We are pleased to announce the winners of the Simone Wood Award for 2009. The Simone Wood Award was put together by as a memorial for Simone Wood by her family, and is the first memorial award to be put together and hosted on our website. We were very excited when Simone Wood's family came to us with their idea for a memorial award that celebrated the things in life that Simone Wood loved, dance and children. The entire award has been generously donated by the family members, and Sharing Books has been honoured to be a part of this family legacy.

All the books submitted for the Simone Wood Award were children's books themed and focused on dance, dance culture, and the freedom of expression that comes with dance. Only books focused on dance and published through Sharing Books from April 3rd, 2009 to May 31st, 2009 were originally targeted for acceptance, but due to some server issues we extended the acceptance window to June 5, 2009. Award winners are determined by the highest number of downloads during the month of June, 2009. We thank all the authors, illustrators, and book creators who submitted dance themed work to the site.

Here, without further adieu, are the winners of the Simone Wood Award:

1. 1st Place: Zoo Dance, authored by JR Poulter and illustrated by Jade Potts.
2. 2nd Place: My Pretty Pointe Shoes, authored by Timothy Schenk and illustrated by Timothy Schenk.
3. 3rd Place: Whop Bop Menagiere, authored by JR Poulter and illustrated by Joy Steuerwald.

Congratulations to our award winners!

The first place award is $300, second place will recieve $200, and third place will recieve $100, to be split evenly between the authors and illustrators.

Labels: awards, contest, dance, Simone Wood

Now that the final entries for the Simone Wood Children's eBook Contest have been received, we are pleased to announce that there are five works for our readers to choose from:

• Whop Bop Menagerie is a series of three short stories, inviting readers to join in the rhythm of JR Poulter's rhyme as they whop-bop-about.
• August RoDent is another rhyming story about a sculptor of abundant talent, who finds love in the arms of a witty and dancing fan.
• Timothy Schenk creates a story about the magic each aspiring ballerina experiences when they see their first pair of satin covered pointe shoes in My Pretty Pointe Shoes.
• No Matter is a delightful poem that depicts the magic of a free spirit as it bursts through civilized conventions.
• Zoo Dance offers young readers an insider's look at the funky and fresh moves of the animal kingdom.

Each story adds depth to Sharing Books and we look forward to awarding three prizes to those with the most downloads. Be sure to log on and vote for your favourites!

Just a word of caution: don't be surprised if you find you and your young readers grooving and bopping, or as Simone Wood used to say, jiggering and pokering, on your front yard, in the kitchen or in the water. Indeed, wherever the moment strikes. Check out what these dancers did at the Antwerp Belgium train station. After all, dance is one of the most moving experiences you will ever have!

Labels: children's books, dance, ebooks, Simone Wood

So right as the final sprint for the Simone Wood Award, 2009 was underway a series of major failures occurred with our server. We are still trying to piece together what happened, and we will try to keep you informed. It involves multiple systems having multiple problems, and is proving a Gordian knot to untangle. So much like Alexander the great we took a knife to the knot, and the site is back to accepting books for publication.

We know that some people have not had their books properly upload over the last few days, so we are asking that they re-upload their books. We are going to give a grace window for the affected users over the weekend, allowing them to upload during this week until Friday, and accept them into the contest.

Further details on how this is going to affect the contest will be posted by Wednesday. We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing.

Labels: awards, contest, news, Simone Wood, site outages

So there are only a few days left to get your work into the Simone Wood Contest, 2009. This is your chance to win some of the $600 in prizes up for grabs, so if you have been working on your book for the last few months don't miss your window to get into the contest! You have until midnight on Sunday to get your work submitted to Sharing Books.

The contest will then run during the month of June, and the most popular books will win the awards. Keep in mind this is a full juried award, and will look awesome on your CV! Street cred comes on the side!

Labels: awards, contests, deadline, Simone Wood

We at Sharing-Books want to make you feel welcome to enter our Children's eBook Contest. It is our way of encouraging you to give birth to that character who is aching to be noticed, but who is too often drowned out in the hurly-burly light of day.

This season, a favourite grandmother is being honoured. Simone Wood shared the dream of reaching out to others. Whether she befriended a field mouse with bits of cheese on her back stoop, or resurrected used books in her Oxfam shop, this Grandmother would have welcomed you.

For us, a contest is simply another way that our book creators can reach out to their audiences. Prize money is an added incentive to depict that character and share his or her story. In the children's book world, it is common to charge a fee of $25 to entrants for competing. We would rather not. We simply want to award three buckets of cash - not just one - to those who contribute to our community and share the dream of giving books away free to children.

So come on, join in the fun. Answer that little voice. When you participate, it tells your audience that you are sincere in your wish to publish. It allows your audience to encourage you by voting for your work. At Sharing-Books, you are in the community of friends, one who supports the act of creative writing and illustrating. Our community is around the globe, and each of us look forward to tuning in to read the lastest development in the children's book world.

Labels: Children's books awards, children's illustrators, children's writers, contests, ebooks, Simone Wood