WNBA Names 2012 Pannell Winners

The Women’s National Book Association has announced the winners of this year’s WNBA Pannell Awards, given annually since 1983 to two bookstores that excel in contributing to their communities to bring books and young people together. 

The winner in the General Bookstore category is Book Beat in Oak Park, Michigan; the winner in the Children’s Specialty Store category is Monkey See, Monkey Do . . . Children’s Bookstore in Clarence, New York.

The winners were chosen by a jury of five book industry professionals based on their creativity, responsiveness to community needs, and an understanding of young readers. 

Book Beat was lauded for its “passion and true understanding of children’s books and young readers,” for its “tremendous success as an independent haven within a tough urban environment,” and for going “beyond expectation to support and expand children’s and YA services, programs, and events.” Also impressive, the Pannell jury said, “ is the store’s initiation of the celebration of International Peace Day in local schools.”

Monkey See, Monkey Do was commended for its enthusiastic and innovative approaches to getting kids engaged with reading. Among its many offerings is eight weeks of summer camps that serve 300 children. The jurors also lauded the bookstore’s active book clubs, reading/writing/craft programs, and its “spirit of entrepreneurship, looking for ways to make money not just from book sales.”

In addition to sponsorship by the WNBA, the Pannell Award is underwritten by a gift from Penguin Young Readers Group. Each winner will receive a check for $1000 and a framed piece of original art by a children’s book illustrator. This year’s art is contributed by Jenni Desmond, whose book Red Cat, Blue Cat will be published by Blue Apple Books (Fall 2012), and George Ford (the first illustrator to win the Coretta Scott King Book Award in 1974) from Bright Eyes, Brown Skin (Just Us Books, 1990), which won the Ben Franklin Award for illustration in 1991.