Rukhsana Khan to receive 2011 Charlotte Zolotow Award

“Big Red Lollipop” by Rukhsana Khan has been selected as the 2011 winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book, to be presented March 5, by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Khan’s first-person narrative tells the story of Rubina, who’s thrilled to receive her first invitation to a classmate’s birthday party. But when Rubina’s mother, unfamiliar with this cultural tradition, insists that she take her younger sister along, the whole event is ruined for Rubina.

Khan realistically and humorously presents sibling conflict in an authentic child’s voice, as she shows a young girl successfully negotiating two cultures. “Big Red Lollipop” was edited by Catherine Frank and published in the United States in 2010 by Viking, an imprint of the Penguin Group.

The 2011 Zolotow Award committee named four Honor Books:

• “April and Esme, Tooth Fairies,” written and illustrated by Bob Graham, edited by Joan Powers and published by Candlewick Press;
• “City Dog, Country Frog,” written by Mo Willems, illustrated by Jon J. Muth, edited by Christian Trimmer and published by Hyperion/Disney Book Group;
• “Hip-Pocket Papa,” written by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Alan Marks, edited by Emily Mitchell and published by Charlesbridge;
• “A Sick Day for Amos McGee,” written by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, edited by Neal Porter, a Neal Porter Book/Roaring Brook Press.

The award committee also cited six titles as Highly Commended:

• “A Beach Tail,” written by Karen Lynn Williams and illustrated by Floyd Cooper (Boyds Mills Press);
• “Chavela and the Magic Bubble,” written by Monica Brown and illustrated by Magaly Morales (Clarion Book/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt);
• “I Am a Backhoe,” written and illustrated by Anna Grossnickle Hines (Tricycle Press/Crown Publishing Group/Random House Children’s Books);
• “Little Black Crow,” written and illustrated by Chris Raschka (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster);
• “My Garden,” written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow/HarperCollins);
• “Willoughby & the Moon,” written and illustrated by Greg Foley (Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins).

Established in 1998, the Charlotte Zolotow Award honors the work of Zolotow, a distinguished children’s book editor for 38 years with Harper Junior Books, and author of more than 70 picture books, including such classic works as “Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present” (Harper, 1962) and “William’s Doll” (Harper, 1972). Zolotow attended the University of Wisconsin on a writing scholarship from 1933-36 and studied with Professor Helen C. White. The award is given annually for outstanding writing in a picture book for children in the birth through 7 age range published in the United States during the preceding year.

Members of the 2011 Zolotow Award committee were: Carling Febry, chair (librarian, Cooperative Children’s Book Center); Suzy Grindrod (kindergarten teacher, Emerson Elementary School, Madison); Kathleen T. Horning (director, Cooperative Children’s Book Center); Tracy Moore (children’s librarian, Madison Public Library); and Maryann H. Owen (youth services librarian, Racine, Wis., Public Library).

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center is a noncirculating library for adults with a professional, career or academic interest in children’s and young adult literature. The Friends of the CCBC Inc. is a nonprofit organization offering lectures, speaker receptions, book sales and other benefits for members, as well as assistance to the CCBC.

For more information, contact the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, 600 N. Park St., Room 4290, Madison, WI 53706, 608-890-1332, or visit http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/zolotow.asp.