IT WAS a “major concern” that the new programme for government made no commitment to reinstate the school book grant to schools and libraries, the director of Children’s Books Ireland (CBI) has said.
Mags Walsh, who was speaking at the announcement of the shortlist for the Bisto Children’s Book of the Year 2011, said the abolition of the grant two years ago had “fundamentally affected access to books for kids who don’t have access to books at home”.
“It is worrying for kids who are so dependent on schools to be able to read books. The Labour Party made mention of the grant in their campaign but there is nothing about it in the programme from the coalition. It is a major concern for us.”
The Bisto Children’s Book of the Year awards “celebrate excellence in children’s literature and illustration” and 10 books are shortlisted.
Among those listed are A Bit Lostby Chris Haughton for one- to four-year-olds; Dancing in the Darkby Peter Prendergast for 11- to 14-year-olds; Mac Rí Éireannby Caitríona Hasting and Andrew Whiton for eight-year-olds and over and T he Tiny Little Fly, illustrated by Kevin Waldron, for two- to five-year-olds.
The awards are open to books in Irish or English, by authors or illustrators born or resident in Ireland and published between January 1st and December 31st each year.
Ms Walsh said there had never been such a large pool of authors and illustrators and the sector was “thriving”. “Two of the books this year have come from a small new publisher, Little Island, which wouldn’t be able to exist without funding from the Arts Council.
To mark the 21st anniversary of the awards, CBI will stage a travelling exhibition of the history of the awards and the previous 20 winning titles, authors and illustrators. The public are invited to vote for their favourite winning title in the Bisto Ballot. The winner will be announced in the autumn.
The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on May 16th. A full list of the shortlisted books is available at childrensbooksireland.ie
