a deserted treasure island and a young male hero, but just about everything else is turned on its head.

Coincidentally I’ve also just read Michael Lockwood’s article ‘The Development of a Children’s Poet’ (needs OU login; link also on our course wiki) on Ted Hughes’s poetry for children.  There are some stunning poems quoted in the article: I had no idea that Hughes was such a prolific writer for children.

We know on this course that literary quality is not the only dimension of interest in children’s literature ; but what a lot  to enjoy. Now, if someone would please give me purchasing power?