SINGAPORE – A picture book about a grandmother who encounters a tiger on Pulau Ubin was one of two titles to win the Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award at the National Library Building on May 23.
Written by former Straits Times (ST) journalist Alan John and illustrated by former ST artist Quek Hong Shin, Grandma’s Tiger (2022) took home the top prize in the picture book category. The book, inspired by a reported tiger sighting in Singapore in 1997, is published by Straits Times Press.
The winner of the middle grade category is Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma 2: Coming Of Age (2022), written by Melanie Lee and illustrated by Arif Rafhan. The comic book, which follows a superhero grandmother with dementia and her granddaughter, is published by Difference Engine.
Arif told ST: “We’re overjoyed that our effort to create awareness on dementia in a comic form receives validation from readers and literary bodies as a whole.”
To write the book, Lee spoke to social workers, caregivers and a person with dementia. She also went on a volunteer attachment at the Asian Women’s Welfare Association’s dementia daycare centre in Yishun. She said: “These experiences shaped our creative decision to portray Ah Ma as someone with agency and having so much to offer in spite of her condition.”
The biennial book prize, organised by the Singapore Book Council, recognises outstanding children’s books written by Singapore citizens or permanent residents. The winners walked away with $3,000 each at the presentation which is part of the Asian’s Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) that runs till May 26.
Both books are on an awards streak as they had recently won at the 2023 Singapore Book Awards, organised by the Singapore Book Publishers Association. Grandma’s Tiger won for best picture book and Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma 2 won in the best young person’s title category.
The 2024 Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award judging panel comprises chief judge Dr Myra Garces Bacsal, academic and a registered clinical psychologist; Dr Eugene Evasco, award-winning poet and essayist; and Priscilla Tey, educator and author.
The judges, who evaluated more than 70 submissions, said the wide range of the entries “reflect how much Singaporean children’s literature has evolved in quality and sophistication over the years”.
The award is named after Mrs Hedwig Anuar, the first Singaporean director of the National Library who laid the foundations for a modern library system in Singapore.
