Shortlist for the 2009 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award Announced!

The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award Committee of the Canadian Library Association announced the shortlist for this year's award on March 6th. I'm so pleased that one of my picks from last fall is included- A Bear in War by Stephanie Innes & Harry Endrulat and illustrated by Brian Deines. (For more on the book, check out my blog entry on the book launch which I posted back in November).
The 2009 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award recognizes an illustrator of a noteworthy Canadian picture book, published in 2008, that appeals to children up to the age of 12 years.

Here is the complete list of finalists for the 2009 Amelia Frances Howard Gibbon Award, in alphabetical order by title (Titles in bold were Fall picks from other Deweys):

A Bear in War/Illustrated by Brian Deines (Key Porter)
A Pocket Can Have a Treasure in It/Illustrated by Deirdre Betteridge (Annick)
Chester’s Back!/Illustrated by Melanie Watt (Kids Can Press)
Jenneli’s Dance/Illustrated by Chris Auchter (Theytus)
Mattland/Illustrated by Dusan Petricic (Annick)
Naomi’s Tree/Illustrated by Ruth Ohi (Fitzhenry and Whiteside)
Out of the Deeps/Illustrated by Nicolas Debon (Orca)
Shin Chi’s Canoe/Illustrated by Kim LaFave (Groundwood)
Sir Reginald’s Logbook/Illustrated by Matt Hammill (Kids Can Press)
Thing Thing/Illustrated by Nicolas Debon (Tundra)

Also announced on March 6th were the finalists for the 2009 CLA Young Adult Book Award and the 2009 Book of the Year Award for Children. Check out the CLA website for the list of finalists for these awards!

The winners of all three awards will be announced prior to the annual Canadian Library Association Conference and presented at the CLA conference at Montreal’s Palais des Congres de Montreal in May.