2005 Book Sense Book of the Year Winner: Duck for President

Candidate Duck has high aspirations in running the farm, as one thing leads to another, and soon the presidency is at hand. Complete with Cronin's version of the 'hanging chad' and a late-night saxophone appearance on television. Fun for the whole family," said Carl Wichman of Varsity Mart in Fargo, North Dakota --from the 2004 Book Sense Summer Kids' Picks

On April 12, the American Booksellers Association announced that Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), was this year's Children's Illustrated Book Sense Book of the Year winner. The award honors independent booksellers' handselling favorites, as voted by the owners and staff of ABA member bookstores. All BookExpo America attendees are invited to join Cronin and Lewin as they are honored with other 2005 Book Sense Book of the Year winners at ABA's annual Celebration of Bookselling at BookExpo America (BEA) on Friday, June 3, in New York City.

Since publication of the book, Candidate Duck has not let campaigning roll off his back. He has managed to maintain a high profile and to associate himself with some influential people. His creators, Cronin and Lewin, appeared at a signing and reading at Bookworks in Albuquerque, in a partnership with the Albuquerque League of Women Voters. The League and Bookworks teamed up to create a mock election for kids using actual voting machines while adult voter registration also took place. The Duck for President campaign has had the kind of exposure in the New York media that other candidates might envy: the book was selected as one of the New York Times Best Illustrated Books of 2004 and was featured in the May 10 special Book Sense insert in the New Yorker magazine.

Its intended audience of four to eight-year-olds may not catch the references to former presidents Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush, but will recognize Duck as a star of Cronin and Lewin's previous award-winning favorites, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and Giggle, Giggle, Quack (S&S).

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (S&S), illustrated by Lewin, was Cronin's first book and was named a Caldecott Honor Book and a 2002 Book Sense Book of the Year finalist. Giggle, Giggle, Quack (S&S), illustrated by Lewin, was a 2003 Book Sense Book of the Year finalist. Cronin's Diary of a Worm (HarperCollins), illustrated by Harry Bliss, was number one on the Winter 2003/2004 Children's Book Sense 76 and was named one of the Best of Book Sense From the First Five Years.

Betsy Lewin has illustrated many popular children's books, including Dumpy La Rue by Elizabeth Winthrop (Henry Holt) and Two Eggs, Please by Sarah Weeks (Atheneum). Originally a freelance greeting card illustrator and writer/illustrator for children's magazines, Lewin was noticed by an editor at Dodd, Mead & Co. who asked her to expand a published poem into a 32-page counting book. The book, Cat Count, was published in 1981 by Dodd, Mead, and again, in 2003, as a first edition by Henry Holt.

Cronin and Lewin will also appear at the Book Sense Author Luncheon on Friday at BEA. The luncheon, which is only open to stores with Book Sense, requires an e-mail confirmation of reservation for admittance. Confirmations will be sent to registered booksellers by May 16. Unfortunately, reservations are no longer being accepted for this event, which is booked to capacity.