2005 WNBA/Eastman Grant
Sylvia H. Cross, Eastman Grant Chair
The Eastman Grant committee is pleased to announce that Andrea Wyman, Ph.D. is the recipient of the 2005 WNBA Ann Heidbreder Eastman Grant.
Dr. Wyman is an Assistant Professor/Curriculum Materials Librarian at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, where she currently oversees the university library’s juvenile fiction and nonfiction collection and a curriculum materials center that is used by the education majors. She also teaches classes in children’s literature as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Library Science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
Andrea Wyman has enrolled in two courses at Seton Hill University. Marketing Children’s Literature and Recent Trends will explore changes in publishing children’s literature such as paperback publishing, juvenile book clubs, ethnic children’s literature, picture books for older children, and children’s-only bookstores.
Writing the Picture Book will include such topics as understanding reading level, choosing appropriate subject matter, and examples of well- and poorly-done picture books.
Dr. Wyman is interested in developing a better understanding of juvenile literature reading levels, small-press publishing, multicultural themes, and the growing trend of using picture books with older children. The outcome of these courses would be two market-ready picture book manuscripts.
WNBA Announces 2005 Pannell Award Winners
Contact information:
Name: Eileen Hanning, WNBA Pannell Chair
Phone: 703-998-8541
Fax: 703-998-8818
Email: eidh@yahoo.com
Date: May 11, 2005
The Women's National Book Association is proud to announce the winners of this year's Lucile Micheels Pannell Award. This year's Award for a general bookstore goes to BookPeople in Austin, Texas. The winner in the children's specialty category is Reading Reptile Books and Toys for Young Mammals in Kansas City, Missouri. The Awards will be presented at BookExpo America in New York City at the Children's Book and Author Breakfast on Friday, June 3. The breakfast is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association-Children's Book Council Joint Committee, the Association of Booksellers for Children, and BookExpo America. Each winner will receive a check for $1000 and a framed piece of original art created by a children's book illustrator. This year's art was contributed by artists Barbara Lavallee and Ed Young. In addition to the award winners, the jury selected Wonderland Books and Toys in Rockford, Illinois for an honorable mention in the children's specialty store category.
The Pannell Award was established in 1981, and first given in 1983, to honor Ms. Pannell, a model bookwoman and children's bookseller. The Award recognizes retail bookstores who excel at creatively bringing books and children together and inspiring children's interest in books and reading. After six weeks of deliberation, the jury of five book industry professionals selected BookPeople and Reading Reptile as the winners based on creativity, responsiveness to community needs, passion, and understanding of children's books and young readers.
"The winners this year presented an impressive combination of unbridled delight in working with children and books and real business savvy. Reading Reptile and BookPeople demonstrated an extraordinary ability to make books and reading dynamic, interactive, and exciting for kids. The physical design of both stores draws children in and facilitates hands-on interaction about books. Both stores are enthusiastically dedicated to educating the public and their own staff about children's literature in bold and creative ways. The atmosphere and attitude in the stores makes children and families feel welcome, and makes authors and illustrators want to make store visits. The winners conduct "giving tree", school book fair, and other community outreach programs, but in refreshing and personalized ways. Most impressive, though, is the way Reading Reptile and BookPeople literally bring books to life for the children they serve. Their programming is innovative, responsive to community needs, and just plain fun," says Eileen Hanning, WNBA's Pannell Committee Chair. "These stores take selling children's books, but not themselves, very seriously!"
The jury was impressed with BookPeople's comprehensive approach to inspiring young readers. BookPeople's public programming, physical plant, and staff education programs come together to serve their patrons effectively. As a vehicle to meet the diverse needs of the Austin community, BookPeople has adapted the traditional storytime idea, creating Yoga Storytime, Musical Storytime, Bilingual Storytime in Spanish or French and English, Theatre Storytime, American Sign Language Storytime, and Around the World Storytime-a summer series focusing on a different place each week, complete with a passport for young participants. These events, in addition to original book-based puppet shows and storytimes conducted at local preschools and the children's museum, take place regularly, providing many opportunities for Austin kids to experience great books. The physical design of BookPeople's children's section leads shoppers through in a way that mirrors a child's development. A large amphitheater at the center of the section has a tunnel and lighted cubbies underneath it, creating cozy reading spots that kids love. The teen fiction section, located just outside the children's section, has its own entrance, so that teens don't have to walk through little kid books to get to what they want to read. To ensure that the whole staff at BookPeople is familiar with children's titles, they run an incentive program to encourage staff members to read advance copies provided by publishers. BookPeople's summer-time reading program for upper elementary and middle school readers, their monthly book club for children and teens, and their very popular online book chat create opportunities for young readers to voice opinions about books they've read.
Reading Reptile welcomes kids and families, bringing books to life with enormous papier mache characters from favorite children's books, including Burt Dow, Olivia, and Captain Underpants. Their George and Martha lounge encourages play and imagination. Moveable bookcases make it possible for Reading Reptile to seat up to 150 people for performances on their stage. They regularly write and produce original plays, based on books, in conjunction with author visits. Usually funny and almost always irreverent, shows often encourage visiting authors or illustrators to play a part in the production. Now in its ninth year, their DNA Children's Literature Festival, in association with Rockhurst Unviersity, brings six or more children's authors and illustrators to Kansas City for two days to meet with schoolchildren, teachers, librarians, writers, and artists. Reading Reptile, too, makes the most of its story hours and reading groups, with several programs to serve different age groups. Food and crafts figure prominently. Their newsletter's edgy and hilarious book reviews are clearly intended for grown-ups, demonstrating that Reading Reptile understands an important truth in children's bookselling: introducing children to great books and motivating them to read is one thing, but motivating an adult to buy a children's book is often another. They do both exceptionally well.
This year's Pannell Award jury consisted of:
Jenny Abrami, Chronicle Books
Geoffrey Hughes, Harcourt Trade Publishers
Ellen Myrick, Ingram Book Group
Susan Raab, Raab Associates
Jason Wells, Abrams Books for Young Readers/Amulet Books
The Women's National Book Association, founded in 1917, is a national organization of women and men who work with and value books. WNBA, an all-volunteer organization, exists to promote reading and to support the role of women in the community of the book. To learn more about the organization, visit their website at www.wnba-books.org.
WNBA Announces Children's Bookseller Award Nominees
The Women's National Book Association is proud to announce the nominees for this year's Lucile Micheels Pannell Award. The Pannell Award was established in 1983 to honor Ms. Pannell, a model bookwoman and children's bookseller. The Award recognizes retail bookstores that excel at creatively bringing books and children together and inspiring children's interest in books and reading. WNBA will present the Award to two bookstores (one general and one children's bookstore) at BookExpo America 2005 in New York City. Each recipient will receive a check for $1000 and a framed piece of original art by a children's book illustrator.
This year nine stores were nominated in the children's bookstore category and eight stores were nominated in the general bookstore category. "The Midwest and eastern states are strongly represented this year with 14 stores. Only three shops come from the West, two in Texas and one in California," says Eileen Hanning, WNBA's Pannell Committee Chair. "Beyond the interesting geographical distribution of this year's nominees, these stores are remarkable for their creativity. The innovative ways they handle special events, develop strong relationships with schools and community groups, manage their staffs and stores, and cultivate the curiosity and passion of their young readers makes these stores models for the children's bookselling industry."
The nominees in the children's specialty store category are:
Bank Street College Book Store, New York NY
Children's Book World, Los Angeles CA
Cover to Cover Book Store, Columbus OH
Little Book House, Albany NY
Once Upon A Time Bookshop, Decorah IA
Pooh's Corner: A Children's Bookstore, Grand Rapids MI
Reading Reptile: Books and Toys for Young Mammals,
Kansas City MO
Square Books, Jr., Oxford MS
Wonderland Books and Toys, Rockford IL
The nominees in the general store category are:
Baylor Book Store, Waco TX
Blue Heron Bookstore, Peninsula OH
BookPeople, Austin TX
Bookends, Ridgewood NJ
Broad Street Books, Norfolk VA
Buckhill Book Shop, Lititz PA
City Lights Bookstore, Sylva NC
Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe, Asheville NC
"The nominees have already submitted their entries for jury consideration, and once again, I think the jury has its work cut out for it. Each of these stores is deeply involved in their communities and bringing books and children together in new and exciting ways. I'm looking forward to learning the jury's decision and presenting the awards at BEA" adds Hanning. The Women's National Book Association, founded in 1917, is a national organization of women and men who work with and value books. WNBA, an all-volunteer organization, exists to promote reading and to support the role of women in the community of the book.
Contact Information:
Name: Eileen Hanning, WNBA Pannell Chair
Phone: 703-998-8541
Fax: 703-998-8818
email: eidh at yahoo.com
Press Release Archive: 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002