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Award-winning English TitlesAward-winning French Titles

PRIX LITTÉRAIRE DU GOUVERNEUR GÉNÉRAL / LITTÉRATURE DE JEUNESSE
(CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS)
FOR THE BEST TEXT

Graphical element of wand JOMUSCH ET LE TROLL DES CUISINES
CHRISTIANE DUCHESNE
ILLUSTRATIONS: JOSÉE MASSE
SAINT-LAMBERT, QUE: DOMINIQUE ET COMPAGNIE, 2001, 74 P.
(ROMAN VERT; 2)
ISBN 2895122059
AGES 8 TO 10

Albert has disappeared. Impossible! A dog that size can't disappear just like that! He couldn't have left the house during the night because all the doors and windows were closed. It's a real mystery.

Mr. Volpi, withdrawn from the world and living alone by the sea, needs help and Dectective Jomusch is just the person to solve this puzzle. He must find the loyal old dog.

Following a careful search of the premises, Dectective Jomusch hears strange noises coming from the walls. Are there hidden rooms in the old house? Over time, a deep friendship develops between Dectective Jomusch and Mr. Volpi. Nothing more is needed to sweep readers into an adventure where warmth and friendship reign between people of different generations.

Christiane Duchesne lets us experience special moments in this developing new friendship, the pains, the anguish and the fears of an old man on the threshold of a new world. These moments are delivered with such conviction and simplicity that we feel as though we are following in Volpi and Jomusch's footsteps. The text by Christiane Duchesne and the illustrations by Josée Masse intertwine marvellously. Without needlessly overwhelming the text, they reinforce the feelings of gentleness between these two characters.

An absolute must-read; you won't regret it. To be savoured over and over.

PB


PRIX LITTÉRAIRE DU GOUVERNEUR GÉNÉRAL / LITTÉRATURE DE JEUNESSE
(CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS)
FOR THE BEST ILLUSTRATIONS

FIDÈLES ÉLÉPHANTS
YUKIO TSUCHIYA
TRANSLATED FROM THE ENGLISH BY MICHÈLE MARINEAU
ILLUSTRATIONS: BRUCE ROBERTS
MONTREAL: LES 400 COUPS, 2001, 31 P.
(CARRÉ BLANC)
AGES 8 AND UP
Available in English under the title: Faithful Elephants, which was translated from Kawais_O Na Z_O
ISBN 2895400067

The story of the Loyal Elephants is familiar to all Japanese children as it is told over the radio each year on August 15. During World War II, Japanese military authorities ordered the director of the Tokyo Zoo to kill all the animals in order to protect the population in the event a bomb were to fall on the zoo and free some of the wild animals.

Most of the animals were poisoned, but the elephants were too smart to swallow poison and their skin was too thick for a syringe to pierce. So the elephants were starved, dying after suffering for more than 15 days. Their keepers could not bear to watch them suffer in agony.

The simple water-colour illustrations at first present an idyllic picture despite the war being waged. Supple flowering cherry branches frame the first images, elephant trunks raised as if to play the trumpet are in harmony with the spring flora. The illustrator then uses a palette of grey and sienna to depict the inert mass of elephants. The pain of the keepers is reflected in the expression on their faces and in their bodies, bent under the weight of their suffering.

Bruce Roberts has succeeded in illustrating a painful story with great sensitivity and simplicity. He uses Japanese techniques in which quick strokes sketch and suggest. The use of calligraphy and the texture of the Japanese paper add to the authentic character of this book.

JP


PRIX LITTÉRAIRE HENRIETTE-MAJOR
(ÉDITIONS DOMINIQUE ET COMPAGNIE)
FOR A FIRST NOVEL IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
NOT AWARDED


PRIX LITTÉRAIRE JEUNESSE OUTAOUAIS
TO ENCOURAGE UPCOMING WRITERS

ÉVASIONS!
SOUS LA DIRECTION DE MICHEL LAVOIE
HULL, QUE.: VENTS D'OUEST, 2001, 123 P.
ISBN 2895370362
AGES 12 TO 16

Escape! The word evokes an aura of dreams and discoveries. Under the direction of Michel Lavoie, 10 high school students invite us to come discover, sometimes in a surprising manner, how to escape the mundane. Each piece presents, in its own way, a short story on the theme of escape. Whether about death ("Les rythmes de la vie") or love ("Je t'aimais, je t'aime et je t'aimerai"), the pieces reflect the concerns of today's youth.

Évasions is a collection of works that brings together the best texts submitted by 10 teenagers as part of the first Outaouais youth literary prize. The ideas presented are varied and the style of many of these young writers reveals definite talent.

DSH


PRIX LITTÉRAIRE LE DROIT - CATÉGORIE JEUNESSE
(ASSOCIATION DES AUTEURES ET AUTEURS DE L'ONTARIO FRANÇAIS ET DE L'OUTAOUAIS QUÉBECOIS)
FOR THE BEST CHILDREN'S BOOK

COEUR DE GLACE
PIERRE BOILEAU
SAINT-LAMBERT, QUE: SOULIÈRES ÉDITEUR, 2001, 154 P.
ISBN 2922225518
AGES 13 TO 16

Since the death of his mother, Patrick has withdrawn from life, plunging himself willingly into a silence that is distancing him, little by little, from those who love him. He invents and imagines solitude, the only thing that will help him to forget his pain. He believes that being always alone is the ideal way for him to live a pain-free existence. He must no longer feel anything. Beyond happiness and pain, his heart must remain ice. But life moves on and with the help of his friends, Annie, Martin and Natasha, he will learn that he cannot live by rejecting others.

Pierre Boileau has written a very beautiful healing piece on the sudden disappearance of a loved one, on the feeling of emptiness one feels after such an ordeal. The realism of the story and the humanity of the character make it a profoundly engaging book.

DSH


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Date Created: 2001-05-29
Date Modified: 2002-09-25

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