David Almond’s A Song for Ella Grey has won the 2015 Guardian children’s fiction prize - available to read from the Library.
The book is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice set in the north east of England. Told in lyrical, dream-like prose, Almond revisits a story that he said “has pestered me ever since I began to write” - the legend of music-maker Orpheus descending to the underworld to bring his love back to life. Set in contemporary Tyneside, Almond’s version features inseparable best friends and sixth-formers Claire and Ella. Through Claire’s narration we learn how Orpheus entrances Ella and the terrible tragedy that unfolds as a result.
The book beat novels by Kate Saunders, Frances Hardinge and Sally Nicholls to win the only children’s book award judged by authors
From http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/nov/19/david-almond-wins-guardian-childrens-fiction-prize
26 November 2015
24 November 2015
Children's Book Award - Readers needed!
You are invited to read all 3 of the shortlisted books in the Older Readers category of the 2016 Children's Book Award so you can rate them 1, 2, 3. Your vote will count towards the award, as this is the only award where children decide who wins. You need to read the books between November 2015 and the end of April 2016.
The shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2016 Older Readers category is as follows:
– Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
– Smart by Kim Slater (Macmillan Children’s Books)
– Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
About the Award
The Children’s Book Award (previously known as the Red House Children’s Book Award) is the only national award for children’s books that is voted for entirely by children themselves. It was founded in 1980 and each year since then children in book groups and around the UK have been reading as many new books as they can and voting to pick both the shortlist and the eventual winners. Past winners include J.K. Rowling, Patrick Ness, Andy Stanton, Malorie Blackman, Anthony Horowitz and Oliver Jeffers. Now in its 36th year, the award has often been the first to recognise the future stars of children’s fiction and has the ability to turn popular authors into bestsellers.
In 2015 this involved 800 books being submitted, with 48,000 votes for the shortlist alone and a grand total of over 80,000 votes being cast. Through the school's membership of the Oxford Children's Book Group 'Testing Group' several OLA students test-read and voted for the books which were in the Top 3 Older readers category. Two lucky OLA readers were invited to the Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London in February 2015. They also attended lunch with the shortlisted authors and illustrators and talked to then Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman.
The shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2016 Younger Readers and Younger Children's categories:
Younger Readers
– My Headteacher is a Vampire Rat! by Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)
– Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (Doubleday)
– Horrid Henry’s Krazy Ketchup by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross (Orion Children’s Books)
Younger Children
– Fabulous Pie by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees (Scholastic)
– Is There a Dog in this Book? by Viviane Schwarz (Walker Books)
– Ready, Steady, Jump! by Jeanne Willis and Adrian Reynolds (Andersen Press)
– This Book Just Ate my Dog! by Richard Byrne (Oxford University Press)
Source and more information
The shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2016 Older Readers category is as follows:
– Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
– Smart by Kim Slater (Macmillan Children’s Books)
– Listen to the Moon by Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
About the Award
The Children’s Book Award (previously known as the Red House Children’s Book Award) is the only national award for children’s books that is voted for entirely by children themselves. It was founded in 1980 and each year since then children in book groups and around the UK have been reading as many new books as they can and voting to pick both the shortlist and the eventual winners. Past winners include J.K. Rowling, Patrick Ness, Andy Stanton, Malorie Blackman, Anthony Horowitz and Oliver Jeffers. Now in its 36th year, the award has often been the first to recognise the future stars of children’s fiction and has the ability to turn popular authors into bestsellers.
In 2015 this involved 800 books being submitted, with 48,000 votes for the shortlist alone and a grand total of over 80,000 votes being cast. Through the school's membership of the Oxford Children's Book Group 'Testing Group' several OLA students test-read and voted for the books which were in the Top 3 Older readers category. Two lucky OLA readers were invited to the Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London in February 2015. They also attended lunch with the shortlisted authors and illustrators and talked to then Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman.
The shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2016 Younger Readers and Younger Children's categories:
Younger Readers
– My Headteacher is a Vampire Rat! by Pamela Butchart and Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)
– Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (Doubleday)
– Horrid Henry’s Krazy Ketchup by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross (Orion Children’s Books)
Younger Children
– Fabulous Pie by Gareth Edwards and Guy Parker-Rees (Scholastic)
– Is There a Dog in this Book? by Viviane Schwarz (Walker Books)
– Ready, Steady, Jump! by Jeanne Willis and Adrian Reynolds (Andersen Press)
– This Book Just Ate my Dog! by Richard Byrne (Oxford University Press)
Source and more information
03 November 2015
The Guardian children's fiction prize – shortlist 2015
Two local authors have been shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, which is judged by their fellow authors. Sally Nicholls and Frances Hardinge, both from Oxfordshire, and David Almond and Kate Saunders make up the shortlist of four.
As described on the Guardian website:
An Island of our Own by Sally Nicholls
This is a joyful Treasure Island-style mystery for the Instagram generation. A loveable young pair don’t face pirates as they seek their late auntie’s buried hoard, but more contemporary devices - from crowdsourcing clues to metal detectors - winningly deployed in this funny and tender exploration of what makes a family.
A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond
An intense, windswept re-working of Orpheus and Eurydice that reverberates with intensity and passion, as beautifully presented as it is written. The transformative potential of art and the imagination radiates from every page of this book, which is as short, intense and all consuming as the love story it describes.
Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders
E Nesbitt’s classic Five Children and It gains an outstanding sequel, with the ingenious conceit of transposing the cosy Victorian setting for the eve of the First World War, yielding devastating results. Enthralling, witty and often unbearably moving, an elegy to not only a lost generation but the first golden age of children’s literature.
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
A compelling fantasy spun from one mesmerising idea: what if telling lies gave you the power to discover other people’s secrets? This gothic yarn of Victorian fossil hunters gone bad features an unforgettable young heroine, who fearlessly takes on monsters of the present and the past to build herself a better life.
The winner will be announced at the award ceremony on 19 November 2015.
As described on the Guardian website:
An Island of our Own by Sally Nicholls
This is a joyful Treasure Island-style mystery for the Instagram generation. A loveable young pair don’t face pirates as they seek their late auntie’s buried hoard, but more contemporary devices - from crowdsourcing clues to metal detectors - winningly deployed in this funny and tender exploration of what makes a family.
A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond
An intense, windswept re-working of Orpheus and Eurydice that reverberates with intensity and passion, as beautifully presented as it is written. The transformative potential of art and the imagination radiates from every page of this book, which is as short, intense and all consuming as the love story it describes.
Five Children on the Western Front by Kate Saunders
E Nesbitt’s classic Five Children and It gains an outstanding sequel, with the ingenious conceit of transposing the cosy Victorian setting for the eve of the First World War, yielding devastating results. Enthralling, witty and often unbearably moving, an elegy to not only a lost generation but the first golden age of children’s literature.
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
A compelling fantasy spun from one mesmerising idea: what if telling lies gave you the power to discover other people’s secrets? This gothic yarn of Victorian fossil hunters gone bad features an unforgettable young heroine, who fearlessly takes on monsters of the present and the past to build herself a better life.
The winner will be announced at the award ceremony on 19 November 2015.
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