Longlist for CANSCAIP's 2023 Writing for Children Competition

Each year the Canadian Society for Children's Authors Illustrator and Performers {CANSCAIP} offers a competition for would-be authors of picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels. This is a great opportunity, and thanks to the wonderful efforts of numerous volunteers, the hundreds of entries, not only get read, they get comments. CANSCAIP has just announced the longlist of potential winners for the 2023 competition.

Congratulations to everyone, but special kudos to those of you from my weekly classes. In the Middle Grade division: Beth Elliott, Catherin McKenzie, Christine Michaud, Jane Parker, Penny Thompson, and Sally Wylie; in Young Adult: Justine Howard; and in the Picture Book division: Ann-Marie Duwyn Zylstra, Beth Elliott, and Pawan Kaur Singh.

Of course, I recognize many more names from one-day workshops – congratulations to you all!

(And if you've been in my weekly classes and I've managed to leave you off my list of congrats, please forgive me! I remember stories better than names.) ~Brian

P.S. Join us for Writing for Children & for Young Adults, a workshop, with literary agent Eve Adler, Saturday, Sept 30 (see here). Plus, there’s still space for this September in Writing Kid Lit – The Next Level (see here), Writing Personal Stories and Other Nonfiction classes {see here}, and in the Tuesday evening Intensive Creative Writing class {see here}, or the Thursday afternoon Extreme Creative Writing class (see here), though the Wednesday, and Friday Intensive classes class are now waiting list only.

Here’s the full longlist for the CANSCAIP competition:

Lana Button is one of the children's authors
who heroically lent her time to reading entries

Picture Book Longlist

For the Love of Chouquettes – Jennifer Bartoli

Underground Symphony – Rita Bates

A Chipmunk Rescue – Rita Bates

Analene Belanger – Ninang's Here

Can We Be Friends? – Donna Chastko

Rosso! – Melina Ciaccia

Fox on The Farm – Susanne Connolly

Hide-and-Go-Sheep – Susanne Connolly

Little Dragon Wants to Read – Laurie Crookell

Bowie's Lost Temper – Kimberly Dunne-Robbins

Sticks – Ann-Marie Duwyn-Zylstra

Strike a Pose, Hognose – Ann-Marie Duwyn-Zylstra

Not a Book – Tanya Elchuk

The King's Court – Beth Elliott

Don't Mind if I Do – Cynthia Ford

Too Fast – Rachel Greening

The Flowers in the Outfield – Christine Henderson

Finding Footprints – Jody Jones

Carols for Mansi – Pawan Kaur Singh

I Remember for Her – Sarah Ker-Hornell

When Agny Went to School – Ken Kilback

Stay Away from This Book – Eva Klassen

Fox in a Box – Eva Klassen

Rrr-ip! – Dianne Koebel-Pede

Oriane – Denise Landry

A Beary Merry Music Lesson – Charmaine Langlois

The Journey Home – Christine J. Lee

From Seed to Dream – Jennifer Li

Planting a Dream – Jennifer Li

The Mango Princess – Kalinda Link

Squirrel Survives Autumn – Janna MacLean

Let's Blow This Popsicle Stand! – Janna MacLean

Christmas Tree Day – Craig Macnaughton

Find Lulah! – Jennifer McAfee

Nadia and Lili: The Brilliant Boulangers – Heather McLennan

One-Night Bike – Kamilla Milligan

Together Tea – Kamilla Milligan 

You're the Best, Uncle – Sambriddhi Nepal

Orange Truck, Blue Truck – Sheryl Niebergall

Green Garbage Truck – Andrew Osborne

I Wish Mommy Would Come Home – Latoya Patterson

Just One Rabbit – Lizabeth Pirstl

Wildflower Waltz – Laura Polasek

The Little Fish Who Lost Its Rock – J.W. Price

Tameeka's Race – Michale Raske

Moose Moves to the City – Lisa Robson

Wolf Moon – Soozi Schlanger

Kimone's Music – Sashoya Simpson

The Instrument Maker – Sashoya Simpson

Author Jennifer Mook-Sang
heroically lent her time to reading entries

Lester Paints the Sky – James Steeves

Be Careful – Ann Thorsen

Hockey Nana – Tanya Trafford

Grandpa's Garage – Savannah Tries

Kyla Vieweger – Hello Garden

Charlie's Nose Knows – Natasha Wells

A Day at Ms. Carla's Hair Studio – Charmaine Wright

The Sad Dog – Gwen Yoshiki

Middle Grade Longlist

On the Same Boat – Christine Chang-Gardecki

Professional Pirate – Beth Elliott

The Time Eater – Andy Haynes

Aliens, and Other Teenage Troubles – Margaret Lafreniere

Kiko and the Dream Eater – Shawne Yukimi MacIntyre

A Drop in the Ocean – Catherine McKenzie

The Secrets of Spondulick Manor – Christine Michaud

Divinely Human – Christine Michaud

Death Wears a Ponytail – Jane Parker

Riches – Penny Thompson

The Mission – Sally Wylie

Sharon McKay was another member
of the heroic army or authors who lent
their time to reading contest entries 

Young Adult Longlist

The Olympians – Miriam Benarroch-Altman

Consumed – Elena Bentley

My Accidental Life – Simone Garneau

North on Bay – Justine Howard

Hydra – Dallas Nicholls

Last and Only Chance – Rina Nichols

Dirt Magic – D.M. Wagner

The Deepers – Carmen Wittmeier

 

Our deepest appreciation to the CANSCAIP Members volunteered as readers for the competition: 

Evangelene Alaraj, Karen Autio, Jen Bailey, Lea Beddia, Dorothy Bentley, Louise Bradford, Lana Button, Jodi Carmichael, Tziporah Cohen, Peggy Collins, Anne Dublin, Heather Gale, Loretta Garbutt, Joyce Grant, Stella Partheniou Grasso, Jennifer Harris, Theo Heras, Etta Kaner, Shachi Kaushik, Tanya Kyi, Ilima Loomis, Carol MacKay, Jennifer Maruno, Patricia McCowan, Jennifer McGrath, Sharon McKay, Gina McMurchy-Barber, Jean Mills, Jennifer Mook-Sang, Melanie Mosher, Monica Nawrocki, Heather O'Connor, Deborah Patz, Jeff Pinkney, Karen Rankin, Aimee Reid, Anne Renaud, Gillian Richardson, Raquel Rivera, Judy-Ann Sadler, Lana Shupe, Karen Spafford-Fitz, Kevin Sylvester, Linda Trinh, Chieri Uegaki, Jane Warren, Christine Welldon, Susan White. 

Volunteers Joanne Levy and Jean E. Pendziwol manage the logistics of tracking and allocating entries to readers.

See Brian Henry’s upcoming weekly writing classes, one-day workshops, and weekend retreats here.