FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gryphon Winner Inspires Budding Cartoonists

Adventures in Cartooning, written and illustrated by James Sturm, Andrew 
Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost, has received the 2010 Gryphon Award 
for Children's Literature.

The Gryphon Award, which includes a $1,000 prize, is given annually by 
the Center for Children's Books, a unit of the Graduate School of 
Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, 
Urbana-Champaign.

The prize is awarded to the author of an outstanding English language 
work of fiction or non-fiction for which the primary audience is 
children in kindergarten through fourth grade. Award winners best 
exemplify "those qualities that successfully bridge the gap in 
difficulty between books for reading aloud to children and books for 
practiced readers," said Christine Jenkins, the director of the Center 
for Children's Books and a GSLIS professor.

According to Jenkins, Adventures in Cartooning (Center for Cartoon 
Studies / First Second/ Roaring Brook, 2009) is an "engaging knight and 
dragon tale, replete with familiar folkloric elements and surprise 
twists [in which] the three author/illustrators demonstrate how to 
transform a promising idea into creative, effective comic book format. 
Aspiring cartoonists and graphic novel neophytes will embrace this 
introduction to crafting comics and bridging readers will enjoy putting 
their literary and visual skills into simultaneous action."

Three Gryphon Honors winners also were named.

Nikki & Deja: Birthday Blues (Clarion Books, 2009), written by Karen 
English and illustrated by Laura Freeman. Best friends Nikki and Deja 
are planning a party for Deja's eighth birthday, but Deja's happy 
anticipation is troubled when Antonia, new girl and nemesis, preempts 
the birthday guest list with her own "Just Because" same day/same time 
party. This is a realistic portrayal of the difficult—but often 
unacknowledged—dilemmas that elementary age children regularly face and 
negotiate, and the ways in which sympathetic friends and adults (plus a 
fortuitous party day rainstorm) can make all the difference.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Camping, Hiking, and Other Natural Disasters 
(Schwartz & Wade Books, 2009), written by Lenore Look and illustrated by 
LeUyen Pham. When dad suggests a family camping trip, Alvin Ho responds 
with a long list of fears ("I am afraid of everything, especially the 
woods—they are full of trees."). However, with the help of carefully 
selected Internet purchases, plus advice from Uncle Dennis ("Secret Tip 
Number One: Dryer lint can save your life"), Alvin’s anxieties begin to 
subside—well, sort of subside.

Kit Feeny: On the Move (Knopf, 2009), written and illustrated by Michael 
Townsend. This graphic novel follows Kit Feeny, a comic book aficionado 
and pizza lover, who is forced to leave his best friend Arnold behind 
when his family moves. As the new kid in school, he inadvertantly incurs 
the wrath of “Devon the Bully Comedian” as he searches for a replacement 
for Arnold. Kit learns that although he cannot replace an old friend, he 
can find a new one who helps Kit find his own place in his new 
surroundings.

The Gryphon Award was established in 2004 as a way to focus attention on 
transitional reading – "an area of literature for youth that, despite 
its importance to the successful transition of children from new readers 
to independent lifelong readers, does not receive the critical 
recognition it deserves," Jenkins said.

The award committee consists of members drawn from the youth services 
faculty of GSLIS, the editorial staff of the Bulletin of the Center for 
Children's Books, local public and school librarians, and the library 
and education community at large.

The award is sponsored by the Center for Children's Books and funded by 
the Center for Children's Books Outreach Endowment Fund. Income from the 
fund supports outreach activities for the books center and the Gryphon 
Award for children's literature.

Gifts may be made to the fund by contacting Diana Stroud in the GSLIS 
Office of Advancement at 217-244-9577.

-- 
Kim Schmidt | Director of Publications and Media Relations
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
501 E. Daniel Street, MC-493
Champaign, IL  61820
phone 217-265-6391; fax 217-244-3302
[log in to unmask]