2010 Early Years Awards shortlist announced

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Booktrust has announced the shortlist for 2010 Early Years Awards for books that “exemplify the remarkable creativity in words, design and illustration necessary to encourage young children to read”. 

Old favourites such as the Usborne series That’s Not My…  and well established authors and illustrators such as Rod Campbell and Annie Kubler all feature in the shortlist for the Best Book for babies category. Books featuring animals dominated the Best Picture Book category, from flying jellyfish and stinky skunks to smart fish and a rather large moose. The next generation of illustrators is celebrated in the Best Emerging Illustrator category, with four out of the six shortlisted books by debut illustrators.

The winner for each category will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held at BAFTA on 2 September 2010. Each winner will receive a cheque for £2,000.

Commenting on this year’s shortlist, Chair of judges and children’s literature consultant Wendy Cooling said, ‘It was a tough choice to select six books for each category from the wide range of excellent books for early years children published over the last year. In particular, picture books for the very young are exciting and stimulating this year and reflect the brilliant creativity and imagination of today’s writers and illustrators. Children sharing these books with adults will be well on the way to falling in love with books and to becoming life-long readers.’

The shortlisted books by category are:

The Best Book for babies under one-year-old:

Goodnight Buster by Rod Campbell (Macmillan Children's Books)

Happy Snappy (Mr Croc) by Jo Lodge (Hodder Children's Books)

Hop a Little, Jump a Little by Annie Kubler (Child's Play International Ltd)

I Love My Mummy by Giles Andreae, illus. Emma Dodd (Orchard Books)

That's Not My Tiger by Fiona Watt, illus. Rachel Wells (Usborne)

Who's in the Garden? by Phillis Gershator, illus. Jill McDonald (Barefoot Books)

The Best Picture Book for children up to five-years-old:

Ernest by Catherine Rayner (Macmillan Children's Books)

The Fox in the Dark by Alison Green, illus. Deborah Allwright (Alison Green Books)

Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High by John Fardell (Andersen Press)

The Night Iceberg by Helen Stephens (Alison Green Books)

One Smart Fish by Chris Wormell (Jonathan Cape)

Sing a Song of Bottoms by Jeanne Willis, illus. Adam Stower (Puffin Books)

Best Emerging Illustrator for children up to five-years-old:

Birdsong by Ellie Sandall (Egmont)

The Django by Levi Pinfold (Templar)

Dogs Don't Do Ballet by Anna Kemp, illus. by Sara Ogilvie (Simon and Schuster)

Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara (Macmillan Children's Books)

Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High by John Fardell (Andersen Press)

The Talent Show by Jo Hodgkinson (Andersen Press)

5th August 2010