WAB Student Amalia Mazart Wins Panda Book Awards Design Contest

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This year, the Panda Book Awards held a logo design competition open to all international school students in China, giving the prestigious award a more modern and colorful visual that's easily recognizable.

Out of more than 50 entries that poured in from all over China, the winning design came from Amalia Mazart, a grade four student at Western Academy of Beijing (WAB).

“One day at school I saw the poster 'Who wants to design the PANDA BOOK AWARD LOGO?' I really wanted to do it, so when I came home, I started designing," Amalia tells Jingkids. "First, I made a logo where the panda was looking over a book that had the pattern of the globe. Then I made another logo with a panda looking at [a] book with the globe pattern until I finally made the logo with a panda looking over a book with a colorful cover. After I made the three designs, I had to decide my favorite one.

"I [chose] the last one. The next day I started putting more details onto it, for example choosing the background or adding the text. After submitting the logo to Mr. Byrne it was time to wait. I waited about a week until one morning at school I saw one of the screens in the hallway show. I was very very happy. A few days later, Mr. Byrne told the class that I got first place for the whole entire competition. First place of all [the] students who participated in China. I was even more happy than before. I was so so happy, you can’t imagine. I hope you like it.”

Ten-year-old Amalia has been in Beijing for almost three years and has a few recommendations for young readers as summer vacation approaches.

Amalia Mazart’s Top 5 Summer Reading Recommendations:

1. Smile by Raina Telgemeier

2. Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

3. Oil Painting Step-by-Step by Noel Gregory, James Horton, Roy Lang & Michael Sanders

4. The Famous Five: Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton

5. Sisters by Raina Telgemeier

Since its founding in 2008, the logo for the Panda Book Awards has been the work of artist Wang Hong Xu 王红旭, a folk artist from Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. His work, "Panda in Bamboo," on rice paper has been mounted on a silk scroll and sent to every author/illustrator winner of the Panda Book Awards.

The Panda Book Awards invites students and teachers from participating international schools across China and beyond to vote for their favorite book published during the previous school year.

Titles that are chosen for the Panda Book Award shortlist meet criteria focusing on social justice, diversity, and inclusion by up-and-coming authors and illustrators from around the world. There is an added spotlight on titles that feature Asian settings, characters, or creators.

The Panda Book Steering Committee, which includes an international cohort of school librarians, is responsible for collecting input from schools, advertising the initiative, and organizing the voting.

The Panda Book Award reading program promises to take students on an exciting reading adventure. Classroom teachers, language arts teachers, and librarians are encouraged to distribute the reading lists to their students and to incorporate them into their daily teaching.

Images: Western Academy of Beijing

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