JKP’s The One and Only Sam by Aileen Stalker has won a Silver Medal in the Health Issues category at the 2010 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards!
Illustrated by Bob Spencer, The One and Only Sam provides a fresh and fun approach to exploring common idioms for all children aged 5 to 8, as well as those with Asperger Syndrome and communication difficulties.
Aileen is thrilled and honoured that the book has been recognised, saying:
“Congratulations to all the authors who wrote the award-winning books, the artists who illustrated the books and the publishers who believed in them – it is a long journey that we all travel together to get a book published. The rewards are many – the best perhaps being that our books have encouraged children and youth to slow down, focus and develop their own personal responses to the written word – skills that will translate well into coping with a super sized, super fast world.
With 37 award categories, the Moonbeam Awards recognize the diversity found in literature for children and youth and reinforce that literacy begins at birth and provides enjoyment throughout each person’s lifetime.”
Aileen Stalker is an experienced Occupational Therapist with a Masters degree in Special Education. She has over 30 years’ experience of assessing and treating children with a wide variety of diagnoses and has presented papers at numerous conferences, developed handbooks and manuals for clinical therapeutic use and worked at a senior level in several Occupational Therapy departments.