The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation recently announced the winners of their First Annual National Children's Book of the Year Award Contest (2011) and invited participants to apply for the 2012 Award. Entries need to be postmarked by March 1, 2012.

The two winners of the NAESP Foundation’s First Annual National Children’s Book of the Year Award Contest are Mary Jo Amani of Swannanoa, North Carolina, and Frank McMillan of Corpus Christi, Texas. Both winners will receive a contract to publish their books.

Amani won for her book, Excuse Me I’m Trying to Read, in the picture book category, and McMillan’s book, The Young Healer, was selected from the chapter book category. These books were chosen among more than 1,000 manuscript entries submitted in this year’s contest. Manuscripts were reviewed and selected by a committee of editors and educators who judged submissions based on content, originality, and age-appropriateness.

The winning authors’ books will be published by Charlesbridge Publishing (a nationally known children’s book publisher), endorsed by the NAESP Foundation, and feature the NAESP Foundation Children’s Book Award emblem.

The Foundation, founded 1982, is operated as the tax-exempt, charitable arm of the National Association of Elementary School Principals—a professional association serving more than 25,000 administrators and other educators in the United States and overseas since 1921. Visit the NAESP Foundation website for more information.