For immediate release | January 23, 2012

Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard win 2012 Carnegie Medal for 'Children Make Terrible Pets'

DALLAS – Paul R. Gagne and Melissa Reilly Ellard of Weston Woods Studios, Inc., producers of “Children Make Terrible Pets,” are the 2012 recipients of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for excellence in children’s video. The award was announced today by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), during the ALA Midwinter Meeting held Jan. 20– 24 in Dallas.

Established with the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Carnegie Medal honors an outstanding American video production for children released during the previous year. The award is administered by ALSC. In 2010, the Carnegie Medal Committee combined with the Notable Children’s Videos Committee to become the Carnegie Medal/Notable Children’s Videos Committee, which chooses the Carnegie winner and compiles the Notable Children’s Videos List.

In this whimsical reversal of “Can I keep him?” Lucy Bear finds a little boy in the forest and takes him home against her mother’s advice. Although she and Squeaker become best friends, Lucy soon discovers that taking care of her cute critter is not all fun and games.

From Lucy’s first squeal of delight, viewers are caught up in the hilarious scenes depicting the trials of an unconventional pet/owner relationship. Boisterous music by Jack Sundrud and Rusty Young,skillful animation by Soup2Nuts, and Emily Eiden’s enthusiastic narration enliven Peter Brown’s clever story. But Lucy eventually learns that what she wants may not necessarily be what is best.

“We all fell in love with this exuberant video’s perfect combination of zany plot, energetic characters, expressive music and sparkling animation,” said Carnegie Medal/Notable Children’s Videos Committee Chair Martha Seif Simpson.

Members of the 2012 Carnegie Medal/Notable Children’s Videos Committee are: Chair Martha Seif Simpson, Stratford (Conn.) Library Association; Marilyn Ackerman, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library, Office of Materials Selection; Linda L. Ernst, King County Library System, Bellevue, Wash.; Linda A. Gann, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, School of Library and Information Studies; Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library, Portland, Ore.; Lindsay D. Huth, Arlington Heights (Ill.) Memorial Library; Gwen M. Taylor, Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, Idaho; Emily Tichenor, Tulsa (Okla.) City-County Library; and Joanna Ward, County of Los Angeles Public Library, Temple City, Calif.

ALSC is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit their Web site at www.ala.org/alsc.

For information on the Andrew Carnegie Medal and other ALA Youth Media Awards, please visit www.ala.org/yma.

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Contact:

Macey Morales

Media Relations Manager

American Library Association

mmorales@ala.org

312-280-4393