In 1985, the Mary Vaughan Jones award was established and is available for
presentation every three years to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to
children’s literature in the Welsh language over a considerable period of time. Mary
Vaughan Jones (1918–1983) was one of the main benefactors of children’s literature in
Wales for over thirty years. She wrote nearly forty books for children, one of the most
popular is Sali Mali (1969). She was also a translator, her best work perhaps being the
Welsh version of Tamasin Cole’s Fourteen Rats and a Rat Catcher and Pat Hutchins’s
Rosie’s Walk. The award is a silver trophy depicting scenes from Vaughan Jones’s
books.
Children’s books are reviewed in various periodicals. Llais Llyfrau/Books in Wales, a
quarterly magazine published by the Welsh Books Council has a Children’s Books
section where Welsh-language books and English books about Wales are reviewed
regularly.
Another important category of children’s literature in Wales are English books with a
Welsh background. Among the winners of the English Tir na n-Og prize are The Grey
King and Silver on the Tree, by Susan Cooper; The Blindfold Track, Region of the Summer
Stars and Who Stole a Bloater? by Frances Thomas; The Prize by Irma Chilton; The Snow
Spider by Jenny Nimmo, Steel Town Cats by Celia Lucas; Bluestones by Mary John;
Time Circles by Bette Meyrick; Denny and the Magic Pool, by Pamela Purnell, and The
Candle Man by Catherine Fisher.
In 1992, Pont Books, an imprint of Gomer Press, was established with the aim of
offering young readers a range of literature—novels, stories and poetry written in
English but set in Wales, and/or concerned with Welshness. Over thirty titles have been
published.
In March 1995, the Welsh Books Council, with the support of the ACAC published a
Catalogue of Welsh Books and Educational Resources for Children. Over 3,000 items
are listed, which reflects the revolution that has taken place in Welsh-language
publishing for children in recent years.
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