The Shortlist for the 2023 English 4-11 Picture Book Awards
The English Association has revealed the shortlist for the 2023 English 4-11 Picture Book Awards.
Established in 1995, the awards are presented by the English Association to the best children’s picture books of the year. The winning books are chosen by the editorial board of English 4-11, the journal for primary teachers published by the English Association and the United Kingdom Literacy Association, from a shortlist selected by a panel of teachers and Primary specialists. Each year, one of the books submitted to the English 4-11 Picture Book Awards will be selected as the recipient of the Margaret Mallett Prize for Children’s Non-Fiction.
The Chair of the judging panel, Dr Sally Wilkinson, commented that the calibre of entries this year was extremely high. ‘We were delighted to see submissions from established authors and illustrators like Joseph Coelho and Levi Pinfold, as well as having the chance to discover newer talent like Mariajo Illustrajo. It was a pleasure to see so many books where word and image are of equal importance, each working with the other to create the perfect synergy of picture and text; it was very difficult to choose our shortlist and even harder to choose the winners!’
The Chair of the English Association, Professor David Duff, said ‘The English 4-11 Picture Book Awards provide an ideal opportunity to celebrate the crucial role of teachers in supporting children to develop a love of reading for pleasure. I’m thrilled that, as the Picture Book Awards approach their 30th year, we can keep on inspiring teachers and librarians to explore new high-quality children’s picture books.’
Non-fiction 4-7
Invertebrates Are Cool! by Nicola Davies and Abbie Cameron (Graffeg) Luminous: Living Things That Light Up The Night by Julia Kuo (Greystone Kids)
Wild Life: The Extraordinary Adventures of Sir David Attenborough by Leisa Stewart Sharpe and Helen Shoesmith (Hachette Children’s Group)
An Arctic Story by Jane Burnard and Kendra Binney (Macmillan Publishers International)
Narwhal: The Arctic Unicorn by Justine Anderson and Jo Weaver (Walker Books)
Fiction 4-7
Bibi: A Flamingo’s Tale by Jo Weaver (Hachette Children’s Group)
Five Bears by Catherine Rayner (Macmillan Publishers International)
Fox & Son Tailers by Paddy Donnelly (The O’Brien Press)
Flooded by Mariajo Illustrajo (The Quarto Group)
The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish by Chloe Savage (Walker Books)
Non-fiction 7-11
Real-Life Dragons And Their Stories Of Survival by Anita Ganeri and Jianan Liu (Hachette Children’s Group)
The Magic Of Flight by Nicola Davies and Lorna Scobie (Hachette Children’s Group)
Do Bears Poop In The Woods? by Huew Lewis-Jones and Sam Caldwell (Thames & Hudson)
Inside The Body: An extrarodinary layer-by-layer guide to human anatomy by Joelle Jolivet (Thames & Hudson)
Fiction 7-11
The Midnight Panther by Poonam Mistry (Templar Publishing)
Our Tower by Joseph Coelho and Richard Johnson (The Quarto Group)
Spin To Survive: Deadly Jungle by Emily Hawkins and R. Fresson (The Quarto Group)
Saving The Butterfly by Helen Cooper and Gill Smith (Walker Books)
Paradise Sands by Levi Pinfold (Walker Books)
The winners in each category, plus the winner of this year’s Margaret Mallett Award for Children’s Non-Fiction, will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Thursday 25 May 2023.
