Winners of Royal Mail 2009 Awards for Scottish Children’s Books

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John Fardell, Lari Don and Keith Gray have been named as this year’s winners for the 2009 Royal Mail Awards, Scotland’s largest children’s Book Prize which is voted for exclusively by Scottish children themselves.

Author/Illustrator John Fardell won the Early Years category (0-7) for his first picture book Manfred the Baddie (Quercus), Lari Don won the Younger Readers category (8-11) for her first book First Aid for Fairies and Other Fabled Beasts (Floris Books) and best-selling teenage fiction author Keith Gray won the Older Readers category (12-16) for the acclaimed Ostrich Boys (Random House). They will each receive £3,000.

Record numbers of children took part in the voting process this year, with nearly 30,000 children from all over Scotland actively involved in the awards compared to 18,000 in 2008 and just over 10,000 in 2007.

Over 15,000 votes were cast from every single Scottish education authority, from Dumfries and Galloway to Shetland. Overall, and in all three age categories, voters were once again 50% boys and 50% girls, a surprising figure which challenges the usual preconception that girls read more than boys!

More votes than ever were cast in the Early Years category thanks to our paired reading scheme, sponsored by Crerar Hotels, which saw 10-12 year-old primary school pupils read the short-listed picture books to classes of 5 and 6 year-olds in their school.

This year Scottish Book Trust also teamed up with the Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland (RNIB Scotland) who have transcribed all nine shortlisted books into Braille, audio and large print simultaneously. This means that hundreds of blind and partially sighted children were, for the first time, able to take part in the judging alongside other young readers.

John Legg, director of RNIB Scotland, said: '2009 is the bicentenary of the birth of Louis Braille, so we are especially delighted that young people with sight loss were able to fully participate in this year's awards. Whether an author's words are seen, touched or heard, the skill and feeling conveyed in the story can still be enjoyed by all.'

The Royal Mail Awards are managed by Scottish Book Trust in partnership with Scottish Arts Council, and supported by Crerar Hotels, Times Educational Supplement Scotland (TESS) and Waterstone’s.

Scotland’s biggest children’s book prize, the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children’s Books, is an innovative nationwide reading project in which children and young people from every corner of Scotland read and vote for their favourite books in three age group categories.



The Royal Mail Awards are supported by the Scottish Arts Council who have this year contributed £21,500 towards running costs.



The Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland helps blind and partially sighted people to live as fully and independently as possible. It provides advice, support and training, and campaigns on their behalf. RNIB Scotland estimates there are between 1,400 to 2,100 young people in Scotland with sight loss. RNIB now has the largest library of braille books in Europe, with over 25,000 titles available for loan.



The Royal Mail Awards won the “Young People Award” at this year’s Arts & Business Scotland Award, which recognises a partnership that has harnessed the power of the arts to engage young people.

All enquiries, please contact Olivier Joly, Press & PR Officer at Scottish Book Trust: 07747 085 089 – olivier.joly@scottishbooktrust.com