Jamie Smart is rightfully celebrating after Bunny Vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business won The British Book Awards’ first ever graphic novel prize.
The British Book Awards, or Nibbies, are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by The Bookseller. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990.
Announced last week (Monday 11th May) at a prestigious event at Grosvenor House, London, the ceremony was hosted by journalist and television presenter Steph McGovern. Celebrating women’s stories and the power of books to amplify silenced voices, the awards were attended by authors, illustrators and those who work behind the scenes in publishing, including several of graphic novel nominees.
The Bookseller notes Jamie Smart’s talent as an illustrator and storyteller is without question as he takes home his third Nibbie with his win in this new category. The judges called Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business! “beautiful” and saluted Smart’s unique ability to distil chaos into a meaningful and fun story. “Smart is a gorgeous illustrator,” said one judge; “Extraordinary,” said another.
David Fickling Books is incredibly “invested in Jamie” and put together a “strong” strategy, running its largest advertising campaign to date. Smart was also indispensable, filming with Red Nose Day and CBeebies, and providing exclusive artwork for Scottish Book Trust. He also hosted a superfan event with Waterstones, where a life-sized Bunny and Monkey made a special appearance. This “beautifully articulated” graphic novel made Smart the fifth-bestselling children’s author of last year and gave him his biggest first-week sales to date.
Jamie has since told his fans he was “honestly a bit stunned, the other shortlisted books were so so good.
“… Huge huge thank you’s to The Bookseller, the judges, my agent Jodie Hodges, my amazing publisher, David Fickling Books, and The Phoenix and everyone who’s worked on bringing these books to life. I feel so honoured and lucky I get to do this, so it’s amazing to get to do nights like this on top of it all.”
The other shortlisted books in the Graphic Novel category were Dog Man: Big Jim Believes by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic); Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson (Faber); InvestiGators: Case Files by John Patrick Green with Steve Behling and Chris Fenoglio (Macmillan Children’s); This Slavery by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, adapted by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard (SelfMadeHero) and Who Killed Nessie? by Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith (Avery Hill Publishing).
Dav Pilkey, the creator of Dog Man, won in the separate Illustrator of the Year category.
The British Book Awards (aka the Nibbies) have a special resonance this year. As The Bookseller notes, The National Year of Reading (“Go All In”) is an incredible opportunity to put books back in the hearts of every adult and child in the UK. Inspiring, challenging, brave, hilarious, mad, gentle books. “Books that remind us what it means to be fully, complexly, irrepressibly human. Because books build better humans. And humans build better books. That’s where you come in.
“The Nibbies are here to celebrate your talent, your skill and your value. The authors, who craft exhilarating worlds for us to play in. The editors and agents who fight to publish the stories the tech bros don’t want to be heard. From the booksellers to the librarians, the trade publishers to the indie presses, the designers and illustrators to the marketers to the publicists – we want to shout about every person with a passion for their product that goes way, way beyond the requirements of their role.”
Here are the winners and shortlisted nominees in the categories we think are most likely to interest the majority of downthetubes readers. Congratulations to them all!
For all the winners of this year’s British Book Awards head to this page on The Bookseller website
All links below are AmazonUK Affiliates. The winning books can also, of course, be ordered through your local bookshop
Graphic Novel
Winner: Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalatic Monkey Business! by Jamie Smart (David Fickling Books)
Shortlisted: Dog Man: Big Jim Believes by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic); Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson (Faber); InvestiGators: Case Files by John Patrick Green with Steve Behling and Chris Fenoglio (Macmillan Children’s); This Slavery by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, adapted by Scarlett & Sophie Rickard (SelfMadeHero) and Who Killed Nessie? by Paul Cornell and Rachael Smith (Avery Hill Publishing)
Illustrator of the Year
Winner: Dav Pilkey
Shortlisted: Huw Aaron, Ingela P. Arrhenius, Emily Gravett, Tom Percival And Mikey Please
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Winner: Alchemised by SenLinYu (Penguin Michael Joseph)
Shortlisted: Brimstone by Callie Hart (Hodderscape), Ice by Jacek Dukaj, translated by Ursula Phillips (Head of Zeus), Katabasis by R. F. Kuang (HarperVoyager), Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros (Piaktus), and The Devils by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)
Non-fiction: Lifestyle and Illustrated
Winner: Forgotten Churches by Luke Sherlock, illustrated by Ioana Pioaru (Frances Lincoln)
Shortlisted: Always Remember by Charlie Mackesy (Ebury Press); Eat Yourself Healthy by Jamie Oliver (Michael Joseph); Padella by Tim Siadatan (Bloomsbury); Protein in 15 by Joe Wicks (Leap); and To the Women by Donna Ashworth (Black & White)
Children’s Fiction Book of the Year
Winner: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Shortlisted: The Adventures of Rap Kid by MC Grammar (Gallery Kids); Fearless by Lauren Roberts (S&S Children’s); A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson (HarperCollins Children’s); Lottie Brooks vs the Ultra Mean Girls by Katie Kirby, illustrated Katie Kirby (Puffin); and Skandar and the Spirit War by A. F. Steadman (S&S Children’s)
Children’s Non-fiction & Illustrated Book of the Year
Winner: Oh Dear, Look What I Got! by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books)
Shortlisted: Fold Out + Play: Doll’s House Illustrated by Ingela P. Arrhenius (Nosy Crow); My Rice Is Best by Selina Brown, illustrated by Maxwell Oginni (Puffin); Sammy Feels Shy by Tom Percival, illustrated by Tom Percival (Bloomsbury Children’s); The Wizard’s Guide to Magical Experiments by A. J. Wood, illustrated by Jo Rioux (Magic Cat Publishing) and You and Your Body by Punam Krishan (DK)
• For all the winners of this year’s British Book Awards head to this page on The Bookseller website
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Books, British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comics, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds
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