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Find out moreThe winners for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2018 have just been announced! The award for Best Story went to Cressida Cowell’s The Wizards of Once and the winner of the Best Book with Facts was Real-Life Mysteries by Susan Martineau and illustrator Vicky Barker. Plus Judith Kerr was presented with a gold Blue Peter badge for her contribution to children’s literature.The Blue Peter Book Awards, now in their 18th year, aim to guide children towards quality literature, encouraging them to read and establish a love of reading for life.
UKLA Longlist Book Awards - 2019 | Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2019, Best Story category | May 2018 Debut of the Month | One of our 2018 Books of the Year | This sparkling debut weaves the captivating folklore of Baba Yaga with the thrills of a classic venturing-out-into-the-world quest, replete with primal conflicts, tantalising twists and an unforgettable protagonist that readers will truly root for. Twelve-year-old Marinka yearns to live in a “normal house” and to have a “normal family”, but instead her house has chicken legs, and her grandmother is a Yaga, a Guardian of The Gate between this world and the next. Worse still, in Marinka’s eyes, is that it’s her destiny to become a Yaga herself, to take on the duty of giving the dead “one last wonderful evening” before they “return to the stars”. Baba Yaga has long warned Marinka of the dangers of venturing too far in the world of the living, but her desire “to have friendships that last more than one night” is so strong that she’s prepared to risk everything. Teetering on the cusp of childhood and adulthood, Marinka’s frustrations and determination to find her own way in the world will truly strike a chord with the intended readership. This age-old conflict is delivered with heart and skillfully interwoven with the glorious trimmings of the original folklore. Add to this the twists, the unveiling of truths and the critical choices Marinka must make and you have a heartily satisfying novel that’s ideal for fans of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. Older readers might also enjoy Circus of the Unseen, which offers an alternate re-working of Baba Yaga’s infinitely enthralling Slavic folklore. Radiant with wonder and wisdom, this is an exceptional debut.
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2019, Best Book with Facts | | Did you know that without the `lead' in your pencil, there would be no life on Earth? Just about everything in the universe is made from only 92 elements - and from aluminium to zinc, many of them are hiding in your very own home!
Winner of the 2018 Blue Peter Awards - Best Story | One of Our Books of the Year 2017 | A Julia Eccleshare Pick of the Month October 2017 Best-selling Cressida Cowell launches her new series with a title that will delight all fans of the How to Train Your Dragon series. Set deep in an enchanting forest, this is a charming story full of Cowell’s trade mark humour and total command of mystery and magic and how it fits seamlessly into everyday life. From two opposing tribes – the Warriors and the Wizards – come two opposing characters, Xar, a young Wizard boy who has no command of magic and will fight anyone he can in order to get it, and Wish, a Warrior girl who is imbued with all kinds of magic that she should never have had access to. Xar and Wish should never meet and never become friends. But they do and together they brave the hidden dungeons in Warrior Fort to uncover a great mystery. ~ Julia Eccleshare Julia Eccleshare's Picks of the Month for October 2017 A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin The Land of Neverendings by Kate Saunders The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell Pax by Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen Egyptomania by Emma Giuliani and Carole Saturno Father Christmas and Me by Matt Haig The Greatest Magician in the World by Matt Edmondson
Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018 | Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award 2017 | Shortlisted for the 2018 Blue Peter Awards - Best Story Wed Wabbit is a tour de force! Lissa Evans’s hilarious, madcap adventure is both effervescent and tautly plotted making it impossible to put down. When Fidge furiously kicks her little sister’s beloved soft toy, the Wed Wabbit, into the road she unleashes an imaginary caper that sends her and her spoilt cousin Graham into the world of the ridiculous Wimbley Woos, blobby characters of different colours who only speak in rhyming couplets. But are they so ridiculous? By the end of their adventure, and with the help of the wonderful cast of ludicrous characters including a plastic carrot, both Fidge and Graham have been changed. Lissa Evans’s comic timing and her control of her richly imagined world is perfect. ~ Julia Eccleshare The Costa Judges say: ‘A deeply original riot of a novel that will delight children and adults alike, and keep you laughing all the way through.’ David Fickling says “Wed Wabbit is wildly inventive, dazzlingly funny and sometimes scary; it's a tautly plotted adventure that packs a surprising emotional punch. It has the makings of a classic and will be loved by readers of all ages for many years to come".
One of Our Books of the Year 2017 | Shortlisted for the 2018 Blue Peter Awards - Best Story | Shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award 2017 | Longlisted for the UKLA 2018 Book Award | Kiran Millwood Hargrave follows up her award-winning debut The Girl of Ink and Stars with a story set in the real world, though one still filled with a sense of wonder and the extraordinary. Set in the Philippines at the beginning of the last century it tells the story of a girl forcibly removed from her mother, as many were, because her mother has leprosy, or as those with the disease preferred, is touched. With the help of her friends Ami makes her way back to her mother and it’s a story of love, courage and hope, all of these symbolised by the butterflies that fill the pages and that are so important to the story. It’s passionately told, full of memorable scenes and characters, and the writing is beautiful.
Winner of the 2018 Blue Peter Awards - Best Book with Facts Have you ever wondered what exactly does go bump in the night? From mysteries like Shackleton's ghostly companion to the Loch Ness Monster and friends, read the amazing evidence about these mysterious cases and make up your own mind. Things are not always what they seem - until they are, then you might wish you had never asked!
So you want to go into space? WHY?! (No, really-it's sort of a TERRIBLE idea. We humans are perfectly designed for life on Earth. We can walk around, breathe, drink water, eat vegetables, read books, NOT get poisoned or crushed to death when we go outside-it's lovely right where we are.) Not convinced? GOOD! People have been dreaming about space travel for centuries-there's something amazing about the idea of leaving our planet behind and setting out to explore the UNIVERSE-there's so much we still don't know. An incredible trip to space with comedian Dara Ó Briain Travel to the edge of our universe in smart, funny style! Full of laughs, incredible facts and two-colour cartoons Dara hosts TV shows Robot Wars and Stargazing Live
The first awesome thematic Corpse Talk book - all about the most amazing scientists from history ever! Adam Murphy interviews the dead famous scientists who changed the world - getting their stories straight from the corpses' mouths! Reading Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Scientists is like having history injected into your brain! It guarantees laughs, surprises, and a whole host of the most astonishing achievements you'll ever discover. Don't miss out on the biggest thing to hit history since Horrible Histories!
Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2016 - Best Story - Winner of the Scottish Children's Book Awards 2015 8-11 age category This sparkling fantasy adventure is a glorious hymn to the powers of the imagination. Young Daniel Holmes first stumbles into the Nowhere Emporium as he’s running from a couple of the bullies from the children’s home where he lives. He’s fascinated – and who wouldn’t be – the shop is a cave of wonders, stacked from floor to ceiling with beautiful objects. As for the shop owner, he seems to be a magician. Next day Daniel is knocked down by a car, only to wake up in the Emporium, which becomes his home. He realises the shop truly is magical, travelling through time, entertaining and delighting customers across the ages, while Mr Silver the owner builds strange and wonderful worlds from their imaginations. Not all in this world is happy however, and when Silver’s enemy Vindictus Sharpe threatens to destroy it, Daniel is the only person who can stop him. Mackenzie creates a dazzling fantasy world, so engaging and vivid it reminds one of Cornelia Funke’s books. Young readers – particularly those who like making up stories themselves – will be entranced. ~ Andrea Reece Commenting on his Blue Peter Awards win Ross, said: Best Story winner, Ross MacKenzie, who grew up watching Blue Peter, said: “It's always a great moment to receive any sort of award, but to win The Blue Peter Book Awards for Best Story is extra special. Firstly, because it's an award chosen by the readers. It's fantastic and important that children have a voice, and I'm so glad they liked The Nowhere Emporium enough to give it their vote. And secondly, it's special because Blue Peter was such a huge part of my childhood. I'm delighted and stunned to become a tiny part of the show's history and I shall be humming that famous theme tune for the foreseeable future! And of course I always wanted a badge.” Commenting on his Scottish Book Awards win, Ross said: “I'm so delighted to have won the SCBA for ‘The Nowhere Emporium’! Scottish Book Trust do such an amazing job, and these awards are extra-special because it's the readers who make the final decision. Children don't often get the chance to have a voice on this sort of scale, and I believe it's important for them to know that they have that voice and that their opinions matter.Long may the SCBA continue!”
Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2017 - Best Books with Facts In a nutshell: jaw-dropping true stories; survival against the odds | Proof that true stories can be every bit as remarkable as the most fantastic fiction, David Long recounts twenty plus astonishing true life adventures; from different times, starring different types of people, and set in different parts of the world, they are all stories of incredible bravery, resilience and the strength of the human spirit. Those who managed to survive against the odds include Antarctic explorers, including Shackleton; people shipwrecked or stranded during the second World War; individuals caught in natural disasters; plus the remarkable girl who survived falling from a plane two miles high. Both terrifying and inspiring, the stories make compulsive reading and will leave young readers gasping. Kerry Hyndman’s colour illustrations make this handsome to look at too. ~ Andrea Reece On his Blue Peter win David Long said: he was “overjoyed” not least because he too grew up watching Blue Peter. “My sons never missed an episode, and now I’m going to visit the studio and meet the team. It’s fantastic news,” he said.
Pick up this book and just look at what you will find. Crikey! That's dead scary. If all the dead people on earth came back to like as zombies there would be 101 billion zombies in the world. Aagh! Run for your life! Check your worryometer! If you see a tiger shark be very afraid, it will eat you. On the other hand if it's a zebra shark - did you know they don't attack people? Safe! Is there anybody there? Messaging home from outer space can take forever! If you're on Venus, a message sent would reach home in 8 minutes and from Neptune it would take over 4 hours! Better check you're in range. Seeing RED! You'll have to travel all the way to Antarctica to see a red waterfall. It's called Blood Falls and the water is turned red by the element iron. WOW! Top trunks! Find out all the things an elephant does with it's trunk. He would die without it. GAV! GAV! It's barking, literally, a dog bark in Russian. You'll find many of the noises animals make in different languages. WOOF! WOOF! How cool is that!
Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2015 - Best Book with Facts This laugh-out-loud book is bursting with lists, facts, jokes and funny true stories all about silly people, silly animals, silly inventions, silly names and much more. Discover The Great Stink, the man who ate a bike, a girl really called Lorna Mower and a sofa that can do 101mph. Find out about famous pranks, crazy festivals, nutty cats, gross foods, epic sports fails, ludicrously silly words and really rubbish predictions. There are even lots of great silly things to do. Unmissable!
Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2015 - Best Story Izzy is really pleased to have been put in charge of the new girl at school. Matilde is French, and Izzy and her friends can't wait to show her their den and its moth, and to help her avoid school dinners (also known as poison). But Matilde LOVES school dinners and even has seconds! And that's when they know. Matilde is a spy and she has come to find out their secrets. They must stop her before it's TOO LATE!!!
Winner of the Blue Peter Book Awards - Best Illustrated book to read aloud. Celebrating the value of friendship, this is an exquisitely illustrated picture book with a simple story line. Opening his door and finding a penguin on it, the little boy takes pity on the sad looking creature who he immediately assumes is lost. Together they set out on an adventure across icy-blue wastes to find the penguin’s real home. The cool of the landscape makes a perfect backdrop to the warmth of the friendship between the pair. ~ Julia Eccleshare
Book of the Year in the 2010 Blue Peter Award and winner of the 'Book I Couldn't Put Down' category Award. A page-turning mystery-adventure with a pleasingly old-fashioned feel as two children, frozen by cryonic suspension by their father in 1956, are miraculously brought back to life by two other children in 2009. There are loads of clues to follow and several mysteries to be solved as well as a lot of enjoyable confusion and surprise as children from ‘then’ see childhood ‘now’. ~ Julia Eccleshare If you enjoyed this then check out Ali Sparkes' other titles, including Finding the Fox, Running the Risk, Going to Ground, Dowsing the Dead, and Stirring the Storm.
Winner of the Blue Peter Book Awards 2013 - Best Story. Seeing Delia without her sunglasses on is a BIG shock, but that's nothing compared with the surprise Dad has in store for me with his new found fitness regime. He says he's going to compete aty Sport's Day. Shame! Meanwhile Derek, Norman and I keep practicing in DOGZOMBIES so we're really ready for the school Talent Show. Shortlisted for the National Book Tokens Children’s Book of the Year 2012
Overall winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2011 and winner of the Favourite Story Category. - A Lovereading4kids 'Great Read' you may have missed 2011 selection - Shortlisted for the Galaxy Children's Book of the Year Award 2011. From the author of the much-loved White Giraffe series comes an exciting four-part adventure series featuring Laura Marlin, an 11 year old ace detective. As with Lauren’s earlier animal series, this is brilliantly written with its terrific prose and atmospheric descriptions of the Cornish coast and is a real page-turner too. Laura longs to be adopted and eventually her wish seems to come true and she moves to Cornwall – to Dead Man’s Cove - to live with her uncle. Her new life however, seems to be full of secrets and as the mysteries pile up she finds she must put her keen detective mind to full use. Accompanied by Skye, a three-legged husky she sets out on an adventure to uncover the mysteries – including a message in a bottle - of Dead Man’s Cove. *Here is a list of all the Blue Peter Book Award 2011 shortlisted books: Best Book with Facts: Do Igloos Have Loos? - Mitchell Symons How the World Works - Christiane Dorion What You Need To Know Now: The World in Facts, Stats, and Graphics - Joe Fullman, Ian Graham, Sally Regan and Isabel Thomas Most Fun Story with Pictures: Alienography - Chris Riddell Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree - Andy Stanton Lunatics and Luck (The Raven Mysteries) - Marcus Sedgwick Favourite Stories: Dead Man's Cove (A Laura Marlin Mystery) - Lauren St John A Web of Air (Mortal Engines) - Philip Reeve Tall Story - Candy Gourlay
Blue Peter editor, Ewan Vinnicombe said: “It’s been another fantastic selection of titles for the Blue Peter Book Awards 2018. It was great to see the enthusiasm the children had for voting in our awards… Judith Kerr’s gold badge is very well deserved with her books as popular now with our audience as ever.”
Wizards, warriors, wabbits, weird worlds, long forgotten leper colonies and creepy things that go bump in the night take the top spots in the 2018 Blue Peter Book Awards shortlisted titles, fighting for a chance to win one of two prestigious awards: Best Story and Best Book with Facts.
The Blue Peter Book Awards 2018
The Shortlisted Titles are
For Best Story....
The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood-Hargrave
Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans
The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell
And for Best Book with Facts....
Beyond the Sky: You and the Universe by Dara O'Briain
Real-Life Mysteries Can You Explain the Unexplained? by Susan Martineau
Corpse Talk - Ground-Breaking Scientists by Adam Murphy & Lisa Murphy
The six shortlisted titles were chosen by the judges, which this year were:
Ewan Vinnicombe - Editor, Blue Peter (non-voting chair)
Laura Dockrill - Poet and Darcy Burdock author
Greg James & Chris Smith - Drivetime DJs and Kid Normal authors
Amy McKay - School Librarian of the Year 2016
Blue Peter Book Awards judge Greg James said: “Chris and I love Blue Peter SO much so to be asked to judge their Book Award was a total dream. It was brilliant to lock ourselves away and get lost in the entries. It was an incredibly tough choice but we are confident we’ve chosen books that will inspire a new generation of young readers.”
The books were judged by more than 400 young Blue Peter viewers drawn from 12 schools across the UK, who decided the winners of the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2018 in each of the two categories: Best Story and Best Book with Facts.
Jo Law, literacy coordinator at Church Vale School, which took part in the judging, said: “It has been a challenge and a task that the children and I have taken very seriously. They have embraced every part of the job as judges and have enjoyed reading the books as part of a team during a weekly book club, they have been buzzing with conversation. Their reading stamina has improved greatly and their commitment and enthusiasm towards reading has been amazing, we are very proud of them all.”
To be eligible authors and illustrators must either be British nationals or residents at the time of entering. Books must be first published in the UK between 1 November 2016 and 31 October 2017.
The winning books were announced on World Book Day on Blue Peter on Thursday 1 March 2018, with the winning authors and illustrators also appearing on the special awards episode of the show.
You can keep up to date with the Awards @Booktrust and at www.booktrust.org.uk/blue-peter-book-awards
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