TO DO- Get Published This Year~

nvsealsOnly one more month to submit your pb manuscript for Lee and Low’s NEW VOICES AWARD. That’s right the New Voices Award that has introduced to world to great new talent like Aaron Boyd, Zetta Elliott, and Paula Yoo!

The submission deadline is fast approaching for Lee & Low Books’ tenth annual NEW VOICES AWARD.

Manuscripts will be accepted through September 30, 2009, and must be postmarked within that period. You can find full submission guidelines here.

The NEW VOICES AWARD is given for a children’s picture book story by a writer of color. The Award prize is a cash grant of $1,000 and Lee & Low’s standard publication contract, including an advance against royalties. The Honor Award prize is a cash grant of $500. Past winners include Bird and Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds.

Please help us spread the word and pass along this information to anyone else who might be interested.

We look forward to receiving your submission!

The Editors

Good luck!

If you’re still a little shy of perfection then get your work together and send to Pat Cummings, yes, that’s right the Pat Cummings, who is hosting a fall Children’s Book Boot Camp!

CBBC-Fall-09

Last, but not least, BIRD got it’s first Canadian review! Check it out in it’s entirety here at CM magazine!

Bird is a sensitive and realistic story written in a free-form poetic style. The text is wonderfully spare, yet evocative of the range of emotions with which its young narrator deals. It is rare for an author to address problems of drugs and family life as Zetta Eliott does in her first picture book. Although some might say that Bird’s obsession with art is “escaping,” it is perhaps more accurate to say that his drawing helps him to make sense of the world around him. Shadra Strickland’s mixed media illustrations depicting not only the characters and setting of the story, but also the young protagonist’s drawings, are outstanding. This year, Bird won several awards for the talented artist, including the Jack Ezra Keats award and the Coretta King John Steptoe Award for New Talent. It is the first children’s book for both writer and illustrator. All those who share books with young readers will hope that it is the first of many.