Children's Book Award 2020

The Children's Book Award is now in its 40th anniversary year and is owned and run by the Federation of Children's Book Groups, a charity set up by Anne Wood, the Founder and Creator of Ragdoll Productions and the originator of The Teletubbies. The Awards were founded by author and librarian Pat Thompson to celebrate the books that children themselves were reading. (They were known as the Red House Children’s Book Award during the 14 years of The Book People’s sponsorship). This years titles were chosen by children from across the country who read and voted for the books at events organised by the FCBG.

The FCBG acts as an umbrella organisation for local Children’s Book Groups all over the UK. The groups organise a variety of activities including author events and other activities that promote the enjoyment of children’s books.

The full shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2020 is as follows:

Books for Younger Children

Jazz Dog, written and illustrated by Marie Voigt, published by OUP

Matisse’s Magical Trail, written by Tim Hopgood and illustrated by Sam Boughton, published by OUP

The Runaway Pea, written by Kjartan Poskitt and illustrated by Alex Willmore, published by Simon & Schuster Children’s Books

Books for Younger Readers

Mutant Zombies Cursed My School Trip, written by Matt Brown and illustrated by Paco Sordo, published by Usborne

Owen and The Soldier, written by Lisa Thompson, published by Barrington Stoke

The Maker of Monsters, written by Lorraine Gregory, published by OUP

Books for Confident Readers

Wildspark, written by Vashti Hardy, published by Scholastic

A Pocketful of Stars, written by Aisha Busby, published by Egmont

D-Day Dog, written by Tom Palmer, published by Barrington Stoke

Books for Older Readers

Becoming Dinah, written by Kit de Waal, published by Hachette Children’s Group

On The Come Up, written by Angie Thomas, published by Walker Books

Two Can Keep a Secret, written by Karen M McManus, published by Penguin

The Children's Book Award 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.

Sarah Stuffins, Children’s Book Award Coordinator says  ‘The children in our local groups have selected another fantastic shortlist and we’re delighted to be able to feature books for an older readership this year to celebrate our 40th Anniversary.’

Any child or young person across the UK can participate and the voting decides the selection of the Category Winners and Overall Winner. 

Vote online here - www.fcbg.org.uk/childrens-book-award - and with your vote you also get the chance to win 2 tickets to the award ceremony - online voting will run to 11th September.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis the CBA cermony has been postponed until the autumn, rescheduled for 10th October 2020.

For more information visit www.fcbg.org.uk and to see updates, you can follow on twitter @CBACoordinator  or visit the Children's Book Award facebook page where you can follow the blog tour visiting each book on the shortlist.