Children's Book Awards 2011 BIAJ

The Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ) had its biennial Book Awards which focus on publishing, on Thursday evening, in what was a lovely gala event. When you hear the number of books submitted it really sounds as if we have a vibrant publishing industry. So that gives all of us a hopeful feeling. In addition, there were significantly more self-publishers than the last time. This also suggests vibrancy, and indicates that with increasing access to technology and the practitioners who use the technology, more authors are moving forward without a traditional publishing house. The pros and cons of this are an entirely different matter from the subject of this post.

This post is to tell you what happened with the children’s books, and I’m very pleased to say that I’ve highlighted these books before on my blog as being delightful, significant etc.

So here it is:

Best Children’s Chapter Book went to Carlong Publishers, Bernie and the Captain’s Ghost by Hazel D. Campbell
Best Children’s Picture Book went to Jackmandora for Little Lion Goes for Gold by Kellie Magnus

Of course, even for awards to the publisher we know that the authors first have to write a good story, so for me it is a joint award.

For the first time BIAJ had a Readers’ Choice Awards for the writers (as different from the publishers), whereby readers voted for one of the books submitted for this category.
The winners were:
Best Children’s Picture Book: Kellie Magnus for Little Lion Goes for Gold
Best Children’s Chapter Book: Billy Elm for Delroy in the Marog Kingdom, Macmillan Caribbean

Adult Creative Writing: to LMH for Inner City Girl, by Colleen Smith-Dennis

This last book is interesting as it was entered as an adult book, which it can be. I think of it as a young adult novel; however perhaps the publishers wisely entered it in the adult category in the absence of a young adult category. Will there be a young adult category in the future? Who knows? The BIAJ introduced a number of new categories this time, and one has to be mindful of the ability to cope with numerous categories. So ‘big up’ for BIAJ and ‘big up’ for the publishers and writers!

No, for those who are asking, I did not have any books entered this time around.

Today we had readings by prize-winning authors, but that’s another blog.

Style and Personality ... in illustrations in children's books

As writers we use description and dialogue (with peculiarities of speech) to differentiate between characters, to bring characters to life. Illustrators follow our descriptions in artwork briefs (or in the story for those who actually read the stories – very few, I gather) to bring the characters to life visually. They further illustrate the story by showing characters’ reactions to situations, with expressions of fear/fright, sadness, happiness, laughter, anger, frowns, scowls, smiles; there’s action and movement.

That’s it. Then I realised when I chose the illustrations for my last post that some artists have an additional gift/ability, and that is to show personality. Personality, while not essential, adds value to an illustration. And for no reason, I remembered a song from my youth, something like … ‘she’s got style and personality …’ (Lloyd Price, for those whose memory goes that far back) which I loved, hence the title for this piece. This does not have much to do with children’s literature except that it was a cool song. (Who wouldn’t want to have style and personality?) And it just seemed to suit the concept of personality in illustrations.



I’ve chosen to share examples from two different styles of work.

Cartoon style lends itself to mimicry, to laughter, but not necessarily to personality. So it’s delightful that from Cricket is My Game, written and illustrated by Jason Cole, (Barbados, 2006), we meet Rosie, the little girl with the personality on the cover. We know that she’s fun. Amongst the other characters we meet in the book, is Lucy. “Lucy’s spin bowling is really the trick….” We don’t’ need to read that Lucy won’t make any chance of an appeal pass her. We can see it in her personality.





In more realistic illustrations it should be easy to spot personality. It isn’t always. In A Season for Mangoes, set in Jamaica, written by Regina Hanson and illustrated by Eric Velasquez, (Clarion Books, New York, 2005) Sareen is a young girl you with style and personality; a little unsure of herself but she ‘s getting there.



Down by the River compiled by Grace Hallworth, illustrated by Caroline Binch, (Mammoth, UK, 1997) abounds with characters with style and personality. One image shows a girl who is Miss Personality herself. It is here also that I found illustrations of boys with personality (often hard to find). The front cover shows a lot of children and this artist has managed to capture the personality of each child, and each is different. Can you imagine the young reader ‘stepping into a book’ and discovering that he/she actually sees a character with personality, someone that it would be great to be friends with? (Or not.) Can you imagine that! That must rank right up there with recognizing yourself in books.

The role of illustrations in children's books: Caribbean examples

In my last post I looked at a book, Cricket is My Game, by Jason Cole (Barbados), where the illustrations and text complemented each other; the illustrations were in bright colours and had a lot of movement, and where the personalities of the characters were captured in the illustrations. The best of all worlds!

However not all books for children have this balance, nor do they all need it. It depends on the target audience, and sometimes, unfortunately, costs.

Books fall into different categories. The breakdown I find most useful is: Picture Books, Picture Story Books, Chapter Books, Young Adult Novels. Books do not always fall neatly into these categories; sometimes there is overlap.

Picture books are for children from ages 0-6, nursery school (early childhood) into primary. These books have mainly illustrative matter (including photographs) with little text. Some are made of board so as to survive the handling of toddlers. Amongst these are alphabet books, rhyming books, nursery rhymes, books used for pre-reading (no words at all), and so on. Interestingly enough, although full colour is the rule for this group, there have been some modern ones in two or three colours. The Caribbean does not produce many books which fall into this category. This could be because there are so many of them that we really can’t begin to compete, and often the content does not need to be culture-specific at this stage, or perhaps this is where we share a common international culture: Shapes, A-B-C, nursery rhymes, counting books. We are more likely to see Caribbean alphabet books, and counting books because this is where we can meaningfully introduce cultural aspects. One Smiling Grandma, by Anne Marie Linden, illustrated by Lynne Russell (Heinemann Young Books - UK) is a colourful example.

Picture story books. These have illustrations in full colour, on every page, (Wonderful!) on every other page, or perhaps less frequently. This is where it would seem most Caribbean children’s books are to be found. The story is the vehicle, but the illustrations are important. That is, the children cannot enjoy the story without the illustrations, and a skilled book designer will do justice to the text. Double spreads can create a sense of setting like the one in Cordelia Finds Fame and Fortune by Diane Browne. These books are suitable for nursery school through primary/preparatory to about age 8; are read to children or read by the children themselves when they become independent readers. Some are in rhyme, some not. Even though full colour is expensive these books are short, usually no more than 32 pages, so there is no gain in trying to do fewer illustrations, except of course for the illustrator’s costs. Pity! And this is where cost can be a challenge to Caribbean publishers. Other examples are the Little Lion Series, by Kellie Magnus, (Jackmandora – Jamaica), Shaggy Parrot and the Reggae Band, by Jana Bent et al,( Reggae Pickney – Jamaica), where there is an interesting mix of photos and traditional illustrations, Boy Boy and the Magic Drum, by Machel Montano, (Trinidad), A Season For Mangoes, by Regina Hanson, (set in Jamaica -Clarion Books, USA).

In spite of the need for illustrations to be in full colour, it’s interesting to mention the American Dr. Seuss books. The quirky illustrations are in three colours, and the text is powerful. Does it even need the illustrations? Yes, but not as much as other books. The text carries you along on a wave of words.

Chapter books are for the independent reader, upper primary to lower secondary, ages 9-12. This category has seen some of the most recent consistent activity with Carlong Publishers’ (Jamaica) Sand Pebbles Series. At this level we move into more text than illustrations. Illustrations do not carry the story; rather, they illustrate some scenes within the story. So in A Tumbling World… A Time of Fire, by Diane Browne, (Arawak Publishers - Jamaica) the historical aspects, tramcar and carriage, appear in some illustrations, giving us a sense of time. Illustrations are usually in black and white; the number varies with the extent of the book and the reading level. For the child, these books prove that he/she is growing up. In fact, children can be put off by full colour illustrations, and too large a font size - a 'baby book'. Some books even manage without much illustration. My friend and fellow writer, Hazel Campbell, likes to point out that the Harry Potter books only have small illustrations at the beginning of each chapter.

Although children need books at all ages, this is where we lose them if we do not continue their exposure to books, and to our own books. Some examples of books in this category are Little Island, Big Adventures, by Maria Roberts Squires (set in the Grenadines - Carlong), Jenny and the General, by Jean D'Costa - Jamaica - Carlong) Every Little Thing Will Be All Right, Diane Browne (Jamaica - Carlong), Ramgoat Dashalong, Hazel D. Campbell (Jamaica - LMH). These two last titles have collections of stories instead of chapters. Bernie and the Captain’s Ghost by Hazel D. Campbell ( Jamaica - Carlong), and here one can see how the black and white illustrations complement the excitement and tension in the story.

Young adult novels. There are no illustrations. We are in the big leagues now. Perhaps you can remember from your younger days, turning to the cover of this type of book every now and then while reading, to capture images of the protagonist, the setting. This category can extend from upper primary to upper secondary. In the Caribbean these books seem to fall into two groups: those which have a child protagonist, but are really about adult writers revisiting their colonial childhood/ making sense of it, and those which have been written specifically for children. In the latter category are books like Harriet’s Daughter, by Marlene Nourbese Philip (set in Canada – the migrant experience which is so much a part of us - Heinemann), and more recently, Delroy in the Marog Kingdom, by Billy Elm (set in Jamaica - Macmillan Caribbean), and The Legend of the Swan Children, by Maureen Marks-Mendonca (set in the rainforests of South America – the author was born in Guyana - Macmillan Caribbean). An interesting one is Inner City Girl, by Colleen Smith-Dennis, (LMH – Jamaica), which although it is for the young adult readers, has been entered by the publisher in the adult category of a national competition. But that sometimes is how it is. Good books can be enjoyed at many levels.

A picture is worth a thousand words... in a children's book

'A picture is worth a thousand words,' and other such truisms, like 'the camera never lies' ...

Well the first one is still true... The second is unbelievably untrue. Pictures can now do anything, or rather, you can do anything with pictures. Recently, I saw an ad on TV where a mother had achieved (by cutting and pasting), just the right smile on each member of the family for a family picture. Truly scary! Truth disappears into technology...


So far, technology has only enabled the role and place of illustrations in children's books. Technology has not endangered the truth because the truth, as conveyed by illustrations, has always been in the eye of the beholder, created by a combination of the mind of the writer, the eye and skill of the artist, and the ability of the editor to bring together all of these variables.

I have had in mind to discuss the role of illustrations in children's books for some time. However what made me look at it now is that someone commented on one of my blogs, saying that too often illustrations in our children's books seem to be designed to 'break up the text rather than convey the story'. She stated that pictures are as important as the text and that they don't have to be totally true to life either; they can 'evoke or suggest'. This place of illustrations in children's books will be discussed further because one has to consider the type of story, the age level of the target audience, and so on, to fully identify the role of illustrations in a particular type of book, and I suspect that some people may not understand the varying roles. However the person writing is correct about the importance of illustrations in books for young children.


So as we look at this topic, we can start by saying that it is a given that illustrations should be bright and colourful, (unless the desire is to create the dark atmosphere of a dark episode in a scary tale, and young children do not like dark and scary). Bright and colourful carries a message. We will look again at the significance of 'bright' versus 'dark' illustrations.


The next point is that given the importance of illustrations to children's books, it is most unfortunate that we do not appear to have as many artists as we would like who are able to create the movement which is needed in children's illustrations. Because the truth is that children are never still. They seldom just stand about as some illustrators would have them do.




Therefore, I want to share with you some books from our region in which I think the illustrations create their own excitement, where they do play their rightful role in books for young children.


This one is from Barbados. It's Cricket is My Game, written and illustrated by Jason Cole, 2006.


Look at the little girl on the cover. Her expression invites you into a story which you know is going to be full of fun. The artist has captured her personality. The illustrations inside this book are all movement and hilarity. The writer/artist has been able to create a story where illustrations and text go hand in hand to tell a story about spirited children having fun with cricket.

Who has the right to write ...?

Can anybody write about anything for children? No. We know that certain topics are not appropriate for children and that persons who write for children should have skill in writing for a particular age group. I've been meaning to write a blog on that and will get to it eventually. Perhaps soon.

However, here is my topic of interest/concern.

I'm visiting an island I love for itself, a combination of sea and wind and land, and little changes of scenery, almost every few yards it seems, and for the first time I seem to be here at the time of year when the Woman's Tongue Trees are bare of leaves, their brown pods covering the tree like stiff brown foliage. My last post talked about those trees in Jamaica and mentioned my book, Gammon and the Woman's Tongue Trees.

And it came to me that perhaps I would like to write a children's story set here. Note the 'perhaps'.

Aha! How do I feel when writers who are not Jamaican or who have not lived on the island long enough to 'know us', write a story about us, set in the island? Not happy. Not happy at all. And I wondered, do I have the right to write about another island?

It is an interesting coincidence, therefore, that as I'm thinking about this, my attention has been drawn to a report on a Hardy Boys book which was set in Jamaica and has inaccuracies which would be hilarious if they weren't so annoying. (Read Summer Edward's blog and Hazel Campbell's comments, as well as mine, when it is posted).

Of course, we do not know how many children's books we have read which were inaccurate in relation to time and place. We do not even know how many are being written right now.

We know that the Library has a definition of what can be considered Caribbean literature. Can we have a stipulation as to who can write about any of our territories? Of course not. However, surely if we write about a territory other than our own, we should at the very least have the manuscript read by someone from that country. Is this a topic of interest? Comments guys?

Will I write a book set here then? At this point in time, perhaps not. It was just love thinking out loud. ( And I've felt that before about other territories I've visited) And if ever so, only if the character had some links with Jamaica, and therefore there could be a rationale for seeing it through 'Jamaican eyes', and I'd still use a reader. Comments, guys?

I did have an idea once for a series that in some way linked the various territories, but those I suggested it to, weren't interested. Are any of you?

Feeding the heart! Feeding the soul! Creating ceativity!

Went to MoBay: From the luscious green vegetation on rolling hills and grand mountains, the blue and white sea against the yellow ochre sand, the grandeur of the Gorge, trees with tight, straight trunks holding fast to the rock walls, to the dry plains, brown pods of the Woman's Tongue trees, like elongated blooms. Feeding the heart, feeding the soul. Lord, this country is beautiful!

This was how I felt. And why am I telling you, dear readers, apart from the fact that you might also feel the same if you live here or you’ve been here, is because, lo and behold, before I was even into the Gorge (retuning home) the story ideas were flowing fast. Had to take out a notebook to capture them quickly. So I guess this is nothing new. Commune with nature and creativity wells up. Aha! And it was after two days of rest. It did not happen on the outward journey. Mind you, we had taken the Sligoville road, which is enough to toss away any thought of anything but where the next pothole, throwing you onto the wrong side of a mountain road, might be.

So was it the rest or was it the beauty of the country? Every thing I saw, I’ve always loved. I am passionate about the Woman’s Tongue Trees in the dry season. When you come upon a group of them, they are like flowering trees, to me as beautiful as Poui or Poinciana Trees. And yes, this does lead back through the highways and the byways of thought to children’s literature. My book, Gammon and the Woman’s Tongue Trees celebrates that passion.



So having entered 2011 wondering what to write, here I am, renewed. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could just trust in the process as it unfolds. So yes! Respect the talent! Respect the gift!
Trust the process!


Just thought of it.I would love to see Gammon and Debonair redone in colour! In a way that celebrates the beauty of the island.

What to write in 2011?

For those who are asking the same question and waiting for inspiration, you are not alone.

By now I’m supposed to be well into my third Time Travel adventure. As I said previously, I was ready to write: time period coming through, beginning to hear the characters' voices; even wrote a first paragraph ... and then between the floods from Hurricane Nicole and Hurricane Tomas, which kept us on edge for a week and then didn’t really come, (thank God), all ideas became entangled with the desire to write about winds and roaring waters, which was already done in the last Time Travel book, The Ring and the Roaring Water. And you are saying, 'Wasn't that a very long time ago?' Yes, but you would be surprised how time flies when you aren't writing. (And besides I was revising another young adult novel). Anyway, so I was set adrift, without an idea, except that I wanted to make a boy character play a more prominent part than Joseph and Ian had in the two previous Time Travel books. Of course, I have the house in which most of the action will take place - there is always a house ...

My friend, Hazel, who sends me all sorts of brilliant marketing ideas from her Internet browsing, said wouldn’t it be great if I could run a competition about ideas for the next Time Travel adventure, that is, let the readers decide where it should be. The first was in the 1907 earthquake in Kingston, the second, 1951 Hurricane Charlie in Kingston. So that’s an idea. Except we don’t know how to even begin to go about it ... Does anyone have a suggestion as to how this might work?

Actually what I really need is a manager to take my disparate titles (which belong to me, as opposed to those which belong to the Ministry or have a home with a publisher) and
1. Put them on Amazon for a start. People keep saying they don’t see my books on Amazon and where can they get them overseas. Well, actually, I have found that it’s not just that simple to get books onto Amazon. It seems that you need to have an American address.
2. Or turn them into E-books. I attended a very interesting presentation on that and I should look into it further.
3. Investigate print on demand, about which we hear mixed reports, but which might solve some of the other problems, and
4. Generally market them appropriately.

If anyone overseas sees an opportunity here, I’m sure that you’d get quite a few other authors in Jamaica who would be interested in your services.

The point of this is, thinking about business matters gets in the way of writing. However I must remember, 'Respect the gift!'

Another idea: should I write a book about a boy now that I’ve had a sort of epiphany after reading with boys? (described in a previous post). I knew it before, but it's one thing to know something academically, another to experience it.

However, rather encouraging, since I started writing this post (in the new year) an idea has been coming through ... just have to capture it ... and see if its the one ... Will the character say anything? ...


I suppose that if all else fails, I can always check on my other characters from other stories at other times to see if any of them have any other stories they want to tell ...