The Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC) and TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG) are proud to announce the finalists of the 2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award for the most distinguished book of the year. This annual award recognizes excellence in Canadian children’s literature with a $20,000 prize.

 This year’s nominated titles will captivate the hearts and imaginations of children (and adults!) everywhere. Readers will be introduced to the young Sherlock Holmes and the crime-ridden streets of 1867 inner-city London; 11-year-old Elijah, the first African Canadian child to be born into freedom in Buxton, Ontario, a settlement for runaway slaves; a young girl named Kate who is fraught with jealousy after being selected by artist John Singer Sargent to be a model for a painting, only to be replaced; a young bat named Dusk who can not only fly, but see at night using echo vision; and young Louise, the little sister who pesters her older brother so much so that he wishes she would just disappear… and she does!

The winner will be announced at a gala at The Carlu in Toronto on November 6, 2008.

Read on for the list of finalists

All books, in any genre, written by a Canadian for children ages 1  to 12 were eligible for the award. Entries were judged on the quality of the text and illustrations and the book’s overall contribution to literature. The finalists for the 2008 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award are:

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting by Hugh Brewster with paintings by John Singer Sargent Kids Can Press

Darkwing by Kenneth Oppel HarperCollins Publishers

Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis Scholastic Canada

 Eye of the Crow: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His First Case by Shane Peacock Tundra Books

Please, Louise! by Frieda Wishinsky illustrated by Marie-Louise Gay Groundwood Books