2003 Pannell Winners Announced

On Friday, May 2, the Women's National Book Association (WNBA) announced the winners of this year's Lucile Micheels Pannell Awards. Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore in Los Angeles won the award for a general bookstore. The children's specialty category went to Halfway Down the Stairs Children's Book Shop in Rochester, Michigan.

The awards will be presented at BookExpo America (BEA) in Los Angeles at the Children's Book and Author Breakfast, sponsored by the American Booksellers Association - Children's Book Council Joint Committee and BEA, on Friday, May 30. Each winner will receive a check for $1,000 and a framed piece of original art created by a children's book illustrator. This year's art was contributed by artists Henry Cole and Peter Sís.

"I'm so pleased that these winners demonstrate a powerful combination of old-fashioned hand selling talent and creative new ideas to engage kids, families, and the community," said Eileen Hanning, WNBA's Pannell Committee Chair. "By helping children, parents, teachers, and caregivers find the books to meet their specific needs, and by building enthusiasm for reading through special programming, these stores are creating life-long readers."

Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore, Los Angeles

Doug Dutton, owner of Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore, took over Brentwood Bookstore in 1984. A general bookstore specializing in Children's Literature and the humanities, Dutton's has grown five-fold since its opening. Now the store occupies 5,000 square feet in a horseshoe-shape that surrounds a central courtyard, where it plays host to many events, including Preschool Sunday.

Dutton thought Preschool Sunday might have drawn the notice of the Pannell committee. At the event, which last year drew families and staff from more than 20 preschools, Dutton's offers crafts, music, and continuous story time, and the store gives 20 percent of the pre-tax proceeds to each preschool.

Dutton said he loves "having the little ones around" and encourages parents, including his staff, to bring their children. "Often business is conducted with children being carried around in backpacks," he said. Dutton's pro-kid attitude sends a strong message of welcome to the community and, apparently, to the Los Angeles City Council, which recognized Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore as a "child-friendly environment." But Dutton commented, "I'm not doing it for the public recognition. I do it because I like to."

When kids or parents are book shopping, Dutton said, it's vital that he and his staff "choose the right book for the right kid, even if it means ordering a book and forgoing the sale that day. Any one of them could turn a kid on or off books for a long time."

Halfway Down the Stairs, Rochester, Michigan

Halfway Down the Stairs gets its name from the A.A. Milne poem and from being, well, halfway down the stairs from the sidewalk -- an ideal location for a children's specialty bookstore. Camilla Mannino, who opened the store in 1988, explained that its windows "go up to the waist on a grown up, but are the perfect size for children, who can look right in."

It was the window displays that caught the notice of the Pannell committee. Hanning, the committee chair, said, "Several jurors were blown away by the windows."

Mannino explained that one of her staff members, Linda Brick, makes cut-paper displays that address various important themes. One banned book display featured "Harry Potter and Laura Ingalls in stocks and banned books surrounded by black and yellow caution tape," said Mannino.

Another noteworthy event is Halfway Down the Stairs' "Send a Character to Washington" project, which invited kids to vote for their favorite book character for president. Some of the candidates were Max of Where The Wild Things Are, whose campaign slogan was "let the wild rumpus start!"; Pooh, with his running mate Piglet, using the slogan "a little honey in every pot"; and a female candidate -- Amelia Bedelia, employing the catchphrase: "I'm running for office. Where is the office?"

Overall, Mannino said, she thought all of their creative events contributed largely to Halfway Down the Stairs winning the award.

In addition to the winners, the Pannell jury selected two stores for honorable mention:
The Magic Tree Bookstore in Oak Park, Illinois, in the children's specialty category; and Hawley-Cooke Booksellers in Louisville, Kentucky, in the general category. -- Karen Schechner