Readings Children’s Book Prize 2014 shortlist announced

2 April 2014 Books+Publishing

Independent Melbourne bookseller Readings has announced the shortlist for the inaugural Readings Children’s Book Prize.

The shortlisted titles are:

Song for a Scarlet Runner (Julie Hunt, A&U)
The Girl Who Brought Mischief (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
The Andy Flegg Survival Guide (Mark Pardoe, Puffin)
Stay Well Soon (Penny Tangey, UQP)
The Bloodhound Boys (Andrew Cranna, Walker Books)
Ruby Red Shoes Goes to Paris (Kate Knapp, HarperCollins)
Jamie Reign: The Last Spirit Warrior (P J Tierney, HarperCollins)
Smooch and Rose (Samantha Wheeler, UQP).

The Readings Children’s Book Prize, which is worth $4000, is for Australian authors writing for children aged between five and 12 years who have had no more than four children’s books published. Guest judge Sally Rippin, author of the ‘Billie B Brown’ series (Hardie Grant Egmont), will help Readings staff Alexa Dretzke, Athina Clarke, Angela Crocombe, Emily Gale and Holly Harper select the winner. The winner of the prize will be announced in the July edition of Readings Monthly.

Readings Children’s Book Prize manager Emily Gale said in a statement: ‘We’re confident that there’s a book in this shortlist for every young reader, whether they’re into fantastical worlds or real-life dramas, action-packed adventures or situational comedy. We’d love to know what children think of these books and have set up a dedicated Tumblr site to host reviews and keep our customers updated on prize news.’ To visit the Tumblr site, click here.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the Readings Children’s Book Prize was launched earlier this year, along with the Readings New Australian Writing Award for an author’s first or second published book, also worth $4000. The shortlist and winner of the Readings New Australian Writing Prize will be announced in October.

For more information about the Readings Children’s Book Prize, click here.

Category: Local news