The Fish House Door named best Maine children's book

The Fish House Door, a picture book written by Robert F. Baldwin and illustrated by Astrid Sheckels, has received the Children's Book Award for the 2011 Maine Literary Awards from  the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. The awards were announced at a ceremony in Portland on July 14. The Fish House Door also received the Gold Medal Award at the 2010 Moonbeam Awards for Best Picture Book (all ages).

The Fish House Door is set on an island off the coast of Maine and tells a classic story of the value of tradition and history. Shawn comes from a long line of island lobstermen. His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather have all hauled traps, painted buoys, and cleaned their brushes on the door of the same fish house for decades. To Shawn, the door is just a weathered old piece of wood with broken hinges. But when an art dealer comes to visit, he gives Shawn a new perspective on the fish house door, giving him a fresh look at the people and traditions that have shaped his past and will chart his future.

"We are honored to have The Fish House Door recognized," said Islandport Press children's book editor Melissa Kim. "It's a storybook that tells a meaningful and authentic story, and we're sorry that Robert Baldwin is not here to receive this award. Astrid has brought his story to life with her timeless illustrations, so we hope generations of children will enjoy the book."

Baldwin, who died in 2007, was a modern day troubadour, singing, playing the banjo, and collecting and telling stories wherever he went. His articles and stories appeared in Sea Frontiers, Down East, Offshore, Maine Boats and Harbors and Yankee. His children's books include New England Whaler, This is the Sea That Feeds Us and Cities Through Time: Beijing. After living in Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Iowa, Baldwin and his wife Annabelle settled in Newcastle, Maine, where he first heard the story of the fish house door.

Sheckels was born and raised in the farming town of Hatfield, Massachusetts. Her detailed illustrations give every story more depth and dimension. The scenes and faces in The Fish House Door are based on location photo shoots and real New Englanders. Sheckels' first children's book, The Scallop Christmas, written by Jane Freeberg and published by Islandport Press, won a 2009 Maine Lupine Honor Award, given annually to a picture book of outstanding merit, and was an Honorable Mention book in the 2010 Maine Literary Awards. Sheckels lives and works in Greenfield, Mass.