Anna Kang & Christopher Weyant Win Christopher Award for “Eraser”

Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant, Glen Rock-based author and illustrator, will receive a Christopher Award for Eraser, (Two Lions/Amazon Publishing), a book for preschool children. It is one of 11 books for adults and young people to be honored on May 23rd at the 70th annual Christopher Awards in New York. The Christophers will also recognize creators of 9 feature films and TV/Cable programs.

Kang and Weyant’s Eraser is always cleaning up everyone else’s mistakes. Except for Ruler and Pencil Sharpener, none of the other school supplies seem to appreciate her. They all love how sharp Pencil is and how Tape and Glue help everyone stick together. Eraser wants to create so that she can shine like the others. She decides to give it a try, but it’s not until the rubber meets the road that Eraser begins to understand a whole lot about herself. Inspired by a school essay their daughter Kate wrote in the third grade, Kang and Weyant have created a desktop drama about figuring out who you are, finding happiness, and the importance of second, third, and maybe even fourth chances.

Kang was born in the Bronx and grew up on Long Island where she spent much of her free time reading Teen Beat magazine, Archie comics, and going to the local multiplex. Thinking she'd one day become a professor/diplomat/world traveler, she attended Tufts University and studied International Relations and Asian Studies. Instead, she followed her heart and moved to L.A., where she received an M.F.A. from USC's School of Cinematic Arts and discovered that telling stories made her happy. Her debut picture book, You Are (Not) Small, won the 2015 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award.

Weyant is a cartoonist for The New Yorker and the Boston Globe. His work has been published in newspapers and magazines worldwide. In 2016, he was named a Nieman Fellow for Journalism at Harvard, the second cartoonist to receive that honor in the Nieman Foundation's 75 year history. His cartoons are in the permanent collection at The Whitney Museum of American Art and The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. He has illustrated eight children's books and won the 2015 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for You Are (Not) Small.

The Christopher Awards were created in 1949 to celebrate authors, illustrators, writers, producers and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.” The Christophers, a nonprofit organization founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. The ancient Chinese proverb—“It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness”— guides its publishing, radio, and awards programs. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.