Candy Gourlay's Tall Story grabs Philippine children's book award

THIS IS A BIG NEWS FOR CHILDREN'S BOOK LOVERS and for adults too (like myself) who read the book, Tall Story written by Fil-Brit mom, Candy Gourlay. Personally, I do not know Candy and her book, but because of the internet, I found out that her book is receiving good reviews worldwide and it was also launched in the Philippine Embassy (London).

I ordered the book from Amazon and of course contacted Candy thru her official website. Eventually, I met Candy in London last year before coming back to Manila (after my post graduate program in Northern Ireland). Once in a while, we exchange messages but due to my hectic work schedule, I seldom visit my Facebook account and not up-to-date of Tall Story's nomination in the 2012 Philippine National Children's Book Awards.

This award is organized by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) in cooperation with the Philippine Board on Books for the Young (PBBY)and launched the competition in 2010.

From the Judge's Highlights (taken from FemaleNetwork):

 "The experience of reading Tall Story was as exhausting as climbing a small hill when you’re forty and out of shape. Reading Bernardo and Andi’s story forces you to be a keen and sensitive reader. You want the story to end well, but how can it? So you keep on reading no matter what, and you pay attention to everything that happens. The plot pushes and surprises at so many different points. And you invest emotionally on characters that you discover you have loved long before the story reaches midway."

Indeed, Tall Story deserves this award... I am sure that other readers will agree with me! For the list of the 2012 winners, click here or click the top most photo. This is the link of my review and the post when I chose Candy as a featured author in the blogsite.

One more thing, if I know that Candy is one of the winners of the competition, I will be sitting in front of the stage with a big smile while the Tall Story is called. I found out that the venue of the awarding ceremony is the Mind Museum in Global City, just few meters away from our office building. Sayang talaga... but nevertheless...a high five to Ms Candy G!

As a brief history, the 1st National Children’s Book Award, six books were chosen as the Best Reads of 2010 from a total of 131 books nominated. The winners were as follows:

(1) Araw sa Palengke (Adarna House) written by May Tobias-Papa and illustrated by Isabel Roxas

(2) Tuwing Sabado (Lampara Books) written by Russell Molina and illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III

(3) Can We Live on Mars? (Adarna House) written by Gidget Roceles-Jimenez and illustrated by Bru

(4) Lub-Dub, Lub-Dub (Bookmark) written by Russell Molina and illustrated by Jomike Tejido

(5) Tagu-Taguan (Tahanan Books) written and illustrated by Jomike Tejido

(6) Just Add Dirt (Adarna) written by Becky Bravo and illustrated by Jason Moss