Award Information

Nomination Details and Deadlines
FAQ Page
Nomination Form
Explanation of Award Selections
Order Seals

Previous Awards

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995

Journal

Background of Storytelling World
Contents of Back Issues

Other Links

Flora's Vita
Flora's Art Quilts
Flora's Fabric Projects
Trispective

The 2002 STORYTELLING WORLD AWARD WINNERS AND HONOR TITLES

Below are the 2002 winners and honors selected from several hundred nominated stories, books, and recordings. The major evaluative criterion for the stories was "story-listener appeal" (rather than ease in retelling) and "usefulness for story-tellers" for the items considered in Category 7. Beneath each award title is a short descriptive phrase about the resource contents. For resources not independently produced, a publisher's code is enclosed in parentheses after the author/performer's name. The ordering information for these award resources is provided at the end of this section. For color photos of ALL honored resources identified below, see the 2002 July/August issue of Storytelling Magazine/Storytelling World. To purchase a copy of this magazine, go to the NSN web site.

Category 1: Stories for Young Listeners

(See also Categories 2, 5, 6.)

Winners:

And the DISH Ran Away with the SPOON
A unique adventure with nursery rhyme characters
by Janet Stevens (Harcourt)

Mabela the Clever
A retelling of an African folktale about respecting your instincts
by Margaret Read MacDonald (Albert Whitman)

The Other Side
A story about racial prejudice
by Jacqueline Woodson (Penguin Putnam)

Honors:

Sophie's Masterpiece
A tender story of acceptance and sacrifice
by Eileen Spinelli (Simon & Schuster)

Rabbit and Buffalo
An adapted Native American tale
On CD Grandma Spider Brings the Fire
by Tim Tingle (Storytribe)

The Littlest Pair
A poetic story about termites on Noah's Ark
by Sylvia Rouss (Pitspopany)

The Tale of Tricky Fox
A traditional folktale adapted to honor teachers
by Jim Aylesworth (Scholastic)

The Mightiest
How even the "small" can be mighty
by Keiko Kasza (Penguin Putnam)

Bunny and the Beast
A bunny version of an old classic story
by Molly Coxe (Random House)

Trick-or-Treat on Milton Street
How a stepdad entertains at Halloween
by Lisa Bullard (Lerner)

Wings of Change
A caterpillar/butterfly story about fearing change
by Franklin Hill (Illumination Arts)

Too Many Monsters
How parents help their son deal with imaginary monster
by Eve Bunting (Troll)

Brave as a Bunny Can Be
An adventure with fright
by Alison Julian (Waldman)

Totally Polar
A whimsical poetic story for young imaginations
by Marty Crisp (Rising Moon)

Mama Tiger, Baba Tiger
A story for youngsters anxious to grow up
by Juli Mahr (DK)

Category 2

Stories for Pre-Adolescent Listeners

(See also Categories 1, 3, 5, 6.)

Winners:

Look Out, Jack! The Giant Is Back!
A creative extension of the beanstalk story
by Tom Birdseye (Holiday House)

Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
How one "different" student copes with the class bully
by Patty Lovell (Penguin Putnam)

Honors:

The Christmas Cobwebs
A story about rising from the depths of despair to the heights of joy
by Odds Bodkin (Harcourt)

Petite Rouge
A Cajun Red Riding Hood rap
by Mike Artell (Penguin Putnam)

Mim's Christmas Jam
A lesson about turning the other cheek
by Andrea Davis Pinkney (Harcourt)

Clouds and Rain
A Native American legend about rain
From Weather Legends
by Carole Vogel (Millbrook)

Emma Jo's Song
A country family's singing adventure
by Faye Gibbons (Boyds Mills)

The Magnificent Piano Recital
How a newcomer persevered
by Marilynn Reynolds (Orca)

Frog's Teeth
A lesson about telling lies
On CD Fireside Tales
by Dovie Thomason Sickles (Yellow Moon)

The Story of Anne Frank
A version for younger listeners
by Brenda Ralph Lewis (DK)

Auntee Edna
A learning adventure with old-fashioned relatives
by Ethel Footman Smothers (Eerdmans)

Category 3

Stories for Adolescent Listeners

(See also Categories 2, 4, 5, 6.)

Winners:

The Tower
The real meaning of looking up to others
by Richard Paul Evans (Simon & Schuster)

The Truth Chicken
A story about pranks and confessions
by Donald Davis
On CD Father Was a Wise Old Man (August House)

Hank Aaron: Brave in Every Way
How a famous athlete dealt with prejudice
by Peter Golenbock (Harcourt)

Honors:

I Kiss Like a Horse
A difficult lesson about reputations and rumors
by Rebecca Woolf

From Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff (Health)
Goin' Someplace Special
A personal adventure story
by Patricia C. McKissack (Simon & Schuster)

The Beauty and the Melamed
An adapted Hasidic story
On CD Feathers in the Wind
by Susan Stone

Forgive Me
A Jewish ghost story
by Jerry Raik
From Ghosts and Golems (Jewish Society)

A Horrifyingly True Fishing Story
A personal story about going fishing
From Terrifying Tales of the Beaches and Bays
by Ed Okonowicz (Myst and Lace)

Godiva
A legend about kindness
by Lynn Cullen (Random House)

Maiden of the Mist
A Native American legend of Niagara Falls
by Veronika Martenova Charles (Stoddart)

Scatterbrain Sam
An adapted folktale about finding brains
by Ellen Jackson (Charlesbridge)

Category 4

Stories for Adult Listeners

(See also Categories 3, 5, 6.)

Winner:

The Wishing Ring
An original interpretation of a traditional tale
On CD Made from Scratch
by Dolores Hydock

Honors:

Bigfoot Wallace and the Hickory Nuts
A legendary Texan's tall tale
On audiotape Texas (& Texanized) Myths & Legends
by Donna Ingham (Wordshop)

Communication
A religious story about spousal communication
by Lori Copeland
From The Storytellers' Collection, Book 2 (Multnomah)

The Russian Who Remembered
A touching story of courage
by Charles Kuralt

From Chicken Soup for the Veteran's Soul (Health)
Doing the Dishes
A personal story of hope and place settings
On CD Exit 11 and Other Stories
by Catherine Conant

Betty Doll
One mother's way to leave her memories
by Patricia Polacco (Penguin Putnam)

The Call at Midnight
A parent's worst fear
by Christie Craig
From Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul 2 (Health)

Category 5

Storytelling Collections

(See also any story collections listed in Categories 1-4 with specific stories identified.)

Winner:

Story Medicine
Multicultural tales of healing and transformation
by Norma J. Livo (Libraries Unlimited)

Honors:

Through the Grapevine
World tales kids can read and tell
by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss (August House)

Mara's Stories: Glimmers in the Darkness
Stories from the Holocaust concentration camps
by Gary Schmidt (Henry Holt)

Sandspun: Florida Tales by Florida Tellers
A collection of adapted and original tales
by Annette J. Bruce and J. Stephen Brooks (Pineapple)

Christmas Miracles
True inspirational stories of holiday magic
by Brad Steiger and Sherry Hansen Steiger (Adams)

The Orphan Girl
A collection of West African folktales
by Buchi Offodile (Interlink)

On the Trail Made of Dawn
A collection of Native American creation stories
by M. L. Webster (Linnet)

Category 6

Storytelling Recordings

CDs or DVDs for listening and/or viewing pleasure for any age

(See also the recordings listed in categories 1-4 with specific stories identified.)

Winners:

One Righteous Man
The story of Raoul Wallenberg
CD by Syd Lieberman

The Uglified Ducky
Creative and unusual stories for the "child" in us all
CD/audiotape by Willy Claflin

That's What Mamas Do
Personal stories about growing up
CD by Donald Davis (August House)

Hussies, Harlots, Heroines
Stories about "shady ladies" of the Bible
Two CDs by Barbara McBride-Smith and Corinne Stavish (Corinne)

Honors:

Sojourner Truth
The story of a slave's life
CD by Sara Ransom

Footprint on the Sky
A portrait of an Alabama mountain community
CD by Dolores Hydock

The Good People
Authentic Irish fairy tales
Two audiotapes by Eddie Lenihan (Sounds True)

Aesop: Alive and Well
A story program of Aesop's fables
CD by Diane Ferlatte

Spy! The Story of Civil War Spy Elizabeth Van Lew
How one white woman fought slavery
CD by Lynn Ruehlmann

Category 7

Special Storytelling Resources

Winners:

The Storyteller's Sourcebook
A subject, title, and motif index to folklore collections for children, 1983-1999
by Margaret Read MacDonald and Brian W. Strum (Gale)

Inviting the Wolf In
Information about difficult stories
by Loren Niemi and Elizabeth Ellis (August House)

Spinning Gold Out of Straw
Information about how stories heal
by Diane Rooks (Salt Run)

Honors:

The Great Fairy Tale Tradition
Texts and criticisms ranging from Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm
by Jack Zipes (W.W. Norton)

The Celtic Breeze
Information and stories from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales
by Heather McNeil (Libraries Unlimited)

The Universe, the Gods, and Men
Background and texts for ancient Greek myths
by Linda Asher and Jean-Pierre Vernant (HarperCollins)

Tell It Together
Scripts for story theatre or tandem telling
by Barbara McBride-Smith (August House)

Every Tongue Got To Confess
Information and story vignettes about early African-American life in the rural South
by Zora Neale Hurston (HarperCollins)

Contact Information for the 2002 Award Resources

Adams Media Corporation, www.adamsmedia.com
Albert Whitman & Company, www.albertwhitman.com
August House, P.O. Box 3223, Little Rock, AR 72203-3223
Boyds Mills Press, 815 Church Street, Honesdale, PA 18431-1889
Catherine Conant, www.4astoryteller.com
Charlesbridge Publishing, 85 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472-4411
Corinne Stavish, 26216 Franklin Pointe Dr., Southfield, MI 48034-1565
Diane Ferlatte, www.dianeferlatte.com
Dolores Hydock, www.storypower.org
DK Publishing, Inc., www.dk.com
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 255 Jefferson Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503-4554
Gale Group, www.gale.com
Harcourt, 525 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495
HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
Health Communications, Inc., www.chickensoup.com
Henry Holt and Company, 115 West 18th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10011
Holiday House, 425 Madison Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10017-1140
Illumination Arts Publishing Company, www.illumin.com
Interlink Books, 46 Crosby Street, Northampton, MA 01060-1804
Jewish Publication Society, 2100 Arch Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1308
Lerner Publishing Group, www.lernerbooks.com
Libraries Unlimited, www.lu.com
Linnet Books (The Shoe String Press), 2 Linsley Street, P.O. Box 657, North Haven, CT 06473-0657
Lynn Ruehlmann, ruehlmann@erols.com
Millbrook Press, 2 Old New Milford Road, Brookfield, CT 06804-2426
Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 204 W. Adams Ave., P.O. Box 1720, Sisters, OR 97759
Myst & Lace Publishers, Inc., www.mystandlace.com
Orca Book Publishers, P.O. Box 468, Custer, WA 98240-0468
Penguin Putnam, Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3672
Pineapple Press, Inc., www.pineapplepress.com
Pitspopany Press, pitspopany@aol.com
Random House Children's Books, www.randomhouse.com/kids
Rising Moon, www.northlandpub.com
Salt Run Press, www.storyjourney.com
Sara Ransom, www.storyteller.net/tellers/ransom
Scholastic Press, www.scholastic.com
Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, www.SimonSaysKids.com
Sounds True/Windhorse Productions, www.soundstrue.com
Stoddart Kids, 895 Don Mills Road, 400-2 Park Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada M3C I3W
Storytribe Publishing, 4417 Morningside Way, Canyon Lake, TX 78133-4085
Susan Stone, momteller@aol.com
Syd Lieberman, www.storytelling.org/Lieberman
Troll/BridgeWater Books, 100 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, NJ 07430-2041
W.W. Norton & Company, www.wwnorton.com
Waldman House Press, 525 North Third St., Minneapolis, MN 55401
Willy Claflin, www.willyclaflin.com
Wordshop Publishers, 1025 Coventry Road, Spicewood, TX 78669-3121
Yellow Moon Press, P.O. Box 381316, Cambridge, MA 02238