The Governor General's Award for French-language children's writing is a special Canadian award. It celebrates one Canadian writer each year for an amazing children's book written in French. This award is one of four children's book awards given out as part of the Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit. These awards recognize both writers and illustrators for books in English and French. The Canada Council helps manage the entire Governor General's Awards program.
This award has been called the "Governor General's Award" since 1987. However, the children's literature awards actually started earlier, in 1975, under the name "Canada Council Children's Literature Prizes." So, whether it was called the "Canada Council" award or the "Governor General's" award, a prize for French-language children's writing has been given out every year since 1975.
Early Awards: Canada Council Children's Literature Prize
In 1975, the Canada Council created four yearly prizes of $5000. These were for the best English and French children's books by Canadian writers and illustrators. These "Canada Council Children's Literature Prizes" continued until 1987. After that, they became part of the "Governor General's Awards," which still happen today. The French-language writing prize has been awarded every year since 1975.
Here are some of the early winners:
- 1975: Louise Aylwin, Raminagradu: Histoires ordinaires pour enfants extraordinaire
- 1976: Bernadette Renaud, Emilie, la baignoire à pattes
- 1977: Denise Houle, Lune de neige
- 1978: Ginette Anfousse, La chicane
- 1979: Gabrielle Roy, Courte-Queue
- 1980: Bertrand Gauthier [fr], Hébert Luée
- 1981: Suzanne Martel, Nos amis robots
- 1982: Ginette Anfousse, Fabien 1: Un loup pour Rose and Fabien 2: Une nuit au pays des malices
- 1983: Denis Côté [fr], Hockeyeurs Cybernétiques
- 1984: Daniel Sernine, Le cercle violet
- 1985: Robert Soulières [fr], Casse-tête chinois
- 1986: Raymond Plante [fr], Le derneir des raisins
Winners from the 1980s
| Year |
Author |
Title |
| 1987 |
David Schinkel [fr] and Yves Beauchesne [fr] |
Le Don |
| 1988 |
Michèle Marineau |
Cassiopée ou l'Été polonais |
| 1989 |
Charles Montpetit [fr] |
Temps mort |
Winners from the 1990s
| Year |
Author |
Title |
| 1990 |
Christiane Duchesne |
La Vraie histoire du chien de Clara Vic |
| 1991 |
François Gravel |
Deux heures et demie avant Jasmine |
| 1992 |
Christiane Duchesne |
Victor |
| 1993 |
Michèle Marineau |
La Route de Chlifa |
| 1994 |
Suzanne Martel |
Une belle journée pour mourir |
| 1995 |
Sonia Sarfati |
Comme une peau de chagrin |
| 1996 |
Gilles Tibo |
Noémie: Le Secret de Madame Lumbago |
| 1997 |
Michel Noël |
Pien |
| 1998 |
Angèle Delaunois |
Variations sur un même «t'aime» |
| 1999 |
Charlotte Gingras |
La Liberté? Connais pas... |
Winners from the 2000s
| Year |
Author |
Title |
| 2000 |
Charlotte Gingras |
Un été de Jade |
| 2001 |
Christiane Duchesne |
Jomusch et le troll des cuisines |
| 2002 |
Hélène Vachon |
L'oiseau de passage |
| 2003 |
Danielle Simard |
J’ai vendu ma sœur |
| 2004 |
Nicole Leroux |
L'Hiver de Léo Polatouche |
| 2005 |
Camille Bouchard [fr] |
Le Ricanement des hyènes |
| 2006 |
Dany Laferrière |
Je suis fou de Vava |
| 2007 |
François Barcelo [fr] |
La fatigante et le fainéant |
| 2008 |
Sylvie Desrosiers |
Les trois lieues |
| 2009 |
Hervé Bouchard |
Harvey |
Winners from the 2010s
| Year |
Author |
Title |
| 2010 |
Élise Turcotte |
Rose : derrière le rideau de la folie |
| 2011 |
Martin Fournier |
Les aventures de Radisson - 1. L’enfer ne brûle pas |
| 2012 |
Aline Apostolska |
Un été d’amour et de cendres |
| 2013 |
Geneviève Mativat |
À l'ombre de la grande maison |
| 2014 |
Linda Amyot |
Le jardin d’Amsterdam |
| 2015 |
Louis-Philippe Hébert |
Marie Réparatrice |
| 2016 |
François Gilbert |
Hare Krishna |
| 2017 |
Véronique Drouin |
L'importance de Mathilde Poisson |
| 2018 |
Mario Brassard |
Ferdinand F., 81 ans, chenille |
| 2019 |
Dominique Demers |
L'albatros et la mésange |
Winners from the 2020s
| Year |
Author |
Title |
| 2020 |
François Blais |
Lac Adélard |
| 2021 |
Jean-François Sénéchal |
Les Avenues |
| 2022 |
Julie Champagne |
Cancer ascendant Autruche |
| 2023 |
Lou Beauchesne |
Linoubliable |
| 2024 |
Stéfani Meunier |
Une bulle en dehors du temps |
See also
