On Friday, April 6, the Women’s National Book Association [4] announced the winners of the 2018 WNBA Pannell Awards:

• General Bookstore Category: Northshire Bookstore [5] in Saratoga Springs, New York
• Children’s Specialty Bookstore Category: Red Balloon Bookshop [6] in St. Paul, Minnesota

Northshire Bookstore

This year, dozens of bookstores across the country received enthusiastic nominations from loyal customers, authors, bookstore

Inside Red Balloon Bookshop

employees, and publishing professionals, and the winners were selected by a five-member jury.

The winning stores will each receive a check for $1,000 and a piece of original art from a children’s book illustrator, to be presented at BookExpo 2018 [7]’s Children’s Book and Author Breakfast on Friday, June 1.

“We are deeply honored and so thrilled to be chosen for the WNBA Pannell Award,” said Nancy Scheemaker of Northshire Bookstore, which was recognized for its passionate staff and year-round schedule of creative programs and events. “To be singled out from the prestigious list of nominees [8] this year is all the more extraordinary. I cannot think of a stronger form of encouragement for a young and growing bookstore. We are so grateful and so excited!” 

Holly Weinkauf of Red Balloon Bookshop, which was recognized for its outstanding service to authors, children, and the community, said, “We are thrilled to win the WNBA Pannell Award! What an incredible honor for our talented and hardworking booksellers, as well as our community that has supported us for 34 years. We are deeply grateful.”

The WNBA Pannell Award jurors for 2018 are:  

• Brenda Bowen, literary agent, Greenburger Associates
• Susan Katz Radin, publisher emeritus, HarperCollins Children’s Books
• Emily Romero, senior vice president of marketing, Penguin Young Readers
• Roger Sutton, editor in chief, The Horn Book
• Lisa Von Drasek, curator of Children’s Literature Research Collections, University of Minnesota

The Pannell Award co-chairs are Susan Knopf, president of Scout Books & Media, and Sally Kim, marketing director at Callisto Media.

The Women’s National Book Association (WNBA) has awarded the Pannell Award, one of the most prestigious honors in children’s bookselling, since 1983. Along with WNBA, Penguin Young Readers Group co-sponsors the award, which was established in honor of Lucille Micheels Pannell, founding member of one of the WNBA chapters.