November is always an important time in the children's book world here in Canada. We celebrated the 25th annual Children's Book Week organized by The Canadian Children's Book Centre with 28 authors and illustrators and three storytellers participating in a tour that reached across Canada, spreading the word about the great books for children and young adults that this country is producing. From November 3rd through 10th, thousands of children took part in the readings organized by the Centre in order to "Uncover a Mystery", this year's Book Week theme. It's also a time to celebrate children's books with the announcement of the annual Governor General's Literary Awards and this year's shortlist follows this editorial. You'll want to read the reviews of three of the award-winning books that appear in this issueùin fact with the exception of Beth Goobie's Before Wings which was published prior to the re-launch of Books in Canada this past summer, all the Children's Text books have been reviewed. And speaking of awards, congratulations should go to the winner of the Norma Fleck Award for 2001, Toronto author Gena Gorrell for her book, Heart and Soul: The Story of Florence Nightengale.

This issue of Books in Canada looks at some of the highlights of this seasonùthere are many more that we haven't been able to review here but don't despairùyou'll see more great books covered in the January 2002 issue which will also include a feature on the staying power of children's books from the perspective of writers for children, children's book illustrators as well as writers of adult fiction. And those interviews with authors Michael Bedard and Brian Doyle are coming tooùjust a little later than promised. Finally, Books in Canada wants to mark the passing of two great men whose work enhanced and enriched the lives of children in CanadaùErnie Coombs, better-known to millions of Canadian as Mr. Dress-Up, whose ground-breaking work in children's television has yet to be surpassed, and Donn Kushner, writer and teachers, whose books for young readers lead so many of us to fantastic places.

Jeffrey Canton, Editor, Children's Book section

2001 Governor General's Award Nominees for Children's Text:

ò Brian Doyle for Mary Ann Alice (Groundwood Books)

ò Beth Goobie for Before Wings (Orca BookPublishers)

ò Julie Johnston for In Spite of Killer Bees (Tundra Books)

ò Arthur Slade for Dust (HarperCollins Canada)

ò Teresa Toten for The Game (Red Deer Press)

Nominees for Children's book Illustration:

ò Harvey Chan for Wild Bog Tea, text by Annette LeBox (Groundwood Books)

ò Murray Kimber for The Wolf of Gubbio, text by Michael Bedard (Stoddart Kids)

ò Kim LaFave for We'll All Go Sailing, text by Maggee Spicer and Richard Thompson (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)

ò Mireille Levert for An Island in the Soup, text by Mireille Levert (Groundwood Books)

ò Cindy Revell for Mallory and the Power Boy, text by Pete Marlowe (Annick Press)