VANCOUVER - Vancouver author Linda Bailey and Ontario illustrator Bill Slavin have claimed the first-ever Time to Read book award for early literacy for their book Stanley's Party, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.

"Building a province of readers involves celebrating the talent and creativity of B.C. and Canadian authors," said Campbell. "We want to encourage children to explore and discover the joy of reading as a way to enrich their own lives and unleash the power of their own imaginations. One of the ways we will encourage early reading is by distributing a copy of the winning book to every kindergarten student in B.C."

Campbell presented Bailey and Slavin with the $15,000 prize - $7,500 each - at a ceremony at Queen Mary elementary school in Vancouver. Time to Read: The British Columbia Achievement Foundation Award for Early Literacy will be presented annually for four years. The award is provided by the B.C. Achievement Foundation, an independent foundation endowed by the Province to celebrate excellence and achievement.

"Our thanks to Premier Campbell and Education Minister Shirley Bond for their leadership in initiating this award," said foundation chair Keith Mitchell. "We also appreciate the work and commitment of our outstanding jury panel, who selected the winner. The panel members were very pleased that the primary students of General Wolfe elementary school in Vancouver, who reviewed the jury's decision, overwhelmingly agreed with their choice."

This year's award was open to all themes. For the 2008 award, preference will be given to a book on B.C. culture and history to celebrate the province's sesquicentennial, and for 2009, to a book that celebrates the Vancouver 2010
Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Stanley's Party tells the story of a dog and his adventures in his family's home. The book will be distributed to every kindergarten student in the province this fall as part of ReadNow BC, the provincial literacy initiative.

"One in four B.C. children, or nearly 9,000 students, will begin kindergarten in September without the skills they needed to succeed - in fact, many will not own a book," said Education Minister Shirley Bond. "It is our hope that by reading Stanley's Party at home with their parents or caregiver, children will develop a love of reading that will help them succeed in school and in life."

The B.C. Achievement Foundation received 126 book submissions. Eligible books were judged by a jury comprised of: Monica Gaucher, youth services librarian at Okanagan Regional Library; Keith McPherson from the Language and Literacy Education Resource Centre at UBC; Janet Mumford, teacher librarian with the Richmond school district; and Phyllis Simon, co-owner of Vancouver Kidsbooks.

The B.C. Achievement Foundation is an independent foundation established and endowed by the Province in 2003 to celebrate excellence in the arts, humanities and community service. The Time to Read award is one of five initiatives of the foundation. The others are the B.C. Creative Achievement Awards; the B.C. Community Achievement Awards, recognizing those who have made a significant contribution to their community; the B.C. Award for Canadian Non-Fiction, recognizing excellence in literary non-fiction; and the B.C. Creative Achievement Award for Aboriginal Art.

In addition to the B.C. Achievement Foundation, the Province also supports the Council of the Federation Literacy Award. The award was created by Canada's premiers on the initiative of Premier Campbell and honours a person or group in each of Canada's 13 provinces and territories whose accomplishments have shaped the landscape of literacy.

Since 2001, government has invested more than $106 million in new literacy funding, including $5 million for up to 80 StrongStart BC early learning centres and $9.5 million for the kindergarten readiness program Ready, Set, Learn.

For more information on the Time to Read award, please visit www.bcachievement.com online.