The Phoenix Award

The Phoenix Award is given to the author, or the estate of the author, of a book for children first published twenty years earlier which did not win a major award at the time of its publication but which, from the perspective of time, is deemed worthy of special recognition for its literary quality.

The Children's Literature Association created The Phoenix Award as an outgrowth of the Association's Touchstones Committee. The award, given to a book originally published in the English language, is designed to recognize books of merit. The Phoenix Award is named after the fabled bird who rose from its ashes with renewed life and beauty. Phoenix books also rise from the ashes of neglect and obscurity and once again touch the imaginations and enrich the lives of those who read them.

The recipient of The Phoenix Award will be chosen each year by a committee of ChLA members, which considers nominations made by members and others interested in promoting high critical standards in literature for children.

The 1985 Phoenix Award Committee members were Alethea Helbig, Chair; Mary Ake, Rebecca Lukens, Agnes Perkins, and Sarah Smedman.

THE CHILDREN'S LITERATURE ASSOCIATION

proudly announces

The First Recipient of

THE PHOENIX AWARD

THE MARK OF THE HORSE LORD

by

Rosemary Sutcliff

(Walck, 1965; Oxford, 1975; Penguin, 1983)

Once in Roman Britain a gladiator Phaedrus won his freedom and agreed to impersonate the king of a Scottish tribe. As Horse Lord, he led his people against the woman who had usurped the throne and came into the inevitable conflict with the conquering Romans. An exciting historical novel of steadily increasing emotional intensity, The Mark of the Horse Lord combines excellent characterizations with a clear, compelling style, illuminates with sensitivity and understanding a complex and turbulent era, and perfectly blends problem and period.

The Phoenix Award was designed by book illustrator Trina Schart Hyman. Hyman has a strong reputation as an illustrator of the fantastic. Her Caldecott award illustrations accompanied a retelling of St. George and the dragon. The magical Phoenix on the Award statue was specifically drawn for ChLA.

The design was sculpted by Professor Diane Davis, Purdue University. Professor Davis is a sculptor trained at the Johnson Atelier and Technical Institute of Sculpture, Princeton. She teaches courses in design fundamentals and fashion illustration. Her major artistic interest is in working with metal to express dance forms and movement.

The statue is a two dimensional brass piece which is inscribed with the year's winner. Each statute is individually cast.