Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature

The Governor General's Award for English-language children's writing is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a children's book written in English. It is one of four children's book awards among the Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, one each for writers and illustrators of English- and French-language books. The Governor General's Awards program is administered by the Canada Council.

In name, this award is part of the Governor General's Award program only from 1987 but there was a single award for "Juvenile" literature from 1949 to 1958, and the four present-day "Children's" awards were established in 1975 under a Canada Council name. In the event, the "Canada Council" and "Governor General's" awards have recognized writing in an English-language children's book every year from 1975.^[1][2]

Juvenile fiction

The oldest of now-14 annual Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were inaugurated in 1936. One award for a "juvenile" book was introduced in 1949, and conferred every year to 1958. Throughout those ten years, the juvenile literature award was one of five in the program, all for English-language books.^[2]

Juvenile fiction winners, 1949–1958

Year	Author	Title
1949	Richard S. Lambert	Franklin of the Arctic
1950	Donalda Dickie	The Great Adventure
1951	John F. Hayes	A Land Divided
1952	Marie McPhedran	Cargoes on the Great Lakes
1953	John F. Hayes	Rebels Ride at Night
1954	Marjorie Wilkins Campbell	The Nor'westers
1955	Kerry Wood	The Map-Maker
1956	Farley Mowat	Lost in the Barrens
1957	Kerry Wood	The Great Chief
1958	Edith L. Sharp	Nkwala

Two of the Governor General's Award-winning writers also won the Canadian Library Association award for children's book writing, recognizing the same book: Richard Lambert in 1949 and Farley Mowat in 1958. The CLA Book of the Year for Children Award was conferred six times during these ten years.^[3]

Canada Council Children's Literature Prize

In 1975 the Canada Council established four annual prizes of $5000 for the year's best English- and French-language children's books by Canadian writers and illustrators. Those "Canada Council Children's Literature Prizes" were continued under the "Governor General's Awards" rubric from 1987, and continue today. Among them the English-language writing prize was awarded every year from 1975.^[1]

Canada Council Children's Literature Prize winners, 1975–1986

Year	Author	Title
1975	Bill Freeman	Shantymen of Cache Lake
1976	Myra Paperny	The Wooden People
1977	Jean Little	Listen for the Singing
1978	Kevin Major	Hold Fast
1979	Barbara Smucker	Days of Terror
1980	Christie Harris, illus. by Douglas Tait	The Trouble with Princesses
1981	Monica Hughes	The Guardian of Isis
1982	Monica Hughes	Hunter in the Dark
1983	Sean O'Huigin	The Ghost Horse of the Mounties
1984	Jan Hudson	Sweetgrass
1985	Cora Taylor	Julie
1986	Janet Lunn	Shadow in Hawthorn Bay

Three of the CCCLP-winning English-language writers also won the annual Canadian Library Association award for children's book writing, recognizing the same book. Their CLA Book of the Year for Children Awards are dated one year later: Kevin Major 1979, Cora Taylor 1986, and Janet Lunn 1987. The CLA Book of the Year was inaugurated in 1947 and has been awarded every year since 1963.^[3]

Two of the CCCLP-winning English-language writers also won the CLA Young Adult Book Award, recognizing the same book, namely Monica Hughes in 1983 and Janet Lunn in 1987.^[4] That is, Janet Lunn and Shadow in Hawthorn Bay (1986) won both the CLA awards for children's and young-adult books.

According to one WorldCat library record The Trouble With Princesses (McClelland & Stewart, 1980) "retells stories about Northwest Coast princesses and compares them with similar Old World princesses", OCLC 9085067. For their collaboration Christie Harris won the CCCLP prize for English-language writing and Douglas Tait won the CLA award for children's book illustration, the 1981 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award.^[5]

Children's literature (writing)

Four books listed below, winners of the English-language writing award under the "Governor General's" name, were also named CLA Book of the Year for Children: Bedard 1991, Wynne-Jones 1994, Porter 2006, and Nielsen 2013.^[3] Four of them also won the CLA Young Adult Book Award: Wieler 1990, Johnston 1995, Wynne-Jones 1996, and Brooks 2003.^[2]

1980s

Award winners, 1987–1989

Year	Author	Title	Result
1987	Morgan Nyberg	Galahad Schwartz and the Cockroach Army	Winner
	Welwyn Wilton Katz	False Face	Finalist
	Donn Kushner	A Book Dragon
	Russell McRae	Going to the Dogs
1988	Welwyn Wilton Katz	The Third Magic	Winner
	Martha Brooks	Paradise Café and Other Stories	Finalist
	Brian Doyle	Easy Avenue
	Jean Little	Little by Little
1989	Diana Wieler	Bad Boy	Winner
	Kit Pearson	The Sky Is Falling	Finalist
	Eliane Corbeil Roe	Circle of Light

1990s

Award winners, 1990–1999

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
1990	Michael Bedard	Redwork	Winner
	Jan Andrews	The Auction	Finalist
	Brian Doyle	Covered Bridge
	Welwyn Wilton Katz	Whale Singer
1991	Sarah Ellis	Pick-Up Sticks	Winner
	Martha Brooks	Two Moons in August	Finalist
	Roch Carrier	A Happy New Year's Day
	Jean Little	Stars Come Out Within
	Monty Reid	The Last Great Dinosaurs
1992	Julie Johnston	Hero of Lesser Causes	Winner
	Margaret Buffie	My Mother's Ghost	Finalist
	John Ibbitson	1812: Jeremy and the General
	Thomas King	A Coyote Columbus Story
	Kit Pearson	Looking at the Moon
1993	Tim Wynne-Jones	Some of the Kinder Planets	Winner
	Mitzi Dale	Bryna Means Courage	Finalist
	James Archibald Houston	Drifting Snow: An Arctic Search
	Carol Matas	Daniel's Story
	Shirley Sterling	My Name Is Seepeetza
1994	Julie Johnston	Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me	Winner
	Sarah Ellis	Out of the Blue	Finalist
	Carol Matas	The Burning Time
	Jim McGugan	Josepha: A Prairie Boy's Story
	Ken Roberts	Past Tense
1995	Tim Wynne-Jones	The Maestro	Winner	[6]
	Beth Goobie	Mission Impossible	Finalist
	Hazel Hutchins	Tess
	Welwyn Wilton Katz	Out of the Dark
	Diana Wieler	RanVan A Worthy Opponent
1996	Paul Yee	Ghost Train	Winner	[7]
	Jan Andrews	Keri	Finalist
	David Boyd	Bottom Drawer
	Gillian Chan	Glory Days and Other Stories
	Don Gillmor	The Fabulous Song
1997	Kit Pearson	Awake and Dreaming	Winner
	Cheryl Foggo	One Thing That's True	Finalist
	James Heneghan	Wish Me Luck
	Teddy Jam	The Fishing Summer
	Barbara Nichol	Dippers
1998	Janet Lunn	The Hollow Tree	Winner	[8]
	Gayle Friesen	Janey's Girl	Finalist
	Julie Johnston	The Only Outcast
	Janet McNaughton	Make or Break Spring
	Sarah Withrow	Bat Summer
1999	Rachna Gilmore	A Screaming Kind of Day	Winner
	Don Gillmor	The Christmas Orange	Finalist
	Graham McNamee	Hate You
	W. D. Valgardson	The Divorced Kids Club and Other Stories
	Frieda Wishinsky	Each One Special

2000s

Award winners, 2000–2009

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref.
2000	Deborah Ellis	Looking for X	Winner	[9]
	Martha Brooks	Being with Henry	Finalist
	Sharon E. McKay	Charlie Wilcox
	Sheldon Oberman	The Shaman's Nephew
	Duncan Thornton	Kalifax
2001	Arthur Slade	Dust	Winner	[10]
	Brian Doyle	Mary Ann Alice	Finalist
	Beth Goobie	Before Wings
	Julie Johnston	In Spite of Killer Bees
	Teresa Toten	The Game
2002	Martha Brooks	True Confessions of a Heartless Girl	Winner
	Alan Cumyn	The Secret Life of Owen Skye	Finalist
	Deborah Ellis	Parvana's Journey
	John Lekich	The Losers' Club
	Karen Levine	Hana's Suitcase
2003	Glen Huser	Stitches	Winner
	Sarah Ellis	The Several Lives of Orphan Jack	Finalist
	Barbara Haworth-Attard	Theories of Relativity
	Kevin Major	Ann and Seamus
	Judd Palmer	The Maestro
2004	Kenneth Oppel	Airborn	Winner
	Martine Leavitt	Heck Superhero	Finalist	[11]
	Sharon McKay	Esther
	Judd Palmer	The Wolf King
	Ange Zhang	Red Land, Yellow River: A Story from the Cultural Revolution
2005	Pamela Porter	The Crazy Man	Winner	[12]
	Francis Chalifour	After	Finalist
	Barbara Nickel	Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach
	Gail Nyoka	Mella and the N'anga: An African Tale
	Shyam Selvadurai	Swimming in the Monsoon Sea
2006	William Gilkerson	Pirate's Passage	Winner
	André Alexis	Ingrid and the Wolf	Finalist
	Glen Huser	Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen
	Teresa Toten	Me and the Blondes
	Budge Wilson	Friendships
2007	Iain Lawrence	Gemini Summer	Winner
	Hugh Brewster	Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting	Finalist	[13]
	Christopher Paul Curtis	Elijah of Buxton
	John Wilson	The Alchemist's Dream
	Eva Wiseman	Kanada
2008	John Ibbitson	The Landing	Winner
	Alma Fullerton	Libertad	Finalist
	Dianne Linden	Shimmerdogs
	Shenaaz Nanji	Child of Dandelions
	Mariko Tamaki	Skim
2009	Caroline Pignat	Greener Grass: The Famine Years	Winner	[12]
	Shelley Hrdlitschka	Sister Wife	Finalist	[14]
	Sharon Jennings	Home Free
	Robin Stevenson	A Thousand Shades of Blue		[14]
	Tim Wynne-Jones	The Uninvited

2010s

Award winners, 2010–2019

Year	Author	Title		Ref.
2010	Wendy Phillips	Fishtailing	Winner	[15]
	K. L. Denman	Me, Myself and Ike	Finalist
	Lesley Fairfield	Tyranny
	Gina McMurchy-Barber	Free as a Bird
	Cheryl Rainfield	Scars		[16]
2011	Christopher Moore	From Then to Now: A Short History of the World	Winner
	Jan L. Coates	A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk	Finalist
	Deborah Ellis	No Ordinary Day
	Kenneth Oppel	This Dark Endeavour
	Tim Wynne-Jones	Blink & Caution
2012	Susin Nielsen	The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen	Winner	[17][18][19][20]
	Rachel Hartman	Seraphina	Finalist	[21]
	Deborah Kerbel	Under the Moon
	Judd Palmer	The Umbrella
	Allan Stratton	The Grave Robber's Apprentice
2013	Teresa Toten	The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B	Winner	[22][23][24]
	Beverley Brenna	The White Bicycle	Finalist	[25][26]
	Shane Peacock	Becoming Holmes
	Jean E. Pendziwol	Once Upon a Northern Light
	Valerie Sherrard	Counting Back from Nine
2014	Raziel Reid	When Everything Feels Like the Movies	Winner	[27][28][29][30][31]
	Jonathan Auxier	The Night Gardener	Finalist	[32]
	Lesley Choyce	Jeremy Stone
	Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley	Skraelings
	Mariko Tamaki	This One Summer		[32][31]
2015	Caroline Pignat	The Gospel Truth	Winner	[33][34]
	Dan Bar-el	Audrey (cow)	Finalist
	Darren Groth	Are You Seeing Me?
	Susin Nielsen	We Are All Made of Molecules
	Emil Sher	Young Man with Camera
2016	Martine Leavitt	Calvin	Winner	[35]
	Mikaela Everett	The Unquiet	Finalist
	E. K. Johnston	A Thousand Nights
	Trilby Kent	Once, in a Town Called Moth
	Tim Wynne-Jones	The Emperor of Any Place
2017	Cherie Dimaline	The Marrow Thieves	Winner
	Alison Hughes	Hit the Ground Running	Finalist
	Aviaq Johnston	Those Who Run in the Sky
	Allan Stratton	The Way Back Home
	Danielle Younge-Ullman	Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined
2018	Jonathan Auxier	Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster	Winner	[36]
	Christopher Paul Curtis	The Journey of Little Charlie	Finalist
	Janice Lynn Mather	Learning to Breathe
	Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut	Winnie's Great War
	Heather Smith	Ebb & Flow
2019	Erin Bow	Stand on the Sky	Winner	[37]
	Brian Francis	Break in Case of Emergency	Finalist
	Sue Farrell Holler	Cold White Sun
	Michelle Kadarusman	Girl of the Southern Sea
	Jo Treggiari	The Grey Sisters

2020s

Award winners, 2020–present

Year	Author	Title	Result	Ref
2020	Eric Walters	The King of Jam Sandwiches	Winner	[38]
	Sara Cassidy	Nevers	Finalist	[39]
	Polly Horvath	Pine Island Home
	Colleen Nelson and Tara Anderson	Harvey Holds His Own
	David A. Robertson	The Barren Grounds
2021	Philippa Dowding	Firefly	Winner	[40]
	Jo Treggiari	Peter Lee's Notes from the Field	Finalist	[41]
	Sharon Jennings	Unravel
	Liselle Sambury	Blood Like Magic
	Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester	The Fabulous Zed Watson!
2022	Jen Ferguson	The Summer of Bitter and Sweet	Winner	[42]
	Deborah Ellis	Step	Finalist	[43]
	Joanne Levy	Sorry for Your Loss
	Edeet Ravel	A Boy Is Not a Ghost
	Kate Story	Urchin
2023	Sarah Everett	The Probability of Everything	Winner	[44]
	Michelle Kadarusman	Berani	Finalist	[45]
	Zoulfa Katouh	As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
	Iain Lawrence	Fire on Headless Mountain
	Kim Spencer	Weird Rules to Follow
2024	Cherie Dimaline	Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix	Shortlist	[46]
	Shari Green	Song of Freedom, Song of Dreams
	June Hur	A Crane Among Wolves
	Kristy Jackson	Mortified
	Li Charmaine Anne	Crash Landing

See also

• Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration
• Governor General's Award for French-language children's literature
• Governor General's Award for French-language children's illustration

References

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