The winners of this year's Sheffield Children's Book Award were announced earlier today, at a fantastic ceremony at the City Hall.
The ceremony was attended by many of the shortlisted authors and illustrators as well as thousands of young readers from across Sheffield, who took part in the project this year.
The winners are chosen exclusively through the votes of these young readers, and those who weren't able to attend the ceremony are no doubt itching to find out which authors walked away with the prizes...so without further delay here are this year's winners:
The Pig's Knickers, by Jonathan Emmett and Vanessa Cabban scooped the top prize.
This hilarious tale of a prancing pig and his polka dot knickers captured the hearts of local children, whose votes ensured it was not only voted the Picture Book Category Winner, but that it was also crowned Overall Winner!
Jonathan Emmett, who attended the ceremony and later provided a workshop for children from Meynell School, was absolutely delighted with the win, and thrilled all attending the ceremony, by taking to the stage for his acceptance speech in his very own pair of polka dot knickers!
The other books scooping prizes for the Picture Book category were: Steve Smallman and Lee Wildish's Dragon Stew, which won the Highly Commended prize, along with Mini Grey's Three by the Sea, which won the Commended prize.
In the Shorter Novel Category David Walliams scooped the top spot, winning the category with his book Billionaire Boy; the heart-warming tale of Joe Spud, the richest twelve-year old in the world, whose only wish is to have a friend.
Jim Eldridge won the Highly Commended prize for his book Disgusting Dave and the Flesh-Eating Maggots. While Katie Davies won the Commended prize for her shorter novel The Great Hamster Massacre.
In the Longer Novel Category, it was Malorie Blackman who was voted the category winner for her dramatic and emotional book, Boys don't Cry, which tells the story of a teenage boy who is just about to embark on adulthood when he discovers he is a father. Malorie attended the ceremony and was greatly in demand afterwards, with so many young readers all desperate for her to sign a copy of the winning book.
Sharon Dogar won the Highly Commended prize for her book Annexed, while Andy Mulligan scooped the Commended prize for his novel Trash.
The winner of the Teachers' Favourite Book was Terry Deary's Put out the Light; a shorter novel which tells the parallel stories of a brother and sister living in Sheffield and two boys growing up in Dachau, Germany, as all four struggle to survive the ravages of the Second World War.
Finally the winner of the Baby Book Award was Noisy Peekaboo! Roar! Roar! by Dorling Kindersley, which adds a new dimension to lift-the-flap books, with its accompanying wild animal noises.
So all that is left to do is say a HUGE thank you to all of you who took part in this year's Sheffield Children's Book Award and Baby Book Award: this year we had a record-breaking 222 schools from across Sheffield taking part in the project!
It was fantastic to see so many of you at the ceremony today. We really hope you enjoyed reading this year's titles, and here's a reminder to keep your eyes peeled for the announcement of our 2012 Book Award shortlist! If you'd like to make your own suggestion for the shortlist, click on the link at the top right of the page and let us know which book you think deserves a place!
