John Agard has been named recipient of the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to children’s literature. The judges highlighted John’s persistence and creativity in championing and challenging the language norms that too often dominate literature and the curriculum as well as his ability to connect with children today and inspire them to […]
The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) have released their 4th annual Reflecting Realities Survey of Ethnic Representation within UK Children’s Literature. It reveals positive changes but warns against complacency and identifies further room for improvement. The survey shows that 15% of children’s books published in 2020 feature a minority ethnic character. This is a significant […]
The theme for National Non-Fiction November 2021 is Heroes!
Michael Rosen has won the CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Poetry Award for his collection On the Move, Poems About Migration, published by Walker Books and illustrated by Quentin Blake. On the Move explores Michael Rosen’s own past, as the son of a Polish-Jewish family growing up in London, and includes poems about […]
Flavia Z. Drago has been named winner of the 2021 Klaus Flugge Prize for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. She won for her book Gustavo the Shy Ghost (Walker Books) about a little ghost who despite being so shy he is invisible to the other monsters, eventually finds a […]
Andersen Press, along with project partner Wild in Art, are delighted to announce their most recent Elmer’s Big Art Parade auction raised an incredible £312,750 for the Heart of Kent Hospice, bringing the total raised across all trails to £1,072,000. The auction, held on Thursday 9th September at the Mercure Maidstone was the culmination of […]
Boy Everywhere by A.M. Dassu is the winner of the £2k prize for the Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction 2021. The Little Rebels Award, now in its ninth year, celebrates radical fiction for children aged 0-12. Given on behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, the award is administered by radical children’s bookseller […]
The shortlists for this year’s North Somerset Teachers’ Book Awards have been announced. The Awards were founded in 2015 and celebrate ‘the best in children’s literature’ with five separate categories: Picture Book, Poetry, Information, Quality Fiction, Read Aloud and ‘Moving On’, the latter category being added in 2016. The shortlists follow but read on for […]
Books for Keeps expert reviewer Elizabeth Schlenther introduces the new Healthy Books website.
It’s National Non-Fiction November! Organised by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, National Non-Fiction November is an annual celebration of the power of non-fiction to inspire children and celebrate readers who have a passion for information and facts. 2020 is the 10th anniversary of National Non-Fiction November. This year’s theme is The Planet We Share, […]
The six books shortlisted for the 2021 Blue Peter Book Awards have been announced. The Blue Peter Book Awards are judged by school children across the country and this year over 200 schools applied to be a part of the judging process. The winning titles, voted for by children from 12 schools across the UK, […]
Published today, BookTrust’s Represents Interim Research and CLPE Reflecting Realities Survey 2020 reveal some positive progress to representation of characters of colour in children’s books and the number of authors and illustrators of colour published in the UK, but demonstrate that there is still a long way to go until children’s books and publishing mirror […]
Debut authors Darren Charlton and Jenny Pearson join Natasha Farrant and Meg Rosoff on the shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award. The shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award has been announced. No less than 146 books were submitted and from those the judges have chosen a shortlist of four. They are:
The winners of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Shadowers’ Choice Awards, voted for by children and young people, have been announced. The Shadowing Groups chose The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, illustrated by Anshika Khullar, (Hodder Children’s Books) as their favourite book from the Carnegie shortlist and The Undefeated illustrated by Kadir Nelson and […]
Poet Zaro Weil was today announced the winner of the annual poetry award, CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) for her collection of nature poems, Cherry Moon, published by ZaZaKids Books/ Troika Books and illustrated by Junli Song. In a year of outstanding poetry publishing for children, the judges were particularly impressed by […]
Tom Palmer has been named overall winner of The Children’s Book Award 2020. His book D-Day Dog also won the Books for Confident Readers category before going on to win the overall prize It’s a second consecutive triumph for Palmer whose book Armistice Runner won the Books for Older Readers category in the 2019 awards. […]
The Open University (OU) is launching Book Chat: Reading with your Child, a resource which comprises three short films and support materials to help parents, families and carers read books conversationally and creatively to children. Working with Macmillan Children’s Books, the films use a selection of their picture books and a poetry collection to support […]
Jane Porter and Maisie Paradise Shearring have won the 2020 Little Rebels Award for their picture book The Boy who Loved Everyone. They will share the £2000 prize. The Boy who Loved Everyone is a moving and nuanced exploration of love, friendship and emotional expression for the very young. The Little Rebels Award celebrates radical […]
Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.
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