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
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