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We Are in a Book!, written and illustrated by Mo Willems and published by Hyperion Books for Children, is the winner of the 2011 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 at 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, and which best exemplifies those qualities that successfully bridge the gap in difficulty between books for reading aloud to children and books for practiced readers. "Most of our committee have been involved in this award since its inception," said Deborah Stevenson, director of the CCB, "and we think of it as a way to contribute to an ongoing conversation about literature for inexperienced readers and to draw attention to those titles that offer originality, accessibility, and high quality for that audience." According to Stevenson, We Are in a Book! "brings back two favorite beginning-reader characters, Gerald the Elephant and Piggie the piggy, and gives them an adventure unlike anything they've experienced as they suddenly look out at the viewer and realize they're characters in a book that's being read. Kids will be familiar with this kind of self-referential comedy from cartoons, but here it's a book-centered humor that cleverly and quietly congratulates youngsters for reading by making their participation key to the jokes." Three Gryphon Honors winners also were named. Bink & Gollie (Candlewick Press, 2010), written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile. Lithe, lively illustrations combine with comic, compact text in three imaginative chapters to tell the tale of Bink and Gollie, two very different girls and very best friends. Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade (G. P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2010), written by Stephanie Greene and illustrated by Stephanie Roth Sisson. Readers anxiously awaiting a new school year will find a kindred spirit in Posey as she overcomes her entering-first-grade jitters in this appealing early chapter book. The Dancing Pancake (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2010), written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff. Cozy, accessible free-verse poetry adds to the charm of this tale of friendship in the face of adversity as sixth-grader Bindi is forced to deal with her anger over her parents' separation The Gryphon Award was established in 2004 as a way to focus attention on transitional reading, "which includes all kinds of wonderful books for different levels of readers, and yet which often gets overshadowed by the popularity of older children's and young adult materials," Stevenson 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<mailto:[log in to unmask]> in the GSLIS Office of Advancement at 217-244-9577.