The shortlist for the 2021 Little Rebels Award has been revealed and it is the longest in the award’s history. Now in its 9th year, the Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s fiction which challenges stereotypes, promotes social justice and advocates for a more peaceful and fairer world. Three debut authors sit alongside established authors in […]
Patrice Lawrence is the winner of the inaugural Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize for her YA novel, Eight Pieces of Silva. The Jhalak Prize is an annual literary prize for British or British-resident writers of colour established in 2016 and founded by Sunny Singh and Nikesh Shukla in conjunction with Media Diversified and supported […]
The shortlist for the 2021 Branford Boase Award is announced today, Thursday 29 April 2021. Established in 2000, the Branford Boase is awarded annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. Uniquely, it also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new […]
‘How can a child become a reader for pleasure if their parents or carers cannot afford books, and their primary school has no library, or that library is woefully insufficient?’ Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Cressida Cowell MBE, has sent an open letter to the Prime Minister calling on him to reverse the spiralling inequality in education […]
The shortlists for the 2021 UKLA Book Awards are announced today, 12 April. The awards are unique in being the only children’s book awards judged solely by teachers. Despite the challenges of the last year, the judges completed their task with real enthusiasm. Chris Lockwood, Chair of the Book Awards, says, ‘The UKLA has been […]
A new mentorship scheme for underrepresented authors launches today, 30 March. All Stories offers fourteen mentorships delivered by expert children’s book editors. Founder children’s book editor Catherine Coe founded the programme out of a determination to tackle privilege and the lack of diversity in the industry. She says, ‘Many, if not most, debut authors today […]
The shortlists for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, 18 March. The awards are the UK’s oldest for children and young people. This year’s judges praised their shortlists for ‘offering hope and escapism during lockdown’ through explorations of freedom, the great outdoors and journeys through the natural world. Women writers […]
The Jhalak Prize has announced the longlist for the inaugural Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize. The Jhalak Prize is an annual literary prize for British or British-resident writers of colour established in 2016 and founded by Sunny Singh and Nikesh Shukla in conjunction with Media Diversified and supported by the Author’s Club. A celebration […]
Award-winning author and activist, Onjali Raúf takes up the post as the new Writer in Residence for BookTrust, today, International Women’s Day. She takes over from Smriti Halls. The BookTrust Writer/Illustrator in Residence project has been running since March 2009 and has featured several authors and illustrators including Cressida Cowell, Sita Brahmachari, Patrick Ness, Polly […]
In a challenging year, UKLA have announced the longlists for the UKLA Book Awards. As publisher submissions were invited, publishers were in lockdown, distribution warehouses were closed and in some cases, it proved impossible to get physical books delivered to the longlisting panels (composed of experienced past teacher judges, ex-teachers, librarians and consultants) Yet despite […]
Eva Eland has won the 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. She won for her book When Sadness Comes to Call (Andersen Press), in which a young child opens the door to an unexpected visitor, Sadness, personified as a semi-transparent amorphous shape. Described by the […]
Liz Hyder is the winner of the 2020 Branford Boase Award for the year’s outstanding debut novel for children for her powerful dystopia Bearmouth. The award is shared with her editor, Sarah Odedina, editor-at-large, Pushkin Children’s Books. Now in its twenty-first year the Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of award-winning author […]
A new prize has opened, The Jhalak Children’s YA Prize for books for children and young adults written by a writer of colour. This new annual prize will seek out the best of books for children and young adults written by British/British resident BAME writers and award one winner £1,000. The winner will also receive […]
Every two years, IBBY invites nominations from national sections for its international list of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. The final list is selected from these by the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Young People with Disabilities, based in Toronto. Because of its international content, the list is unique in the children’s […]
The shortlist for the 2020 Little Rebels Award has been announced. The Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s fiction which challenges stereotypes, promotes social justice and advocates for a more peaceful and fairer world. Books on this year’s shortlist feature boundless kindness, domestic violence, excess consumerism, sustainability and untold histories, and there’s even a Brexit […]
The winners of the 2020 UKLA Book Awards have been announced. The UKLA Book Awards are the only awards to be judged entirely by teachers and highlight texts that can ‘enhance all aspects of literacy learning’. The 2020 process has been adapted to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 lockdown which struck just as […]
Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola have been named winners of the Illustrated Books category in the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020. Their debut picture book Look Up! also scooped the overall winners’ prize. They win £5,000 plus the promise of ongoing commitment to their writing and illustrating careers from Waterstones. Florentyna Martin, Waterstones Children’s […]
Children’s Laureate of Wales, Eloise Williams and author Matt Brown have launched a new crowdfunded project, The Mab. The Mab will retell stories from the Mabinogion to excited kids and reconnect them with their history and culture. Amongst the authors contributing are Sophie Anderson, PG Bell, Darren Chetty, Alex Wharton, Catherine Johnson and Hanan Issa. […]
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