2011 Winners Announced!

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!

Award ceremony only one week away!

In just one week's time, on 29 November, we will be crowning the winners of this year's Sheffield Children's Book Award! The ceremony, which is being held at the City Hall next Tuesday, will be attended by thousands of local school children who have taken part in the project this year.

These young readers have been busy over the past year, reading and voting for the titles on the shortlists, and they will finally find out the winners at next week's ceremony.

Many of the shortlisted authors and illustrators are set to attend the ceremony on tuesday, and will be available after the event to sign copies of their books; with many also staying on to lead workshops for selected schools (see the previous post!).

It's set to be a great day, and for those of you attending, we can't wait to see you there!

Carnegie Longlists Recognise Titles Featured on our own Shortlists

The 2012 longlists for the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards have been announced and, to our delight, they feature many of the books we chose for this year's Sheffield Children's Book Award shortlists.

Eight out of the eighteen books selected for our shortlists this year have also made it onto the prestigious Carnegie and Greenaway longlists. The eight books that feature on the lists are: Three by the Sea, Ottoline at Sea, Noah Barleywater Runs Away, Put out the Light, My Name is Mina, Annexed, Boys don't Cry, and Trash.

Those of you who have been invited to attend our award ceremony at the City Hall in less than two weeks, on 29 November, will have the chance to meet some of these authors in person! Malorie Blackman, John Boyne and Terry Deary will all be attending the ceremony and will be availabe to sign copies of their books at the end of the ceremony.

Other authors and illustrators attending the ceremony will be: Jonathan Emmett, Caryl Hart and Sarah Horne, David Melling, Steve Smallman, Alex T. Smith, Jim Eldridge, and Kevin Brooks. All these authors will be staying on after the ceremony to sign copies of their books and will also be leading workshops with selected young readers who have taken part in the Book Award.

For those of you attending the ceremony it offers you a great opportunity to meet your favourite authors in person, and perhaps even congratulate them on winning one of the Sheffield Children's Book Award prizes! We're really looking forward to seeing you there on the 29th!

Last Chance to Vote!

All voting for the Sheffield Children's Book Award will close on Friday 16th September, so if you still haven't got your vote in then there really is no time to lose!

Those taking part in the award through their schools will have already caste their votes before the summer holidays began. But if you're taking part through your local library then you can still vote online using this blog...but you only have until this Friday (16th Sept) before all voting is closed, so get your skates on to make your vote count!

Simply vote by clicking on the voting link at the bottom of your category's page, for example, if you have been taking part in the shorter novel category, click on the 'Shorter Novel' tab at the top of the home page and then scroll down to the bottom to find the link, which will open up the voting page.

Although online voting for this year's shortlists ends on the 16th September, you can continue recommending books for next year's shortlists using our online survey right up until 31st December; just click on the link at the top right of the home page.

    Happy Voting Everyone!

Become a Published Author!

Ever thought you've got what it takes to write your own children's book? Well ITV show, Daybreak, are running a fantastic competition, which could see you becoming a published author!

The competition, 'What's the Story', promoted by boy band The Wanted, is looking for young people, aged 7-12, to create a brand new picture book. Acclaimed children's author Lydia Monks has created two new characters, 'the bear' and 'the bee', especially for the project, which entrants must include in their stories. For more information about the competition, how to enter, and terms and conditions, click here to visit the 'What's the Story' section of the Daybreak website. Please note that a parent or guardian must be the one to complete your entry form.

The closing date for the competition is 25th July, so there really is no time to waste...get creative...get writing!

Volunteer Project

Roll up! Roll up!

Do you love to read?... If so, would you like to inspire young children across Sheffield to read for pleasure, whilst also gaining valuable work experience and a nationally-recognised accreditation for your Record of Achievement....Then we may have just the volunteer project for you!

We're looking for enthusiastic 14-16 year olds who would like the opportunity to work in libraries over the summer, promoting the Summer Reading Challenge to young children. This is the second year that we have run the volunteer project, and we're looking for volunteers from across Sheffield to work in Central Children's Library, Firth Park library and the brand new Parson Cross library.

Many of you will perhaps remember taking part in The Summer Reading Challenge when you were younger; it's a massive, national project which aims to keep young children reading over the summer holidays and we need your help to get as many kids as possible involved! This year's theme is Circus Stars, and the children who sign up for the project will be set the challenge of reading six books over the holidays, receiving rewards along the way.

We are looking for volunteers to help sign kids up for the Challenge, hand out rewards, and encourage kids a long the way - talking to them about the books they've read and helping them to choose more titles - there will also be opportunities to get involved in organising and running circus-themed craft activities.

2010 volunteers receiving their Reading      

Agency certificates from the Lord Mayor    

If you're aged 14-16 and interested in working in libraries, or with children, or simply on creative projects, then this summer's volunteer project offers you the perfect opprtunity to gain some valuable work experience! You will also have the chance to gain an OCN Level 2 accreditation which you can use in your Record of Achievement, a long with a reference from us detailing all your hard work.

Interested? Then simply click here and scroll down to fill out an application. The closing date for applications is 27 June, so there's no time to lose! If you have any questions about the project feel free to leave comments under this blog post and we'll get back to you...we're looking forward to hearing from you!

Don't Worry Douglas!

Children's author David Melling has released another title in his adorable 'Douglas' series!

Those young readers taking part in our Picture Book category this year may already have read David's first book in the series, Hugless Douglas, which won a place on our Picture Book shortlist this year. The book follows Douglas on his quest to find the perfect bear hug and is packed with all the humour and charming illustrations we have come to expect from David Melling's books.

 Children's author, David Melling       

David's new book in the series, Don't Worry Douglas!, was released in April and features another of Douglas' adventures. Douglas is given a fantastic red, woolly hat by his dad; Douglas is so excited with his new gift  that he races outside to show it off to his friends. But it isn't long before his excitement (and his hat!) unravels, leaving Douglas wondering what to do for the best. His friends have a variety of hilarious (and useless!) ideas and it is inevitably left to Douglas to decide how to put things right...

Fans of David Melling's wonderfully charming books will not be disappointed by his latest edition to the Douglas series... To find out more about the book click here, or to find out more about David and his other work click here to visit his interactive website!