Congratulations to Natasha Farrant, who has won the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award with Voyage of the Sparrowhawk. Set in the aftermath of World War I, Ben and Lottie meet when they are both 13 years old. Both orphans, and both in unhappy circumstances, they go on the run in search of lost family, undertaking a perilous journey across the Channel in a narrowboat. With friendship, adventure, warmth, humour, boats and dogs, this book will appeal to children aged 9+, and to all those who fell in love with Natasha Farrant’s highly acclaimed 2018 modern classic, The Children of Castle Rock.
Other titles on the shortlist were:
Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (YA: post apocalyptic story with zombie thrills, political allegory, and a tender gay romance)
The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson (8+: illustrated by Rob Biddulph, humourous and poignant)
The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff (YA: a dreamy, sun-drenched, coming-of-age tale).
Happy New Year to one and all. If you have read any good children’s books over the Christmas break, do let us know here.
Sounds great Mandy, thank you. I don’t know Natasha Farrant’s work so this an exciting new name for me to get to know!
We have been enjoying lots of books over Christmas, with gifts including some classics such as Wind in the Willows (what delightfully complex language and curiously strange ideas for a children’s book!!) and the very pleasing Book of Hopes complied by Katherine Rundell. This is available free online as well as in a purchasable hard copy format. It includes short stories, illustrations, poems and comic strips by various authors, artists and creators from the current world of children’s literature. It has inspired us at home to start our own 2021 scrap book of hopes, plans and ideas of things we might do in the year ahead. Who knows what is possible, but our imaginations will take us anywhere…
Happy new year to all, best wishes for peace and safety for everyone!
Chloe