Sydney Smith | |
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| Born | Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
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Sydney Smith is a Canadian illustrator of children's books. He is the 2024 recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for his "lasting contribution to children's literature". [1] He earlier won the 2015 Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration for Sidewalk Flowers, a wordless picture book which he illustrated with author JonArno Lawson. He currently resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. [2]
Smith studied drawing and printmaking at NSCAD University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. [3] It was while studying there that he realized his interest for illustrating children's books.
Most of his work is illustrations for other authors. Smith's first three assignments were for re-issues of books by Sheree Fitch. To date he has authored and illustrated two titles, 2019's Small in the City and 2023's Do You Remember? He has worked for two different publishing houses in his career as an illustrator: Nimbus Publishing and Groundwood Books. In addition to his work as an illustrator and author, Smith has also done graphic design work for Canadian musical acts Hey Rosetta! and Old Man Luedecke. [4]
| Year | Award | Book | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration [5] | Music Is For Everyone | Won |
| 2015 | Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration [6] | Sidewalk Flowers | Won |
| 2015 | Prix Libbylit for Best Picture Book (Belgium) [7] | Sidewalk Flowers | Won |
| 2015 | New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year [8] | Sidewalk Flowers | Won |
| 2015 | Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year [9] | Sidewalk Flowers | Won |
| 2015 | Goodreads Choice Awards Best Picture Books [10] | Sidewalk Flowers | Nominated |
| 2016 | Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator's Award [11] | Sidewalk Flowers | Won |
| 2018 | CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal [12] | Town Is by the Sea | Won |
| 2018 | TD Canadian Children's Literature Award [13] | Town Is by the Sea | Won |
| 2021 | Kate Greenaway Medal [14] [15] | Small in the City | Won |
| 2024 | Hans Christian Andersen Award [1] | Won | |
| 2024 | Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration [16] | Do You Remember? | Pending |
The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936, is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing". CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award.
Sheree Lynn Fitch is a Canadian writer and literacy advocate. Known primarily for her children's books, she has also published poetry and fiction for adults.
Wallace Edwards was a Canadian children’s author and illustrator whose imagination transformed the world of animals and strange creatures for a generation of children. His illustrations don’t condescend to children, they engage the imagination on multiple levels, blending childhood whimsy with adult sophistication."
The Carnegie Medal for Illustration is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) which inherited it from the Library Association. CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award, though their sponsorship and the removal of Greenaway’s name from the medal proved controversial.
The Governor General's Award for English-language children's writing is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a children's book written in English. It is one of four children's book awards among the Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, one each for writers and illustrators of English- and French-language books. The Governor General's Awards program is administered by the Canada Council.
The Governor General's Award for English-language children's illustration is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian illustrator for a children's book written in English. It is one of four children's book awards among the Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit, one each for writers and illustrators of English- and French-language books. The Governor General's Awards program is administered by the Canada Council.
Chris Riddell is a South African-born English illustrator and occasional writer of children's books and a political cartoonist for the Observer. He has won three Kate Greenaway Medals – the British librarians' annual award for the best-illustrated children's book, and two of his works were commended runners-up, a distinction dropped after 2002.
The J.M. Abraham Poetry Award, formerly known as the Atlantic Poetry Prize, is a Canadian literary award, presented annually by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival, to the best work of poetry published by a writer from the Atlantic provinces.
Winifred Shirley Hughes was an English author and illustrator. She wrote more than fifty books, which have sold more than 11.5 million copies, and illustrated more than two hundred.
Marie-Louise Gay is a Canadian children's writer and illustrator. She has received numerous awards for her written and illustrated works in both French and English, including the 2005 Vicky Metcalf Award, multiple Governor General's Awards, and multiple Janet Savage Blachford Prizes, among others.
Anthony Edward Tudor Browne is a British writer and illustrator of children's books, primarily picture books. Browne has written or illustrated over fifty books, and received the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000. From 2009 to 2011 he was Children's Laureate.
Emily Gravett is an English author and illustrator of children's picture books. For her debut book Wolves published in 2005 and Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears published three years later, she won the annual Kate Greenaway Medal recognising the year's best-illustrated British children's book.
The Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children's Literature is a $2,000 annual award given to an Atlantic Canadian writer deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to literature for young people. Starting in 2016, the prize alternates annually between young adult and children's fiction published in the previous two years. In celebration of the award's 25th anniversary, Gavin Brimer, Ann's son, generously donated two $250 prizes for the running-up books.
Jon Klassen is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books and an animator. He won both the American Caldecott Medal and the British Kate Greenaway Medal for children's book illustration, recognizing the 2012 picture book This Is Not My Hat, which he also wrote. He is the first person to win both awards for the same work.
Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author for children, adolescents and young adults. She received the 2012 Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature and the 2013 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award for her young adult novel The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen, which deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.
JonArno Lawson is a Canadian writer who has published many books for children and adults, was born in Hamilton, Ontario and raised in nearby Dundas. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his wife and three children.
Ashley Spires is a Canadian children's book author and illustrator. She is the creator of the Binky the Space Cat graphic novels series and the 2014 bestseller, The Most Magnificent Thing.
Terry Fan and Eric Fan are American-born Canadian children's book writers and illustrators, known collectively as the Fan Brothers. They made their picture book debut with The Night Gardener (2016), which was named an ALA Notable Children's Book.
The White Cat and the Monk: A Retelling of the Poem "Pangur Bán" is a 2016 children's picture book by Jo Ellen Bogart and illustrated by Sydney Smith. An adaption of an anonymous ninth century poem, it is about the friendship between Pangur, a cat and a monk, told over the course of one night, and the fulfillment they both receive by morning.
Julie Morstad is a Canadian writer and illustrator of children's books.