Comiserations this morning to fab comics creator Sarah McIntyre, whose Oliver and the Seawigs (co-created with Philip Reeve) was nominated for a Blue Peter Book Award this year, but has been pipped to the post by 26-year-old Katherine Rundell with Rooftoppers in the Awards “Best Story” Category.
Tony Robinson beat off the competition to win himself his second Blue Peter Book Award for “Best Book with Facts”, with the World War Two instalment in his Weird World of Wonders series.
A panel of judges including author Marcus Sedgwick, CBBC presenter Katie Thistleton, World Book Day director Kirsten Grant and as a non-voting chair of judges, Blue Peter editor Ewan Vinnicombe, selected the shortlist from publishers’ submissions. These were then read and voted on by over 400 children from 10 schools across the UK to decide the winners in each category.
The winners were announced on a special World Book Day morning bulletin of Newsround and viewers will be able to see them receive their awards on Blue Peter tonight.
Although Sarah wasn’t a winner, we still think Oliver and the Seawigs is fabulous, and if you’re a fan, too, then check out this special Seawigs tale on My Book Corner, published as part of the Blue Peter Book Awards tour. Then head over to Sarah’s official web site, Jabberwoks, and check out more of her work.
Heres’ the rundown of the winners and those shortlised:
Best Story
- WINNER Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (Faber & Faber)
- Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre (Oxford University Press)
- Whale Boy by Nicola Davies (Yearling, Random House Children’s Books)
Best Book with Facts
- WINNER Tony Robinson’s Weird World of Wonders – World War II by Tony Robinson, illustrated by Del Thorpe (Macmillan)
- Marvellous Maths by Jonathan Litton, illustrated by Thomas Flintham (Templar)
- The World in Infographics: Animal Kingdom by Jon Richards and Ed Simpkins
The 10 schools that judged the Blue Peter Book Awards 2014 were: Antony CE VA Primary School, Cornwall; Burford School, Buckinghamshire; Cragside Church of England Primary, Northumberland; Gorsefield Primary School, Manchester; The Grove Academy, Hertfordshire; Magor Church in Wales Primary School, Monmouthshire, Wales; Kilkeel Primary School, Co Down, Northern Ireland; Latymer Prep School, London; St. Columba’s RC Primary, Cupar, Scotland; and St Francis Catholic Primary, Somerset.
• More info: www.booktrust.org.uk/bluepeter
• Sarah McIntyre’s Official web site: www.jabberworks.co.uk
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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.
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