The shortlist for this year’s Scottish Children’s Book Awards has been announced today, Tuesday 6th September 2011.

As Scotland’s largest children’s book awards, they recognise excellence in Scottish writing and illustration for children across three age categories: Bookbug Readers (0-7 years), Younger Readers (8-11 years) and Older Readers (12-16 years), with the winners decided by Scottish children themselves, who will be reading and voting for their favourite books of the year. The winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony on 23rd February 2012 at Edinburgh’s Lyceum Theatre.

Jasmine Fassl, Children’s Programme Manager at Scottish Book Trust said: “Scottish Book Trust is really pleased to announce the shortlist for this year’s Scottish Children’s Book Awards. These Awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate contemporary children’s books and young fiction in Scotland, and we are particularly pleased with the hugely enthusiastic participation of children, parents and teachers this year. The number of children taking part continues to grow every year, which is proof of the huge appetite for reading in Scottish schools and libraries.”

So far, over 5,000 children in 81 Scottish schools and libraries have already registered to vote. In 2010, 16,000 children took part, and with registration open until 27th January 2012, this year’s awards are likely to be the biggest ever in terms of children participating!

THE 2011 SHORTLIST CONSISTS OF:

Bookbug Readers (0-7 years)

– DEAR VAMPA by Ross Collins (Hodder)

– THE LOON ON THE MOON by Chae Strathie and Emily Golden (Scholastic)

– APPLE PIE ABC by Alison Murray (Orchard)

Younger Readers (8-11 years)

 – ZAC AND THE DREAM PIRATES by Ross MacKenzie (Chicken House)

– THERE’S A HAMSTER IN MY POCKET! by Franzeska G Ewart (Frances Lincoln)

– THE CASE OF THE LONDON DRAGONFISH by Joan Lennon (Catnip)

Older Readers (12-16 years)

– WASTED by Nicola Morgan (Walker)

– THE BLACKHOPE ENIGMA by Teresa Flavin (Templar)

– THE PRISONER OF THE INQUISITION by Theresa Breslin (Corgi – RHCB)

The total prize fund is £12,000, with the shortlisted authors and illustrators receiving £500 per book, and the winning authors and illustrators winning £3,000 per book at the award ceremony. In addition to this, the winning title from the Bookbug Readers Category will be gifted to all primary 1 children in Scotland in 2012, subject to funds being available. Last year’s winning Bookbug Readers Category title, What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson, will be gifted to all primary 1 children in Scotland in November 2011.

Originally set up by the Scottish Arts Council in 1999, the Scottish Children’s Book Awards are now run by Scottish Book Trust in partnership with Creative Scotland.

Gavin Wallace, Portfolio Manager for Literature, Publishing and Language at Creative Scotland said:

“Creative Scotland remains committed to celebrating the remarkable wealth of literature for children and young people in Scotland, and the evidently robust health for reading in Scottish children, and this is a fantastic shortlist. The Scottish Children’s Book Awards, as one of the biggest awards of their kind in the UK, are abundant testimony to both phenomena.”

CALL Scotland has again worked with Scottish Book Trust and the authors and publishers to create accessible digital versions of the nine shortlisted books for children and young people with physical, visual and reading or dyslexic difficulties, who can’t read the paper books. The accessible digital versions of the shortlisted books are available free of charge from CALL Scotland. You can request books by going to http://www.callscotland.org.uk/Home/

The Scottish Children’s Book Awards are not only about reading but also about writing: the popular Book Review Competition attracts hundreds of high quality entries from budding journalists and authors all over the country, hoping to win book tokens for themselves and an author visit for their school.

The Scottish Children’s Book Awards are managed by Scottish Book Trust in partnership with Creative Scotland, and supported by the Times Educational Supplement Scotland (TESS) and Waterstone’s.

Source: Scottish Book Trust