Three Caribbean booka for young readers have been shortlisted for the 2023 Bocas Children’s Book Prize.
The shortlistees were announced on Sunday 19 November, 2023. The US$1,000 prize, sponsored by the Wainwright Family, is dedicated to recognising noteworthy books by Caribbean authors for readers aged 7 to 12, and celebrating outstanding English-language children’s literature.
The three shortlisted books each offer a unique literary experience for young minds. Tameisha’s Adventure is the debut novella by Zoanne Evans, an award-winning Barbadian writer with a PhD in English literature. Anansi and the Fire Ants by Trinidad & Tobago playwright, poet, and screenwriter Garnet Lawrence weaves socially relevant issues through a fascinating adventure story. The third book in the running is Save, Share, Spend: Basic Lessons in Managing Money by Bahamian Hope McCardy and her daughters Adria Brooke and Kristi Lee — using engaging activities to teach financial literacy to young readers.
The 2023 Bocas Children’s Book Prize judging panel includes head judge and acclaimed novelist Kevin Jared Hosein from Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua-based Guyanese children’s author Desryn T. A. Collins, and 11-year-old Josh Raphael Hansraj, winner of the 2020 and 2021 NGC Children’s Bocas Lit Fest Dragonzilla Short Story Writing Competitions and a Silver Award in the 2022 Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition. Hansraj brings a youthful perspective to the adjudication process, in keeping with the Prize’s tradition.
The Bocas Children’s Book Prize winner will be announced on December 10, 2023.
For further information about the prize, visit https://www.bocaslitfest.com/awards/childrens-book-prize-2023/.
