Winners Announced!

Congratulations to the winners of the First National Children's Book Awards (NCBA)!

No categories, just Best Reads for 2010.

Araw sa Palengke (Market Day)
Written by May Tobias-Papa
Illustrated by Isabel Roxas
Adarna, 2008
(In Filipino, with English translations)

Can We Live on Mars?: A Book About Space
Written by Gidget Roceles-Jimenez
Illustrated by Bru
Adarna, 2009
(In English)

Just Add Dirt
Written by Becky Bravo
Illustrated by Jason Moss
Adarna, 2009
(In English, with Filipino translations)

Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub
Written by Russell Molina
Illustrated by Jomike Tejido
Bookmark, 2008
(In English)

Tagu-Taguan (Hide-and-Seek): A Counting Book in Filipino
Written and illustrated by Jomike Tejido
Tahanan, 2009
(In Filipino, with English translations)

Tuwing Sabado (Every Saturday)
Written by Russell Molina
Illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III
Lampara, 2009
(In Filipino, with English translations)

In the words of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) Treasurer Rayvi Sunico, "The National Children's Book Award: Best Reads for 2010 aspires to be a different type of literary 'contest.' It consciously avoids rankings because it believes that each work of art and culture is an individual, incomparable achievement and cannot be compared the way commodities can be compared.

"Unlike other competitions, its focus is on the BOOK, that is to say, a cultural but also physical object that is the product of teamwork, from author and/or illustrator, to the editor, publisher, and the printer."

We are happy to have been part of and witness to the first NCBA. Congratulations to all the winners and to the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and PBBY for organizing.