See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, written by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka, and published by Penguin Random House, has won the 2021 Gryphon Award for Children's Literature.
The Gryphon Award, which includes a $1,000 prize, is given annually by The Center for Children's Books (CCB). This year's award committee consisted of Deborah Stevenson, editor of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books; Kate Quealy-Gainer, assistant editor of The Bulletin; and Elizabeth Bush, reviewer at The Bulletin, iSchool adjunct faculty member, and longtime school librarian.
The prize is awarded to the author of an outstanding English language work of fiction or nonfiction for which the primary audience is children in kindergarten through fourth grade, and which best exemplifies those qualities that successfully bridge the gap in difficulty between books for reading aloud to children and books for practiced readers. With a core of regular committee members, the award has become a way to contribute to an ongoing conversation about literature for inexperienced readers and to draw attention to the literature that offers, in many different ways, originality, accessibility, and high quality for that audience.
"The goofy, rib-nudging absurdity starts right from the ironic title in See the Cat: Three Stories About a Dog, a book in which Max the dog battles with the text that defines his world, learning its power and figuring out how to change it," said Stevenson. "The stories are couched in unassuming, repetitive beginning-reader language, and the fun lies in the book's winking through its traditional disguise (abetted by Wohnoutka's old-school friendly illustrations) to novice readers, whose sense of humor almost always outpaces their literary skills. It's a book that draws readers' attention to the mechanics of narrative while snickering companionably to them about the whims of storytelling."
Four Gryphon Honors also were named:
- Being Frog (Beach Lane/Simon), written and illustrated with photographs by April Pulley Sayre, melds scientific discipline, poetic imagination, and beautifully executed visual storytelling as it tracks the lifecycle and day-to-day existence of the frog.
- Cat Ears on Elizabeth (Feiwel), written by Rachel Vail and illustrated by Paige Keiser, is a funny, keenly observed entry from the A Is for Elizabeth series, in which second grade goes sour for Elizabeth when some girls start wearing cat-ear headbands, which she covets.
- Donut Feed the Squirrels (Random House Graphic), written and illustrated by Mika Song, is an easy-reader graphic novel that tracks squirrel pals Belly and Norma and their attempts to get themselves some sweet treats from a nearby donut truck.
- Knot Cannot (Dial), written by Tiffany Stone and illustrated by Mike Lowery, is a playful literacy lesson in which Knot wants desperately to be as cool as Snake. The story pulls double duty with a reassuring message about appreciating one’s own strengths while stealthily cheering on young readers with a supportive framework.
The Gryphon Award is sponsored by the CCB and funded by the CCB's Gryphon Fund. Income from the fund supports the annual Gryphon Lecture as well as the Gryphon Award.