| The
Nestlé Children's Book Prize
is one of the UK's longest running prizes.
The Prize celebrates the very best in
children's literature, and, over the
years, around half a million school
children have been involved in choosing
the winning authors.
2007
winners
Novelist Matt Haig, 31, was awarded
a gold medal at this year’s
Nestlé Children’s Book
Prize for his fantasy tale Shadow
Forest (Bodley Head).
Matt,
31, had a variety of jobs from bartending
at one of Ibiza’s best-known
clubs Manumission to internet marketing,
before taking up writing. He has published
several articles and books for adults
such as “The Dead Fathers’
Club” and is currently writing
more children’s fiction.
Shadow
Forest captivated the prize’s
school-age judges and won the gold
medal for the best book in the nine
to eleven years category. The award
was made today, December 12th, at
the British Library, London, in front
of an invited audience of some of
the schoolchildren who were this year’s
judges.
Matt’s
debut novel is an atmospheric tale
of “one-eyed trolls, murderous
truth pixies, witches and humans who
turn into rabbits” set in Norway.
According to the author’s website,
the book “was fun to write,
especially the troll family with only
one eyeball between them and the chapters
with the religious rabbits”.
Two
other books also scooped gold in their
age categories: When a Monster is
Born by Sean Taylor and Nick Sharratt
(under five category) and Ottoline
and the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell
(6-8 years category.) This is the
fifth Nestlé Children’s
Book Prize award for Chris Riddell.
Nestlé
Children’s Book Prize 2007 results
Books
for 9 to 11 year olds:
Gold - Shadow Forest by Matt Haig
(Bodley Head)
Silver - Catcall by Linda Newbery
(Orion Children’s Books)
Bronze - Here Lies Arthur by Philip
Reeve (Scholastic Children’s
Books)
Books
for 6 to 8 year olds:
Gold - Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
by Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children’s
Books)
Silver - Ivan The Terrible by Anne
Fine (Egmont Press)
Bronze - Little Mouse’s Big
Book of Fears by Emily Gravett (Macmillan
Children’s Books)
Books
for five years and under:
Gold - When a Monster is Born by Sean
Taylor and Nick Sharratt (Orchard
Books)
Silver - Penguin by Polly Dunbar (Walker
Books)
Bronze - Dexter Bexley and the Big
Blue Beastie by Joel Stewart (Doubleday)
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