The inaugural Jean Little First-Novel Award celebrates debut authors for children, and is awarded by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. From the CCBC website:

This year’s awards program features the inaugural Jean Little First-Novel Award. After the beloved and prolific author died in April 2020, fellow children’s book authors Sarah Ellis, Kit Pearson and Maggie de Vries came up with the idea of establishing an award in Jean’s name. “We decided that the most appropriate honour would be a prize for a Canadian middle-grade novel by a first-time writer. Much of Jean’s writing was for the middle grades, and Jean was always an enthusiastic supporter of beginning writers. This award would honour her long and successful career and encourage the next generation of writers following in her footsteps. Congratulations to all of the awards’ nominees.”