Every year, Please Touch Museum invites a panel of educators, librarians, authors, and artists to select the recipients of our annual Book Award. This year, these highly qualified and passionate individuals reviewed over 100 children’s book submissions. Each book was considered for its educational value, the age-appropriateness of its language, the originality of its artwork, and its general appeal for children and their families.
Judge Profiles:
Ms. Baker started “The Book Vine for Children” over 25 years ago in Chicago, Illinois. Armed with a M.A. in Education and Library Science, and experience as a librarian, she has consulted with preschool teachers and presented numerous book fairs throughout Chicago. Baker has presented at more than a dozen conferences in the U.S. and Europe, and exhibits at seminars across the country. She is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Head Start, American Booksellers Association, and Zero to Three; she is a supporter of Voices for Illinois Children, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Southern Poverty Law Center. Baker has contributed to The Journal of the Texas AEYC and NAEYC’s publication “The Reading Chair.”
Mr. Bevenour is a professional illustrator whose work has appeared in many print and online periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Salon.com, and Philadelphia Weekly. Examples of his work can be viewed at his website: http://www.bevenour.com. Jay lives and works in Philadelphia.
Mr. Biggs has worked as an art director and graphic designer, animator for interactivity and multimedia projects, teacher, writer, and illustrator. He has written and drawn comics and graphic novels, designed publications, and illustrated for many magazines and newspapers. He illustrates children's books; for magazines, newspapers, and advertising; posters, toys and puzzles. He also works with animation, music, and various other media. Examples of all this stuff can be found at http://mrbiggs.com.
Ms. Durso has been a first grade teacher at William Penn Charter School since 2005. She holds a B.A. from Penn State University and a Masters in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to teaching, she was a publicist for DreamWorks in New York City and Allied Advertising in Philadelphia. In addition, Monique is very involved in the community. She serves on the board of the Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia. Recognizing the importance of books as resources, Monique recently lead a workshop centering on books, which include diverse families.
Mr. O’Connor graduated with a BA in English from Bucknell University in 2004 and then went to Drexel for her Masters in Library and Information Science and School Media Certification. While attending grad school she worked at Please Touch Museum in the Education and Archives departments. She began working at the Episcopal Academy as an elementary librarian in 2006 and then transitioned to be an Upper School Librarian and the Academy Archivist.
Ms. Rosen joined the William Penn Charter School eleven years ago as a Kindergarten teacher. Two years ago, Penn Charter opened a pre-kindergarten. She worked for a year to plan the program and curriculum and is now the Director of the Pre-Kindergarten program. She has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Chestnut Hill College. She is also the mother of three children. Penn Charter School’s website can be visited at www.penncharter.com.