In a competition sponsored by the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, artist Kathryn Hewitt and author Lisa McCourt won all-expenses paid trips to the 40th annual Bologna Children's Book Fair, which will be held April 2—5 in Bologna, Italy. Hewitt won the prize for her artwork portraying the difficulties of adapting a non—U.S. children's book to the American market, and McCourt received the award for her essay detailing the ability of a book to help children accept a student from a different culture into their classroom.
Additionally, author Monica Gunning received an honorable mention in the essay category of the contest, while Christine Dion, Sandra Ure Griffin, Shirley Neidigh, Victor Tavares, Laini Taylor and Necdet Yilmaz all received honorable mentions in the art category.
