Press Start! Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! wins Children’s Book Award

Press Start! Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! wins Children’s Book Award

The Children’s Book Award 2024 winners were announced at the award ceremony in Birmingham on Saturday 8th June. And the winners are:

Press Start! Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! written and illustrated by Thomas Flintham, published by Nosy Crow won the Books for Younger Readers category before going on to win the overall prize.

Gigantic, written and illustrated by Rob Biddulph and published by HarperCollins was the Books for Younger Children category winner.

The Final Year, written by Matt Goodfellow and illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, and published by Otter-Barry Books, won the Books for Older Readers category.

Among the 90 guests at the ceremony were children from many of the local groups of the FCBG who had voted and who made all the presentations on the day, helped by Korky Paul, Winnie the Witch and Wilbur (winners themselves back in 1988).

The shortlisted authors and illustrators receive a portfolio of words and pictures from the voting children inspired by each book so no one leaves the ceremony empty-handed. Receiving his second portfolio in two years, Rob Biddulph described his as “treasure” and Thomas Flintham said: “This is a big honour. I’m lucky enough to have two already, so to have three is unbelievable.”

On winning, Thomas Flintham said, “we don’t make these books on our own so a big thank you to my editor Katy my designer Brian who put up with all my delays and lateness and problems and a big thank you again for all the readers – it is why we do what we do, so thank you.”

Also speaking at the ceremony, Liz Kessler said that “It’s always an honour to be shortlisted for an award but it’s particularly meaningful when those awards are all voted by the children. This is what it’s all about for us.”

Sarah Stuffins, CBA Coordinator, said: “As ever, the children have spoken! And this year have chosen a brilliantly accessible book that bursts with fun and practically fizzes off the page. Inspiring the love of reading for pleasure – and highlighting its importance to child development – remains a key aim of the award. We at the FCBG are always proud and delighted to help these fantastic books directly into the hands of children up and down the country. The engagement displayed by the children is always a delight to see and many, many congratulations to all our worthy winners. And many thanks, too, to every child who voted.”

Many thanks are due, especially to all the publishers who submit their books to our 10 testing groups throughout the year, and donate more at the Top 10 stage. This year 700 books were submitted by the publishers for reading and voting. In the first round, to choose the Top 10, the children submitted 47,000 votes with a further 30,000 votes submitted by FCBG groups and through online voting to choose the winners. Check out the website for more photos from the ceremony https://fcbg.org.uk/childrens-book-award-2024/ and view a recording on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@federationofchildrensbookg8427

 

The full shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2024 is as follows:

Books for Younger Children

Gigantic – written and illustrated by Rob Biddulph, published by HarperCollins

The Fastest Tortoise in Town – written by Howard Calvert and illustrated by Karen Obuhanych, published by Walker Books

The Princess and The (Greedy) Pea – written and illustrated by Leigh Hodgkinson, published by Walker Books

The Big Dreaming – written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Daniel Egneus, published by Bloomsbury

 

Books for Younger Readers

Marv and The Killer Plants – written by Alex Falase-Koya and illustrated by Paula Bowles, published by OUP

Press Start! Game On, Super Rabbit Boy! – written and illustrated by Thomas Flintham#, published by Nosy Crow

Adventure Mice: Otter Chaos – written by Philip Reeve and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre, published by David Fickling Books

 

Books for Older Readers

Deadlock – written by Simon Fox, published by Nosy Crow

The Final Year – written by Matt Goodfellow and illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, published by Otter-Barry Books

Code Name Kingfisher – written by Liz Kessler, published by Simon and Schuster