Established in 2005, the Denise McCoy Legacy Award honors the author of the previous year’s most humorous children’s book as selected by the committee. This event, as well as funds raised through the event, is used to expand children’s literacy programs in our area and the Denise McCoy Scholarship Fund.

The award was established to honor the beloved local independent bookstore owner Denise (denise) McCoy who preferred to spell her name with a little “d”. Denise was a strong advocate for children’s literacy and more than one third of her shop was allocated to children’s books. Denise was also involved in the literary portion of the 15-LOVE Program, the Book Power Club and is fondly remembered for her inspired readings to the children, particularly humorous books, which she adored, having an incredible sense of humor herself. Denise passed away suddenly in 2003. The Denise McCoy Legacy Award commemorates denise’s legacy for improving children’s literacy along with her fine humor.

The Denise McCoy Legacy Award ceremony will be held at a luncheon event during the Albany Children's Book Festival held every year the last Saturday in April.

Little d Mission

Our mission is to promote and improve children’s literacy and the love of reading, particularly in the inner city by engaging in the following activities:

1. Honoring an author of a humorous children’s book with the Denise McCoy Legacy Award in denise’s memory.

2. Sponsoring Kids Read Events in partnership with children's book authors, 15- LOVE, schools, libraries, and bookstores.

3. Encourage literacy through fun events like the Albany Children's Book Festival. Our children will have access to numerous authors, illustrators and fun literacy based activities on a yearly basis at the book festival.

4. Contribute to the Denise McCoy Scholarship as well as other literacy programs.

Kids Read Events

These events are designed to broaden and deepen an appreciation of reading in grades 3-5. Activity booklets and art/essay contests based on our award-winning book are part of our enrichment plans. Future endeavors hopefully will bring more author/illustrations into our classrooms by utilizing Skype and local talent.

Past Recipients of the Denise McCoy Legacy Award

		2014 Lenore Look
		Lenore Look, currently a very successful author of award winning children's books, will also be an acclaimed international author as her Alvin Ho series is being published in China! Lenore grew up in Seattle, Washington and moved east to attend Princeton University. There she wrote for her college paper and after graduating she was a journalist on both east and west coasts and later taught creative writing at two colleges back east. Alvin Ho, Allergic to Dead Bodies, Funerals, and other Fatal Circumstances, is the fourth book in the extremely funny and thought provoking Alvin Ho series. Alvin, a very nervous second grader, while trying to comfort his beloved grandfather, creates a big miscommunication that gets totally out of hand at school. This leads to a madcap event that will have you rolling in the aisles. Besides being extremely funny, the book allows Alvin and others to explore their feelings about those close to them and it shows the strong support family and friends can have for each other. Lenore currently lives in Hoboken NJ and has two daughters recently graduated from college. For more information on Lenore Look and her newest books and adventures go to lenorelook.wordpress.com.
		2013 Tommy Greenwald
		Tommy Greenwald is an American playwright as well as the Executive Creative Director of SpotCo, a theatrical and entertainment agency that creates advertisements for Broadway shows and other entertaining enterprises. Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading is Mr. Greenwald's debut middle grade fiction book, which is a hilarious look at a reluctant reader and the complicated means by which he attempts to not read. The Charlie Joe Jackson books are projected to be a five book series and the second book, Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit, is currently available. Tommy himself, an avid reader, wrote the book in an attempt to get his three sons Charlie, Joe, and Jackson interested in reading. Reluctant readers are the target, but the humorous and relevant nature of the book, will attract a wide following. Tommy lives in Connecticut with his wife Cathy, their three sons, and two rescue dogs Moose & Coco. For more information and laughs go to www.tommygreenwald.com.
		2012 Tom Angleberger
		Tom Angleberger hails from Christianburg Virginia, where he lives with his author-illustrator wife, Cece Bell, their sons, and their pet dogs. Tom, an author-illustrator himself, has also won the 2012 Texas Bluebonnet Award and the E.B. White Read Aloud Award for his book The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. Before Tom became a best-selling, award-winning author, he was a newspaper reporter and columnist for the Roanoke Times and a professional juggler, among other things. Tom pulled inspiration from his own middle school experiences to craft his zany but astute story of the dynamics of a 6th grade class and an eccentric, clueless kid named Dwight who becomes sage-like when he dons the yoda finger puppet. Tom, who is gifted in his work with children (just google his name) cites Asperger's Syndrome as his superpower on his bio page. Whatever his secret, the Origami yoda series along with his other books are a delight to the kids. To learn the secret of how to make the yoda finger puppet go to www.origamiyoda.com.
		2010 Jarrett J. Krosoczka
		Jarrett J. Krosoczka used to be a goofy kid that liked to draw. Now, he is an award winning published author/illustrator with many books to his credit. Growing up in Worcester, MA Jarrett drew relentlessly and always had a cast of characters that he wrote stories for. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Jarrett has been chosen by Print as one of their 20 top new visual artists under 30 and has had his work short listed by Newsweek, USA Today, The Boston Globe and The New York Times, among others. Jarrett's Lunch Lady series is currently in development as a feature film. Jarrett currently resides in Northampton, MA with his wife and daughter and their pug.
		2009 Lois Lowry
		Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After several years at Brown University, she turned to her family and to writing. She is the author of more than thirty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader's Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, Number the Stars and The Giver. Her first novel, A Summer to Die, was awarded the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award. Ms. Lowry now divides her time between Cambridge and an 1840s farmhouse in Maine. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at www.loislowry.com.
		2008 Jeff Kinney
		Jeff Kinney tried his hand at being a cartoonist and writing a comic strip before becoming the author of a successful children's series. Born in Maryland Jeff attended the University of Maryland and after college began writing down ideas that would eventually lead to his book series. The first book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, was released in 2007 and became a New York Times #1 bestseller and the winner of the 2008 Little d Award. In addition to being a #1 New York Times bestselling author, Jeff also created Poptropica.com and works full time as the design director of an internet publishing company. Jeff lives in southern Massachusetts with his wife and two sons.
		2007 Sara Pennypacker
		Sara Pennypacker was a painter before becoming a writer and many are grateful for that change in careers as Sara has created a new series with Clementine, one of the most amusing and original characters you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. The illustrations by Marla Frazee are an added bonus. Sara has two wonderful grown children and hales from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
		2006 Christopher Paul Curtis
		Christopher Paul Curtis won both a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor for his debut novel, The Watson’s Go to Birmingham. His novel Bud, Not Buddy won the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Medal. Mr. Curtis grew up in Flint Michigan and worked on the assembly line at Fischer Body Flint Plant No. 1 while attending the Flint branch of the University of Michigan where he began writing both essays and fiction. Now a full-time writer, Mr. Curtis lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada with his wife Kay and their two children.
		2005 Bruce Hale
		Bruce Hale, author of the wildly popular Chet Geco Mysteries, has written and illustrated nearly 20 books for kids. Bruce also has appeared on television and loves to perform, as he is a gifted storyteller. A Fulbright Fellow, Mr. Hale lives in Santa Barbara California, with his wife, Janette.
Mr. Hale, Mr. Curtis, Ms. Pennypacker, Mr. Kinney, Ms. Lowry, and Mr. Krosoczka met and spoke with third grade classes from several Albany schools. All were inspirational in their individual readings and in the way they related with the children. Humor, creativity, knowledge, and respect were conveyed to the kids in a manner that will always be remembered. The goal to spread love of literature and reading will be enhanced with the addition of the Kids Read of the Little d Book Event.

Nomination/Selection Process

Mary Fellows, Manager of Youth and Family Services and Producer of Riverway Festival, heads up the nomination committee. Mary hails from the Upper Hudson Library System. The nomination committee consists of the Youth Services advisory Council of the Upper Hudson Library System. This group of librarians serving children, teens, and families in the public libraries of Albany and Rennselaer Counties use their extensive knowledge of children’s books to develop a short list of kids’ favorite books.

The members of the Little d committee then read the nominated books and a winner is chosen by consensus. This year there will also be a weighted vote from a panel of children from the program Creative Minds in Action program at North Albany Academy.

Denise McCoy "Little d" Memorial Scholarship

In 2004, the Capital Region Youth Tennis Foundation (CRYTF), which operates the 15-LOVE Program, in cooperation with Kevin McCoy, Denise McCoy's husband, established a scholarship fund in her memory. 15-LOVE and Denise share a passion for education and the belief that anyone with the desire to attend an institution of higher education should be able to find resources available to help make that happen.

Each year, CRYTF seeks to award scholarships to deserving students who have participated in the 15-LOVE program at any point during their lives. The scholarship is generally given for four years, and typical awards are $1,000 per academic year (for a total of $4,000). Scholarship recipients are expected to maintain contact with 15-LOVE annually to report on their progress while in school, through a January progress report.

Students interested in applying for the 2012 scholarship should check back in December for application forms.