New Children’s Award Category for 2022
Now in their seventh year, the Whistler Independent Book Awards are pleased to announce a new category for the awards: children’s books. The WIBA Children’s Prize will recognize the best self-published Canadian books for young readers, including chapter books, illustrated stories and picture books intended for an audience up to the age of twelve. Young adult fiction and non-fiction will continue to be judged in the main categories.
We are honoured to have two distinguished authors acting as finalists’ judges for the new Children’s prize. Arthur Slade is the author of thirty-one novels for young readers including The Hunchback Assignments, which won the prestigious TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and Dust, winner of the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature. Sara Leach is the award-winning author of nine books for children, including the acclaimed Slug Days trilogy. Her middle-grade novel Count Me In has been translated into four languages, and won the Red Cedar Book Award.