Language Learner Literature Award Winners

The first extensive reading world congress that wrapped up last weekend in Kyoto was, from all reports, a great success despite the typhoon. The ER Foundation has been posting videos of many of the talks on their YouTube channel.

The winners of the 2011 Language Learner Literature Awards were also announced, and the results are now up on their website. I've reproduced them below:

Young Learners

		Aladdin  Adapted by Gill Munton and illustrated by Kristin Varner (Macmillan English Explorers, Macmillan Education), ISBN: 9780230719804 Judge's comment: It is amazing that this well-known story is absorbing and fun even if it is retold in very simple English.
Student comment: "Aladdin falls in love with the Royal Princess and wants to marry her. Then, can the magic lamp help him to realize his dream? Will the two have a happy ending forever? What will happen to the wizard? Following the plot, and you will find the answer. In a word, this is a book teaches us not only the knowledge, but also the truth of goodness and evil, beauty and ugliness. "

Adolescent & Adult: Beginner

		Just so stories  By Rudyard Kipling. Adapted by Elizabeth Ann Moore and illustrated by Daniele Fabbri (Black Cat ), ISBN: 9788853010131 Judge's comment: These enchanting stories have the incantatory quality of oral literature and are simply a delight to read. Easy and engaging – the repetitions here bring the advantage of recycling and helping to memorise vocabulary and whole chunks of language without being monotonous or patronising. Gorgeous illustrations.
Student comment: "I love this book because it's fun and short. It's not realistic but it's not important, it's just a story. I like this type of story which explains the world funnily and with dreams."

Adolescent & Adult: Elementary

		A Little Trouble in Dublin  By Richard MacAndrew (Cambridge Discovery Readers, Cambridge University Press), ISBN: 9788483235522 Judge's comment: This exciting book features a set of twins in Dublin, in Ireland, on a school trip, and a false bank note. The clever twins solve a mystery that has an unexpected ending.
Student comment: "This book is well designed for beginners. Furthermore, it is interesting and mysterious."

Adolescent & Adult: Intermediate

		The Everest Story  By Tim Vicary (Oxford Bookworms Library, Oxford University Press), ISBN: 9780194236 Judge's comment: This was one of the more interesting non-fiction readers we have come across for a long time. It will be of interest to most young adult readers. Mount Everest is eternally intriguing, and here, the mountain itself is like a character from a novel. The mystery of the disappearance of George Mallory on the first British Expedition to climb Everest in 1921 is the narrative thread which links together fascinating information about the mountain and the challenge it has posed to climbers for nearly a century. Great pictures too.
Student comment: "The story is interesting and the pictures are good. With the real photos, readers imagine the story more specifically. I think the plot is also good. In the beginning, a dead body is found.... It makes us feel thrilled, and more curious about this book."

Adolescent & Adult: Upper Intermediate & Advanced

		Dragons’ Eggs  By J. M. Newsome (Cambridge English Readers, Cambridge University Press), ISBN: 9780521179041 Judge's comment: Excellent storyline, very good development of characters, this story is pitched not only at the right level it will also appeal to the major target group of readership, young adults. The issues in this book will have positive, lasting effects on readers. This book is hard to put down as it takes you on unexpected paths.
Student comment: A reader said one scene in the book ‘... was so shocking that I couldn't stop beating my heart.’