Children’s Book Award 2019
The winners of the Children’s Book Award were announced last weekend at a ceremony in London. What makes this award special, is that it is children and only children who decide the result.
Hearteningly, this year the big winner was a picture book celebrating tolerance, diversity and difference. It won two awards – the Younger Children Category and the Book of the Year (Overall Winner). Here are the details of the results.
Winner of the Younger Children Category (& Overall Winner)
Mixed by Arree Chung
The Reds, Yellows and Blues live separate lives, each believing that they are the best. However, when a Yellow and a Blue meet and become friends, things change.
Winner of the Younger Reader Category
The Dog Who Lost His Bark by Eoin Colfer & P.J. Lynch
This is the story of a young boy called Patrick who is struggling to cope with changes in his family life. His new puppy has been through a traumatic experience with his previous owner. However, music has a powerful healing element and it leads Patrick and his puppy to form a bond.
Winner of the Older Reader Category
Armistice Runner by Tom Palmer
Lilly is a young fell runner who doubts her own abilities and worries about the effects of Alzheimer’s on her grandmother. While preparing for her first big race of the season, Lilly stays with her grandmother. This leads her to discover diary entries written by her great-great grandfather during the First World War, which reveal he was also a fell runner with an important job.
Empathy Day – 11th June 2019
Empathy Day was celebrated on Tuesday and if you missed it, the teaching resources are still available to download from the EmpathyLab website. Included is a Primary Guide featuring picture books, novels, poetry and graphic novels that can be used to strengthen children’s empathy skills. Here are 3 of the picture books that have been included in the guide.
The Last Chip – Duncan Beedie
This is a story about a hungry pigeon who ends up receiving some food from a very kind homeless person. This picture book was also shortlisted for the Children’s Book Award this year.
Joy – Corrinne Averiss
An endearing story about a little girl called Fern who is worried about her granny. She feels that her granny is always sad now and looks for a way to cheer her up and bring some joy back into her life.
The Day War Came – Nicola Davies & Rebecca Cobb
A child becomes a refugee when war destroys everything she has known. A powerful story to share with children of all ages to develop empathy and understanding for those affected by war.
A number of authors also participated in a blog tour in the days leading up to Empathy Day. Take a look at what they wrote here. Many illustrators also created artwork for the #ReadforEmpathy Gallery and there are also podcasts available where you can listen to authors being interviewed about books and empathy.