PIRATE CATS AND DOODLING SCHOOLBOY WIN THE 2011 ROALD DAHL FUNNY BOOK PRIZE

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Peter Bently and Liz Pichon have been announced as winners of the 2011 Roald Dahl Funny Book Prize. 

Bently’s story of a gang of cats who steal a ship full of haddock on the high seas, Cats Ahoy!, took the title of Funniest Book for Children aged Six and Under while Pichon’s book The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is officially the year’s Funniest Book for Children Aged Seven to Fourteen.

Both authors were present to collect their awards and prize cheques of £2,500 at a ceremony at the Unicorn Theatre London 8^th November.

The award is now in its fourth year, and is the brainchild of Michael Rosen, chair of the judges. He commented, “The real beauty of these books is not only the deep down in your belly, shoulder shaking laughter that the words induce, but the expertly crafted interactive relationship they have with the VERY funny illustrations. These two books are master classes in how to write and how to draw funny.’

This year, the Prize saw children’s role in the judging process expanded. 400 pupils from England were selected to read the shortlisted titles, discuss them with their classmates, and pick their favourite funny book in the relevant category for their age. Their votes were then combined with the votes of the adult judging panel to find the two winners for 2011.

 The complete shortlists were:

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Six and Under

Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere (Puffin)

Cats Ahoy! by Peter Bently, illustrated by Jim Field (Macmillan Children‟s Books)

First Week at Cow School by Andy Cutbill, illustrated by Russell Ayto (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Limelight Larry by Leigh Hodgkinson (Orchard)

Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David Mackintosh (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

A Place to Call Home by Alexis Deacon, illustrated by Viviane Schwarz (Walker)

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Seven to Fourteen

Animal Tales by Terry Jones, illustrated by Michael Foreman (Pavilion Children's Books)

The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon (Scholastic)

The Get Rich Quick Club by Rose Impey (Orchard)

Letters from an Alien Schoolboy by Ros Asquith (Piccadilly Press)

Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster by Joanna Nadin, illustrated by Jess Mikhail (Usborne)

The Wrong Pong by Steven Butler, illustrated by Chris Fisher (Puffin)