TORONTO – A tale about a young boy growing up in mid-century Cape Breton has won the $50,000 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award.

“Town Is by the Sea,” written by Toronto’s Joanne Schwartz and illustrated by Toronto’s Sydney Smith, was named the big winner at a gala in Toronto on Monday.

Its publisher, Groundwood Books, received $2,500 for promotional purposes.

An additional $10,000 was shared among four finalists: “Dragonfly Song,” written by Wendy Orr for Pajama Press; “Picture the Sky,” written and illustrated by Barbara Reid for North Winds Press/Scholastic Canada; “Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation,” written by Monique Gray Smith for Orca Book Publishers); and “When the Moon Comes,” written by Paul Harbridge and illustrated by Matt James for Tundra Books.

Reid also took home the $5,000 fan choice award after garnering more than 17,000 online votes for “Picture the Sky.”

In total, $112,500 was awarded Monday. An additional $72,500 will be awarded at a gala event in Montreal on Nov. 19 for French-language titles.

Other prizes announced Monday included:

-the $20,000 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award for “When the Moon Comes,” written by Paul Harbridge and illustrated by Matt James (Tundra Books);

-the $10,000 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction for “#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women,” edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (Annick Press);

-the $5,000 Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People for “The Assassin’s Curse” by Kevin Sands (Aladdin);

-the $5,000 John Spray Mystery Award for “The Hanging Girl” by Eileen Cook (Houghlin Mifflin Harcourt);

-the $5,000 Amy Mathers Teen Book Award for “The Marrow Thieves” by Cherie Dimaline (DCB).