The UK's Children Book Awards 2016 Announced

The UK's ​Blue Peter Best Story Award-winners Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham continue their winning streak by being named overall winners of The Children’s Book Award 2016. Their book 'My Head Teacher Is a Vampire Rat' wins the Books for Younger Readers category before going on to win the overall prize.

'Apple and Rain' by Sarah Crossan wins the Books for Older Readers category and 'Is There A Dog In This Book?' by Viviane Schwarz is named the Books for Younger Children category winner. Pamela Butchart’s hilarious, primary school-based story, coupled with Thomas Flintham’s wonderfully anarchic illustrations made it a popular choice among younger readers. Pamela and Thomas will join the ranks of previous winners who include Michael Morpurgo, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler – and last year’s overall winners Oliver Jeffers and Drew Daywalt.

The Children’s Book Award is the only British national award for children’s books that is voted for entirely by children. It is owned and coordinated by the UK's Federation of Children’s Book Groups and is highly respected by teachers, parents and librarians. It has brought acclaim and strong sales to past winners such as J.K. Rowling, Patrick Ness, Andy Stanton, Malorie Blackman, Anthony Horowitz and Michael Morpurgo, who has won a record three times. The award has often been the first to recognise the future stars of children’s fiction and has the ability to turn popular authors into bestsellers.
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The full shortlist for The Children’s Book Award 2016 is as follows:
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Books for Younger Children
Is There a Dog in This Book? by Viviane Schwarz (Walker)
Read, Steady, Jump by Jeanne Willis and Adrian Reynolds (Anderson)
This Book Just Ate My Dog by Richard Byrne (Oxford)
Fabulous Pie by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees (Scholastic)

Books for Younger Readers
Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (Doubleday)
Horrid Henry’s Krazy Ketchup by Francesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross (Orion)
My Headteacher is a Vampire Rat by Pamela Butchart, illustrated by Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)

Books for Older Readers
Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo (Harper Collins)
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
Smart by Kim Slater (Macmillan)