ABSTRACT
At the beginning of his study Economy of Prestige, James English observes, perhaps a little histrionically, that the practice of awarding prizes is “both an utterly familiar and unexceptional practice and a profoundly strange and alienating one” (1). In the eld of children’s literature as in other areas of cultural practice, more and more prizes are offered each year: national, state and city awards; prizes offered by foundations, individuals, professional bodies, universities, research centers, newspapers, and journals; awards for genres of production; and prizes for books that address particular topics. When English writes that prizing is both familiar and unexceptional and also strange and alienating, he touches on the complex interrelations of culture and economics that swirl around prizing, from the nomination of contenders to the administration and judging of prizes, award ceremonies, and the discourses that surround awards, increasingly through social media but also in the more traditional forums of newspapers and journals.
