Melissa Mollen Dupuis, Elise Gravel, Kevin Sands win 2024 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards
The awards highlight authors and illustrators of English-language Canadian children's literature
Melissa Mollen Dupuis, Elise Gravel and Kevin Sands are this year's winners of the 2024 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards.
Annually, the awards have recognized excellence in writing and illustration in English-language Canadian children's literature. They consist of the Children's Picture Book Award category and the Young Adult/Middle Reader Award category. The winners in both categories will each receive $6,000 and were determined by two juries of young readers from John English Junior Middle School in Toronto.
Innu writer Mollen Dupuis and illustrator Gravel won in the Children's Picture Book Award category for the Nutshimit: In the Woods. In the nonfiction picture book, Mollen Dupuis takes children on a guided walk through the forest to learn about Innu culture, while Gravel brings the words to life with her comic style illustrations.
"Nutshimit taught us things we didn't know before," said the student jurors who selected the book in a press statement. "This story included Innu words and traditions and how native plants can be used in our lives. This story is very protective and respectful of nature and it shows how cool the woods are in Canada. The illustrations are great – even the plants have eyes. The speech bubbles are so funny. The whole book makes you feel happy."
The whole book makes you feel happy.- Student jurors of the Children's Picture Book Award
Mollen Dupuis is a writer, director and radio show host and a member of the Innu community of Ekuanitshit on Quebec's Côte-Nord. Dupuis is the co-founder of the Quebec branch of the Idle No More movement.
She lives in Granby, Que. Nutshimit: In the Woods is her first children's book.
Gravel is a Quebec author and illustrator who has written and illustrated over 50 books for children. Her books include The Bat, The Worst Book Ever, The Mushroom Fan Club, I Want a Monster! and What Is a Refugee. Gravel won the Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People in 2022 for her body of work. She lives in Montreal.
Sands won the Young Adult/Middle Reader Award for The Raven's Revenge. The Raven's Revenge is the sixth novel and thrilling conclusion of the Blackthorn Key series, in which Raven's identity is finally uncovered after a cat and mouse game.
"The fast-paced adventure starts from the very first page of The Raven's Revenge," said the student jury in a press statement. "We really wanted to meet Christopher, Tom and Sally. It was amazing to learn Raven's back-story and how it became evil. The ciphers and scavenger hunt vibe were excellent. There were lots of detailed imaginative descriptions. Kevin Sands' writing really pulled us in and the surprise ending was very satisfying."
Sands' writing really pulled us in and the surprise ending was very satisfying.- Student jurors of the Young Adult/Middle Reader Award
Sands is a Toronto-based author of the award-winning Blackthorn Key series, a middle grade fantasy series about the adventures of an orphaned apothecary's apprentice. The Blackthorn Key, the series' first book, received the John Spray Mystery Award and was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Best YA Crime Novel Award.
Sylvia Schwartz established the Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Awards in 1976 in memory of her sister, Ruth, a respected Toronto bookseller. In 2004, the family renamed the awards to honour both sisters.
Last year's winners were Nafiza Azad's young adult fantasy Road of the Lost and the picture book This is the Boat that Ben Built by Jen Lynn Bailey, illustrated by Maggie Zeng.
Past winners also include Kenneth Oppel, Susin Nielsen and Kathy Kacer.
