Dear Mary Bahr,

Congratulations! Your book, If Nathan Were Here was chosen as the award winner of the "Lori J Mai Award for Children's Literature about Dealing with Serious Life Issues." The award was designed for one of my education classes in Penn State University's (Altoona Campus) "Literacy and Literature in Elementary Schools" block. The class is constructed to teach pre-service teachers the importance of children's literature in the classroom.
My name is Kimberly Mai and I am the designer and decider of the award. The criterion for the winning book is as follows:
"The Lori J Mai award for Children's Literature about Dealing with Serious Life Issues will be awarded to a book that will best help children to learn and understand about serious life issues. The book should ultimately help a child to cope with issues like death, serious illness, disaster, and sorrow that is uncontrollable to them. In "Battling Dragons", Barbara Kiefer explains, "The experiences of reading, talking about, and responding to picture books, no matter what the subject matter, can allow children to feel deeply and think fully about human issues, and then to consider the world around them as if it could be otherwise" (61). The nominated book must contain pictures which will also help the child to further their understandings of serious life issues. The book must be a picture book written for ages 5-10."
Out of the ten to twenty books that were nominated for this award, your book, If Nathan Were Here was picked as the winner. Please accept the enclosed award certificate as proof of your winning. Again, this award is a project for an educational class at Penn State Altoona and is not official, but is a great honor. Thank you for writing books that help children to understand and cope with serious life issues. Your work is very important for teachers in helping their students when going through a hard time. Congratulations again!

Sincerely,

Kimberly Mai

"Lon Po Po", written and illustrated by Ed Young, is a fantastic twist on a traditional fairytale. In this version of "Little Red Riding-Hood" the children are left home alone while their mother takes food to their sick grandmother, or in Chinese, Po Po. The children are reminded to keep the door locked at all times and to watch for strangers. Not long after their mother leaves, there is a knock at the door from the children's Po Po. But it is actually a scary and dangerous wolf! The exciting illustrations leave the reader wondering what will happen next. This picture book is an excellent read for any age.

The Lori J Mai award for Children's Literature about Dealing with Serious Life Issues will be awarded to a book that will best help children to learn and understand about serious life issues. The book should ultimately help a child to cope with issues like death, serious illness, disaster, and sorrow that is uncontrollable to them. In "Battling Dragons", Barbara Kiefer explains, "The experiences of reading, talking about, and responding to picture books, no matter what the subject matter, can allow children to feel deeply and think fully about human issues, and then to consider the world around them as if it could be otherwise" (61). The nominated book must contain pictures which will also help the child to further their understandings of serious life issues. The book must be a picture book written for ages 5-10. The nominations for this award are due by February 19th, 2008.