Ellis, Watt win annual kidlit prize

Bestselling author Deborah Ellis and Montreal writer-illustrator Mélanie Watt have won the 2007 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards.

Two student juries from downtown Toronto's Parkdale Junior and Senior Public School picked this year's winners for the annual literary prize, which honours excellence in English language children's literature.

Grade 7 and 8 students chose the Simcoe, Ont.-based Ellis in the young adult/middle reader category for her book I Am a Taxi.

One judge said "My heart melted at the end of this book," while others dubbed the title "original and creative," "off the charts" and "outstanding."

Their younger schoolmates in Grades 3 and 4 chose Watt's Scaredy Squirrel as winner in the children's picture books category, praising her "cartoon-like, comical pictures."

Each author will receive a prize of $5,000.

In 1976, Toronto-based photographer Sylvia Schwartz set up the prize to honour the memory of her sister Ruth, a respected Toronto bookseller. In 2004, the Schwartz family decided to rename the prize to honour Sylvia as well.

Each year, the Ontario Arts Council selects the school and the juries, while the Ontario Arts Foundation, the Ruth Schwartz Foundation and the Canadian Booksellers Association select the short list of books.