Today is a very exciting day for Blue Peter fans – the Blue Peter Book Awards 2015 winners have just been announced in a special Newsround early morning bulletin!
The Blue Peter Book Awards 2015 Winners are presented with their badges tonight on CBBC at 5.20pm – and H is extremely excited! She got ‘The Spy Who Loved School Dinners’ for Christmas after it grabbing her attention by being nominated late last year. In fact, she didn’t stop asking for it – the storyline appealed to her sense of humour.
Think of the Blue Peter Book Awards as being like the Richard and Judy Book Club – but for under tens with the much-sought after Blue Peter badge as a prize. A whole new world of reading opened up to H when she heard about the books, and the last few weeks on Blue Peter have led up to the big day- the results! So who has won?
Well we’re super excited, here’s the official press release with the winners announcement.
Two teachers, who have written funny and silly books, are top of their class as they win Best Book with Facts and Best Story in the Blue Peter Book Awards 2015, voted for by hundreds of schoolchildren.
Pamela Butchart, who teaches philosophy at secondary school, won Best Story with her latest title The Spy Who Loved School Dinners, which was illustrated by Thomas Flintham. (hurrah!!!)
Andy Seed, a former primary teacher and deputy head for 17 years, won Best Book with Facts with The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff, illustrated by Scott Garrett.
Both were delighted to be crowned this year’s winners and viewers will be able to see them
receive their awards on Blue Peter tonight from Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2013-2015 Malorie Blackman, as the show celebrates its 15th anniversary of the prize.
Pamela, who did a book-signing for The Spy Who Loved School Dinners on her wedding day, exclaimed: ‘WOW! Is this real-life?! I’m shocked and utterly over-the-moon about winning this fantastic award! It means the world to me that children voted for my book! Thank you.’
Andy, who grew up watching Blue Peter, said: ‘To win a Blue Peter Book Award is a proper thrill not just because it revives all those happy childhood memories but because the show
today does a truly significant job in raising the profile of books and reading at a time when
this is needed more than ever. To win any award is a delight but to win the Blue Peter Book
Award sets my spine tingling like nothing else.’
The illustrators of the books also expressed their excitement about winning the prize. Thomas Flintham said: ‘Hooray! What fantastic news! It was exciting enough just to be nominated but to have won has forced me to do a little dance!’
Scott Garrett said: ‘I was so excited to hear that we’d won the Blue Peter Book Award! Blue
Peter was a big part of my early years. We’ve all grown up with it and to be part of it AND get an award is something very special to me – I can’t wait to get my badge! Illustrators don’t get inundated with awards, so I’m over the moon to have been awarded this one. Here’s to books!’
A panel of judges including Tom Gates author Liz Pichon, Rastamouse creator Michael de
Souza, The Bookseller journalist Anna James, and non-voting chair of judges, Blue Peter
editor Ewan Vinnicombe, selected the shortlist from publishers’ submissions.
These were then read and voted on by more than 200 children from ten 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.
Pupils at Perry Wood Nursery and Primary School in Worcester said it was an ‘honour’ and
‘exciting as only ten schools in the whole of England can choose the winners of the Blue Peter Book Awards.’
The enormously popular Blue Peter Book Awards are managed by reading charity Booktrust, which works with schools to get more children reading for pleasure. The Awards celebrate the best authors, most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children.
Ewan Vinnicombe, Editor, Blue Peter said: ‘It’s fantastic that in our 15th year of the Blue Peter Book Awards we have given 200 children across the UK the chance to vote for their favourite books. Pamela and Thomas, Andy and Scott should be really proud and Blue Peter will continue to promote children’s books and our viewers’ love of reading.’
So I had a little chat with H – and you can watch it too!