[Announcement] Extensive Reading Foundation 2007 Language Learner Literature Award Winners

The Extensive Reading Foundation (www.erfoundation.org), an unaffiliated, not-for-profit organization that supports and promotes extensive reading in language education, takes pleasure in announcing the winners of the 4th Annual Language Learner Literature Award for books published in 2006.
An international jury chose the winning book in four categories, taking into account the Internet votes and comments of students and teachers from a reported 21 countries around the world.

Young Learners: Winner
The Boy Who Burped Too Much by Scott Nickel.
Illustrated by Steve Harpster. Graphic Sparks (Stone Arch)

Adolescents and Adults-Beginners: Winner
Let Me Out by Antoinette Moses.
Illustrations by Chris Pavely. Cambridge English Readers, Starter Level (Cambridge University Press).

Adolescents and Adult-Intermediate: Winner
Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara. Retold by Jennifer Bassett.
Oxford Bookworms Library, Stage 3 (Oxford University Press)


The jury called Rabbit-Proof Fence sustained and powerful; a true story that reflects the experience of marginalised people everywhere. The well-paced retelling brings a second Language Learner Literature Award to Jennifer Bassett, who won for Love among the Haystacks in 2005. One teacher commented, 'From the moment [my students] opened the book, they felt as if the story was about their own lives... [It] helped them to become closer to their classmates who were not from the same backgrounds as them' (United States).

Adolescents and Adults-Advanced: Winner
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Retold by Clare West.
Illustrated by Gavin Reece. Oxford Bookworms Library, Stage 5 (Oxford University Press).


The Age of Innocence successfully marshals its large cast of characters in a book that will keep its readers guessing until the end. The jur found it ideal for readers who enjoy stories that deal with emotions and relationships. Voters commented, 'Because the descriptions were very good... you read and don't stop' (Peru). 'It was so romantic' (Somalia).


{ ELT Journal Volume 61/4 - October 2007 }