CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The winner of the 2006 Gryphon Award for Children's Literature is Michelle Edwards for her easy-to-read book, "Stinky Stern Forever." Edwards also illustrated the book, published last year by Harcourt.
The award, which includes a $1,000 prize, is given by the Center for Children's Books at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The center is a unit of the U. of I. Graduate School of Library and Information Science.
Three Gryphon Award honor books were named: "Jigsaw Pony," by Jessie Haas (Greenwillow), illustrated by Ying-Hwa Hu; "Babymouse: Queen of the World!," written and illustrated by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random House); and "Chameleon, Chameleon," by Joy Cowley (Scholastic), illustrated with photographs by Nic Bishop.
Established in 2004, the annual award is given to the author of an outstanding work of fiction or non-fiction for children in kindergarten through fourth grade. The title chosen "best exemplifies those qualities that successfully bridge the gap in difficulty between books for reading aloud to children and books for practiced readers," said Betsy Hearne, director of the center and the chair of the Gryphon Award Committee.
The award was created to focus attention on transitional reading, an area of literature for youth that does not receive the recognition it deserves, Hearne said.
The award is funded by the center's Outreach Endowment Fund. Gifts may be made to the fund at www.lis.uiuc.edu/development/funds.html or by contacting Diana Stroud, 217-244-9577.