TD Canadian Children's Literature Award facts for kids

The TD Canadian Children's Literature Award is a special prize given every year to the best books for kids and young people in Canada. It celebrates amazing stories and non-fiction books written for children.

This award is supported by TD Bank Financial Group and the Canadian Children's Book Centre. It comes with a big cash prize of $50,000! This amount was increased from $30,000 on September 11, 2018, showing how important children's books are.

Two awards are given out each year: one for books written in English and another for books written in French. The Canadian Children's Book Centre also presents other awards, like the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People.

English-language Award Winners

This award recognizes outstanding English-language books for young readers. Here are some of the recent winners and finalists:

• 2024 Winner: Skating Wild on an Inland Sea by Jean E. Pendziwol and Todd Stewart
  • Finalists: Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow, The Umbrella House by Colleen Nelson, Do You Remember? by Sydney Smith, Green Papayas by Nhung N. Tran-Davies
• 2023 Winner: Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer
  • Finalists: Berani by Michelle Kadarusman, Kunoichi Bunny by Sara Cassidy (illus. by Brady Sato), Sitting Shiva by Erin Silver (illus. by Michelle Theodore), The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
• 2022 Winner: On the Trapline by David A. Robertson (illus. by Julie Flett)
  • Finalists: Growing Up Trans: In Our Own Words by Dr. Lindsay Herriot and Kate Fry (ed.), Borders by Thomas King (illus. by Natasha Donovan), A Kid Is a Kid Is a Kid by Sara O'Leary (illus. by Qin Leng), The Fabulous Zed Watson! by Basil Sylvester and Kevin Sylvester (illus. by Kevin Sylvester)
• 2021 Winner: The Barnabus Project by The Fan Brothers (Terry, Eric, and Devin Fan)
  • Finalists: A Beginner’s Guide to Goodbye by Melanie Mosher, Bloom by Kenneth Oppel, The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson, When Emily Was Small by Lauren Soloy
• 2020 Winner: Birdsong by Julie Flett
  • Finalists: Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow, It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way by Kyo Maclear (illus. by Julie Morstad), Small in the City by Sydney Smith, Broken Strings by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer
• 2019 Winner: Ebb & Flow by Heather Smith
  • Finalists: Sweep: A Story About a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier, Mustafa by Marie-Louise Gay, They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki, After Life: Ways We Think About Death by Merrie-Ellen Wilcox
• 2018 Winner: Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz (illus. by Sydney Smith)
  • Finalists: When the Moon Comes by Paul Harbridge (illus. by Matt James), Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr, Picture the Sky by Barbara Reid, Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith
• 2017 Winner: The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk by Jan Thornhill
  • Finalists: Tokyo Digs a Garden by Jon-Erik Lappano (illus. by Kellen Hatanaka), The Skeleton Tree by Iain Lawrence, A Day of Signs and Wonders by Kit Pearson, When We Were Alone by David Alexander Robertson (illus. by Julie Flett)
• 2016 Winner: Missing Nimâmâ by Melanie Florence (illus. by François Thisdale)
• 2015 Winner: The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier
• 2014 Winner: The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson (illus. by Dušan Petričić)
• 2013 Winner: One Year in Coal Harbour by Polly Horvath
• 2012 Winner: Stones for My Father by Trilby Kent
• 2011 Winner: Plain Kate by Erin Bow
• 2010 Winner: The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade
• 2009 Winner: Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola I. Campbell (illus. by Kim LaFave)
• 2008 Winner: Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
• 2007 Winner: Odd Man Out by Sarah Ellis
• 2006 Winner: The Crazy Man by Pamela Porter
• 2005 Winner: Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance by Marthe Jocelyn

French-language Award Winners

This award celebrates the best French-language books for children and young adults. Here are some of the recent winners and finalists:

• 2024 Winner: Les saumons de la Mitis by Christine Beaulieu and Caroline Lavergne
  • Finalists: La couleur de ma difference by Mc Knoell Alexis, Taches d'huile by Jonathan Bécotte (illus. by Enzo), Alerte : culottes meurtrières by Élise Gravel, Le Cumulus machinus by Ugo Monticone (illus. by Orbie)
• 2023 Winner: Seuls by Paul Tom (illus. by Mélanie Baillairgé)
  • Finalists: Dans les souliers d’Amédée by Véronique Lambert (illus. by Éléna Comte), Gloria sort du moule by Guylaine Guay (illus. by Bach), Mélie quelque part au milieu by Mylène Goupil, Toucher les étoiles by Frédérick Wolfe
• 2022 Winner: La fin des poux? by Orbie
  • Finalists: Papier bulle by Simon Boulerice (illus. by Eve Patenaude), Les devoirs d’Edmond by Hugo Léger (illus. by Julie Rocheleau), La guerre des bébés by Carole Tremblay (illus. by Élodie Duhameau), Dans mon garde-robe by Aimée Verret
• 2021 Winner: Ma maison-tête by Vigg
  • Finalists: C’est quoi l’amour? by Lucile de Pesloüan (illus. by Geneviève Darling), Aurore et le pays invisible by Christiane Duchesne, Pokko et le tambour by Matthew Forsythe, Colle-moi by Véronique Grénier
• 2020 Winner: L’étoiles by Jacques Goldstyn
  • Finalists: Pipo by Amélie Dumoulin (illus. by Todd Stewart), Mon ami Pierrot by Annie Gravel (illus. by Enzo), Quand le vent souffle by Todd Stewart, Le grain de sable: Olivier Le Jeune, premier esclave au Canada by Webster (illus. by ValMo)
• 2019 Winner: Anatole qui ne séchait jamais by Stéphanie Boulay (illus. by Agathe Bray-Bourret)
  • Finalists: Nos héroïnes by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette (illus. by Mathilde Cinq-Mars), Jules et Jim, frères d’armes by Jacques Goldstyn, Moi, c’est Tantale by André Marois (illus. by Julien Castanié), Qui va bercer Zoé? by Andrée Poulin (illus. by Mathieu Lampron)
• 2018 Winner: Le chemin de la montagne by Marianne Dubuc
  • Finalists: Bleu by Philippe Béha, Pow Pow, t’es mort! by Marie-Francine Hébert (illus. by Jean-Luc Trudel), Gilles by Mathieu Lavoie, ABCMTL by Jeanne Painchaud (photos by Bruno Ricca)
• 2017 Winner: Même pas vrai by Larry Tremblay (illus. by Guillaume Perreault)
  • Finalists: En voiture! L’Amérique en chemin de fer by Pascal Blanchet, Niska by Étienne Poirier, Y’a pas de place chez nous by Andrée Poulin (illus. by Enzo Lord Mariano), Aaah!bécédaire by Elaine Turgeon (illus. by Martin Laliberté)
• 2016 Winner: L’arbragan by Jacques Goldstyn
• 2015 Winner: L’autobus by Marianne Dubuc
• 2014 Winner: La plus grosse poutine du monde by Andrée Poulin
• 2013 Winner: À la recherche du bout du monde by Michel Noël
• 2012 Winner: La saison des pluies by Mario Brassard (illus. by Suana Verelst)
• 2011 Winner: La fille d’en face by Linda Amyot
• 2010 Winner: Le géranium by Mélanie Tellier (illus. by Melinda Josie)
• 2009 Winner: Chère Traudi by Anne Villeneuve
• 2008 Winner: Un cadeau pour Sophie by Gilles Vigneault (illus. by Stéphane Jorisch)
• 2007 Winner: L’Envers de la chanson : des enfants au travail 1850-1950 by André Leblanc
• 2006 Winner: David et le salon funéraire by François Gravel (illus. by Pierre Pratt)
• 2005 Winner: Le nul et la chipie by François Barcelo (illus. by Anne Villeneuve)