Costa Children’s Book Award
(the following announcement has been taken from booksforkeeps.co.uk )
Costa have announced the shortlist for the 2016 Costa Children’s Book Award. From over one hundred books submitted, four books have made it onto the shortlist. Alongside multi-million selling author Francesca Simon are Brian Conaghan, and debut authors Patrice Lawrence and Ross Welford. This year’s judges are author Cressida Cowell, writer and journalist Anna James, and Steven Pryse of Pickled Pepper Books.
The shortlist is:
The Bombs That Brought Us Together, Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury)
The judges said: ‘Reflecting the disorder that conflict brings, The Bombs That Brought Us Together shines a light in the darkest corners, finding humour in the most extraordinary circumstances.’
Orangeboy, Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children’s Books)
The judges described this as ‘A gripping topical thriller by a fresh new voice in children’s fiction.’
The Monstrous Child, Francesca Simon (Faber & Faber/Profile Books)
The judges said: ‘An ancient anti-heroine is given a fierce modern voice in this story of gods, monsters and growing up.’
Time Travelling with a Hamster, Ross Welford (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
The judges said: ‘A highly accomplished debut, genuinely enjoyable for both a child reading independently and an adult reading with a child.’
The winner of the children’s award and the five other categories will be announced on Tuesday 3rd January 2017. The overall winner of the 2016 Costa Book of the Year, who will receive £30,000, will be selected and announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in central London on Tuesday 31st January 2017. Last year the children’s winner, The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge, went on to win the overall prize for only the second time in the prize’s history. Could one of the above authors follow Hardinge into the history books?
Blue Peter Book Awards
(the following announcement has been taken from booksforkeeps.co.uk )
The shortlist for the 2017 Blue Peter Book Awards has been announced, live on the programme as is customary. There are two categories in the awards, Best Story and Best Book with Facts, and the shortlisted books are as follows:
Best Story
Lost Tales by Adam Murphy and Lisa Murphy
Podkin One Ear by Kieran Larwood, illustrated by David Wyatt
Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford
Best Book with Facts
Survivors by David Long, illustrated by Kerry Hyndman
Destination: Space by Dr Christoph Englert, illustrated by Tom Clohosy Cole
Football School – Where Football Explains the World by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton, illustrated by Spike Gerrell (Walker Books)
Now that the judges, who include radio presenter Nihal Arthanayake, children’s author and illustrator Sarah McIntyre and Waterstone’s Children’s Book Buyer Florentyna Martin, have made their selection, the shortlist will be sent out to 12 schools across the UK who will read each of the shortlisted books and then vote for their favourite in each category. The winners will be announced live on Blue Peter on 23 February 2017 with the winning authors and illustrators appearing on a special World Book Day episode of the show on Thursday 2 March 2017.
The Blue Peter Book Awards are managed by BookTrust. The 2016 winners were Ross MacKenzie, who won Best Story with The Nowhere Emporium and Adam Frost, a graphic designer, who won Best Book with Facts with The Epic Book of Epicness.
