Today is the day that the nominees for the Ontario Library Association's (OLA) Forest of Reading awards are announced. Though it comes out of Ontario, the Forest of Reading is billed as Canada's largest recreational reading program. It encompasses nine awards spanning various age ranges from junior kindergarten up to adult. There are two adult programs, one for those who are learning to read or who are reading English as their second language, and the other for adults of any age or reading level. The children's programs include four English children's awards that are segmented by grade level plus three French awards segmented by picture books, chapter books, and shorter chapter books/mature picture books.
We don't often blog about children's book awards because, while we often see distinct sales increases for shortlisted and winning titles, the sales increase tends to take place over a longer period than adult literary awards, where there is usually a very distinct and discernible spike in sales. The Forest of Reading tends to be another unique situation because, while many sales are made directly to consumers, the spike we see can also often be attributed to sales to libraries.
Since we can't report on the sales of individual titles, we've created a redacted graph so you can get an idea of the impact of the Forest of Reading awards. Included below are the sales for the Blue Spruce Award, which are JK - grade 2 picture books. Sales trend significantly higher for a period of three to four months after the shortlist announcement and then, for many of the titles, they come back closer to the pre-award sales trend. Also included is a trend line of sales for the Juvenile Fiction market so you can have an idea of how the market is performing as a whole.
While winning these awards is an incredible honour, just getting a nomination is where it's at for sales. The first few months after the shortlist announcement is where the bulk of sales for all titles take place. The winner of each award, as selected by students who have read the books, is announced in May, close to the end of the school year.
Sales of Blue Spruce Nominees – September 2016 to May 2017
A full list of the nominated titles is available at the Forest of Reading website.
As a sampling, congratulations to the authors and publishers of the following shortlisted Blue Spruce titles:
| The Branch Written by Mireille Messier Illustrated by Pierre Pratt Kids Can Press 9781771385640 |
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The Darkest Dark Written by Chris Hadfield and Kate Fillion Illustrated by Eric Fan and Terry Fan Tundra Books 9781101918623 |
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Even Superheroes Have Bad Days Written by Shelly Becker Illustrated by Eda Kaban Sterling Publishing 9781454913948 |
| French Toast Written By Kari-Lynn Winters Illustrated by François Thisdale Pajama Press 9781772780062 | |
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Great Written by Glen Gretzky and Lauri Holomis Illustrated by Kevin Sylvester Puffin Canada 9780670069903 |
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The Little Boy Who Lived Down the Drain Written by Carolyn Huizinga Mills Illustrated by Brooke Kerrigan Fitzhenry & Whiteside 9781554553952 |
| Milo and Georgie Written by Bree Galbraith Illustrated by Josée Bisaillon Owlkids Books Inc. 9781771471701 | |
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The Owl and the Lemming Written by Roselynn Akulukjuk Illustrated by Amanda Sandland Inhabit Media Inc. 9781772271201 |
| Shark Lady Written by Jess Keating Illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguens Sourcebooks 9781492642046 | |
| A Squiggly Story Written by Andrew Larsen Illustrated by Mike Lowery Kids Can Press 9781771380164 |
