Woozles Blog

The Canadian Children’s Book Centre recently announced the finalists for their 2011 children’s book awards.  The winners of the English-language awards will be announced at an invitation-only gala event at The Carlu in Toronto on October 4, 2011. The winners of the Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse will be announced at an invitation-only gala event at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on October 25, 2011.

Woozles would like to congratulate all of the finalists and we encourage all of our patrons to check out these truly exceptional books!

TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award
This award is for the most distinguished book of the year. “Distinguished” is defined as marked by conspicuous excellence and/or eminence, individually distinct and noted for significant achievement with excellence in quality.

Burn , by Alma Fullerton
Canadian Railroad Trilogy , by Gordon Lightfoot, ill. by Ian Wallace
The Glory Wind, by Valerie Sherrard
I Know Here , by Laurel Croza, ill. by Matt James
Plain Kate, by Erin Bow

Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse

Le chasseur de loups-marins, by Claire Vigneau, ill. by Bruce Roberts
Devant ma maison, written & illustrated by Marianne Dubuc
La fille d’en face, by Linda Amyot
Oh ! la vache!, by Alain M. Bergeron, Édith Bourget,Colombe Labonté and Guy Marchamps, ill. by Caroline Merola
Xavier-la-lune, by Martine Audet, illustrated by Luc Melanson

MARILYN BAILLIE PICTURE BOOK AWARD
This award honours excellence in the illustrated picture book format.

I Know Here, by Laurel Croza, ill. by Matt James
In Front of My House written and ill. by Marianne Dubuc, trans.  by Yvette Ghione
Singing Away the Dark, by Caroline Woodward, ill. by Julie Morstad
Spork, by Kyo Maclear, ill. by Isabelle Arsenault
Stanley’s Little Sister, by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Bill Slavin

NORMA FLECK AWARD FOR CANADIAN CHILDREN’S NON-FICTION
Canada’s non-fiction books for young people are internationally renowned for the superb quality of their text, illustration and design.  This award recognizes and raises the profile of these exceptional non-fiction books.

Case Closed! Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science,
by Susan Hughes , ill. by Michael Wandelmaier
Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be,
written and illustrated by Daniel Loxton
Not Your Typical Book About the Environment, by Elin Kelsey,
ill. by Clayton Hanmer
Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged, by Jody Nyasha Warner,
ill. by Richard Rudnicki
Watch This Space: Designing, Defending and Sharing Public Spaces, by Hadley Dyer, ill. by Marc Ngui

GEOFFREY BILSON AWARD FOR HISTORICAL FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
This award is presented annually to reward excellence in the writing of an outstanding work of historical fiction for young readers.

Exiles from the War: The War Guests Diary of Charlotte Mary Twiss (Dear Canada), by Jean Little
Folly, by Marthe Jocelyn
The Glory Wind, by Valerie Sherrard
Queen of Hearts, by Martha Brooks
Wild Geese, by Caroline Pignat

JOHN SPRAY MYSTERY AWARD
The John Spray Mystery Award, established in 2011, honours excellence in the mystery book format.

Borderline, by Allan Stratton
Dead Bird Through the Cat Door (Megabyte Mystery), by Jan Markley
The Mystery of the Cyber Bully (Marty Chan Mystery), by Marty Chan
A Spy in the House (The Agency), by Y.S. Lee
Victim Rights (Ryan Dooley Mystery), by Norah McClintock

WOOZLES POLL!
Who will win!  We want to know what you think.  Take the Woozles poll on twitter by August 31st and let us know who your favourites are for each of these awards. We will post the results in late September,  just before the winners are announced.

Every single day, we see looks of delight and discovery on the faces of children and adults as they find “the perfect book (or toy)”…and we also hear wonderful expressions of gratitude! In short, we’re here because of you, and want to serve you as best we can.

In the interests of continuing to be vital, responsive and innovative, we’d love to have a series of conversations with you, in person and on-line. Reply to questions on our blog and/or in the store and/or RSVP to join us for some wine, cheese & conversation on Tuesday May 31st at 6:00 PM.

Here are some of the things we are curious about:

• What do you most appreciate about Woozles?

• Is there a section you’d like us to build or feature more prominently?

• Is there a section that we don’t have that you’d like us to have?

• What would you like to see more of – products and services?

• Are there products you’d like us to carry?  Which ones?

• Do you think we do a good enough job of stocking, carrying and promoting local books?  If not, what are we lacking?

• Would you as a customer welcome more product info, or would you rather hear about it from us (salespeople)?

• What about the idea of product info nights?  For teachers?  Board Game lovers?  New parents?  Would this be of interest?  Would you attend?

• Are any of you buying and reading e-books?

• If Woozles were to carry e-books would you buy them from us?

• Do you think Woozles should be more involved in events?  If so, which are of greatest importance to you?

Book launches
Book signings / author events
Battle of the Books
Book fairs
Celebrations (birthday party, Word on the Street, ABA, etc)
Workshops and classes
Contests (writing, jellybean)
Book clubs

• Do you like our location?  Would you change anything about our current location?

• What do you think is our greatest strength?

• What do you think is our greatest weakness?  How could we improve?

• Have we ever let you down? We’d love to know how we can improve?

• Do you use our Cheaper by the Dozen card?

• Where do you see Woozles in 5 years?

• Should we enable online shopping on our website?  If so, would you use it?

• Do you use our website?  Are there any changes you would recommend to our website?

• Do you visit our blog?  Follow us on twitter?  How might we use these social media tools more effectively?

If you would like to respond to any or all of these questions, we’d love to hear from you.  Email your thoughts to frontdesk@woozles.com and if you can make it, join us on May 31st for further discussion.

Join the N.S. Children’s Literature Roundtable as they recognize the latest works by our local children’s book creators at their annual New Book Bash.  Discover some wonderful new books, meet the authors and illustrators who have created them and enjoy the reception that has been prepared to celebrate them!  Woozles will be there (with books!) and we hope to see many of you as well.  All are welcome.

Saturday, May 7th, 2011 at 7:00 pm.  Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia, 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia