The New Hampshire Ladybug Picture Book Award, voted for by children of that state, announced writer Devin Scillian of Local 4 and illustrator Tim Bowers' book "Memoirs of a Goldfish" as winners of the 2011 award.
Scillian and Bowers book received 4,892 of the total 19,826 votes from children in New Hampshire elementary and pre-schools as well as libraries.
The Center for the Book at the New Hampshire State Library sponsors the yearly Ladybug Award in its efforts to strengthen childhood literacy and pay homage to earlry-childhood authors having that effect.
Each year, New Hampshire librarians nominate 10 picture books for the award based upon strong child appeal and artistic excellence.
Teachers and librarians then read the books during storytimes and encouraged young students to read the books themselves.
Later in the year, those children were asked to vote for their favorite book for the Ladybug Picture Book Award, which Scillian and Bower's "Memoirs of a Goldfish" won.
More information on the nomination process and criteria for selecting books for the award is available at http://nhbookcenter.org