Tir na n-Og Award 2022 – Reflecting Wales in children’s literature
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T is that time of year again when the winner of the CILIP Cymru Wales sponsored Tir na n-Og children’s
book award (TNNO) will be announced shortly. Since 1976, the Tir na n-Og Awards have recognised excellence in the field of children and young adult literature in both English and Welsh.
The awards are organised by the Books Council of Wales, a national charity who support the publishing industry in Wales and promote reading for pleasure and ensuring that Wales in all its diversity is represented in the books. The main aim of the awards is to celebrate excellence in the field of literature for children and young people and to encourage the buying, reading and enjoyment of good books. There are three categories: Welsh-language books for primary school age, Welsh- language books for secondary school age, and English-language books for children of any age with an authentic Welsh background. This article focuses on the English-language category and takes a look at the 2022 shortlisted books in this category. In the context of Wales, the new curriculum has a renewed focus on literature firing the imagination and inspiring creativity. There is a section in the Language Literacy and Communication Area of Learning titled, Literature fires imagination and inspires creativity. As part of this, children are “encouraged to experience and respond to a variety
of diverse literature that gives them insight into the culture, people and history of Wales as well as the wider world”. The Tir na n-Og goes a long way in supporting this aspect by offering books with a particular focus on settings in Wales.
Some of the recent winners and shortlisted books of the English- language award show the range of locations, culture and history within the shortlists of the award. Short Knife, by Elen Caldicott, (winner, 2021) is set in the early middle ages at an important time in Welsh history, when Welsh identity was just starting to emerge. Where the Wilderness Lives, by Jess Butterworth (shortlisted, 2021), captures beautifully a remote part of Wales in Pembrokeshire where there is ancient woodland known as the Celtic rainforest, the Ty Canol National Nature Reserve, which is home to a rare species of lichen. Storm Hound, by Claire Fayers (winner, 2021), is a Norse legend with Welsh myth and set in the Black Mountains and in particular Mount Skirrid and the legend that surrounds it. Max Kowalski Didn’t Mean it, by Susie Day (shortlisted, 2019) is set in a remote village in North Wales with a strong sense of setting and atmosphere in Snowdonia. Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher (winner, 2021) set in Plas-y-Fran, one of the vast Victorian manor houses of industrial Wales, with the magic folk from Welsh folklore central to the story.
Since 2019 in the Tir na n-Og Award English language category,
Jo Bowers has worked in primary education for over 30 years and was a Tir na n-Og judge from 2019-2021 and judge chair in 2021. She works with and supports Books Council Wales, championing books set in Wales by authors and illustrators living in Wales. You can find Jo on Twitter at @Jo_Bowers
Books Council Wales, along with the four award judges, produce a resource pack for teachers to use in school to support enjoyment of reading the shortlisted titles and to help children to really get to know the books. Each pack has a summary of the book, some information about the author with some question prompts for before, during and after reading and activities to support different areas of learning relevant to each individual book.
Claire Tidy, a teacher in Plasyfelin Primary in Caerphilly, Southeast Wales, shared how valuable the award is for her, providing a platform and a focus for books set in Wales, about Wales and its
Spring-Summer 2022
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