Author Receives $20,000 - One of the Largest Prizes for Canadian
    Children's Literature

    TORONTO, Oct. 15 /CNW/ - TD Bank Financial Group (TDBFG) and the Canadian
Children's Book Centre (CCBC) announced this evening that author Sarah Ellis
is the winner of the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for the most
distinguished English-language book of the year. Ellis's book, Odd Man Out was
selected from five finalists who represent some of the leading authors of
Canadian children's literature. Ellis was awarded $20,000, one of the largest
prizes for Canadian children's literature.
    All entries were judged on criteria including the quality of the text and
illustrations, where applicable, as well as the book's overall contribution to
children's literature. The book must also be an original piece of work written
for a young audience.
    "We are delighted to present Sarah Ellis with the 2007 TD Canadian
Children's Literature Award and take great satisfaction in knowing parents and
young readers across the country will enjoy Odd Man Out as much as our judges
did," said Frank McKenna, Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group and TD's
Literacy Champion. "This award acknowledges and rewards Canadian children's
authors and illustrators who produce creative and memorable stories that
inspire the joy of reading in young Canadians."
    Ellis is an author and librarian who resides in Vancouver. Raised in a
family who loved to share stories and read books, Ellis transferred that
passion to a career as a librarian at the Toronto Public Library and Vancouver
Public Library before starting to write her own books. Odd Man Out has already
been awarded the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize this year. Odd
Man Out is the story of Kip, a young boy spending the summer with his
grandmother and five eccentric girl cousins. Ellis uses her trademark quirky
characters, insight and wit to weave themes of family, memory and creative
imagination into this story of a boy who struggles with his own ideas and
memories.
    In addition to the $20,000 awarded to Ellis, the remaining four
finalists, Jan Thornhill for I Found a Dead Bird: The Kids' Guide to the Cycle
of Life & Death, Hadley Dyer for Johnny Kellock Died Today, Linda Bailey and
illustrator Bill Slavin for Stanley's Wild Ride, and Tim Wynne-Jones for Rex
Zero and the End of the World, will share a $10,000 award.
    Three additional children's literature awards were presented at the
awards gala. Jan Thornhill, author of I Found a Dead Bird: The Kids' Guide to
the Cycle of Life & Death received the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian
Children's Non-Fiction, author Sara O'Leary and illustrator Julie Morstad were
the recipients of the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for When You Were
Small and Eva Wiseman took home the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical
Fiction for Young People for her book Kanada.
    "We're very proud to play an important role in recognizing the best in
children's literature. No price can be placed on great books that encourage
children to read, learn and ultimately improve their literacy," added McKenna.
    This year's TD award judges included: Merle Harris, author and
storyteller; Theo Heras, Children's Literature Resource Collection Specialist,
Lillian H. Smith Library, Toronto Public Library; Dr. Dave Jenkinson,
Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba; Norene Smiley,
author; and Maya Munro Byers, owner, Livres Babar Books, Montreal.
    "We congratulate Sarah Ellis on creating a story that will delight
Canadian youth again and again," said Charlotte Teeple, Executive Director,
Canadian Children's Book Centre. "We'd also like to thank TD for supporting
the reading and writing of children's books in Canada and recognizing the
strong talents of children's authors and illustrators."
    The TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for the most distinguished
French-language book of the year will be presented in Montreal on October 25,
2007.

    About TD Community Giving: Making a Difference Together

    Children's health, literacy and education, and the environment are the
three primary areas of focus for TD's community giving. The major flagship
programs within these areas are: TD Children's Hospital Fund, TD Friends of
the Environment Foundation and the TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, TD
Canadian Children's Book Week, TD Canada Trust Scholarships for Community
Leadership, and the TD Summer Reading Club. In addition, through the support
of our customers and employees, TD is involved with a host of national,
regional and local programs in support of diversity, arts and culture and
other causes. In 2006, TD donated $33 million to more than 1,600 charities and
not-for-profit organizations across Canada.

    About the Canadian Children's Book Centre (www.bookcentre.ca)

    A national not-for-profit organization and registered charity, the
Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) was founded in 1976 to promote, support
and encourage the reading, writing and illustrating of Canadian books for
children and teens. With book collections and extensive resources in five
cities across Canada, the CCBC is a treasure-trove for anyone interested in
Canadian books for young readers.

    /NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available on
    the CNW Photo Network and archived at http://photos.newswire.ca.
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    website at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited
    members of the media/

For further information: Sandra Chiovitti, Andrea Farnell, Porter
Novelli Canada for TDBFG, (416) 423-6605, Cell: (416) 845-9299,
sandra.chiovitti@porternovelli.com, andrea.farnell@porternovelli.com