Canadian author Andrea Torrey Balsara has won the the Eloquent Quill Book Award, as part of the 2018 Literary Classics International Book Awards, for her illustrated upper-middle-grade/YA novel ​The Great & the Small (Common Deer Press). In the fantasy story, rats rise up for a revolution against humans, but the rodents become divided when their leader’s nephew is rescued and nursed by a “young two-leg.”

Balsara lives in Bowmanville, Ont., and is the author and illustrator of numerous children’s books, including the Mouse Tales series and the YA novel, The Present. The Great & the Small has already been recognized by the National Indie Excellence Awards, Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, and the Moonbeam Awards.

The South Dakota–based Literary Classics organization recognizes excellence in children’s literature with their seal of approval and annual awards for “contributions to the craft of writing, illustrating, and publishing exceptional literature for a youth audience.”