James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Award 2023

The awards, now in their 16th year, are aimed at fostering a love of reading from an early age by introducing young people to new writers and titles they might not normally pick up.

Over the course of 2022, newly published titles, suitable for children and young people were read by Hull Libraries’ staff and an army of volunteers, who reviewed and scored each title. This information was then used to draw up the shortlist.

Separated into three age categories, the shortlists are as follows:

EYFS/KS1 Picture Book Award:

• One Camel Called Doug - Lu Fraser / Sarah Warburton
• Dinos Don't Give Up - Smriti Halls / Richard Merritt
• The Eyebrows of Doom - Steve Smallman / Miguel Ordonez
• One Tiny Dot - Lucy Rowland / Gwen Millward
• The Dragon with the Blazing Bottom - Beach *WINNER*

The KS2 shortlisted entries include:

• Ajay and the Mumbai Sun - Varsha Shah
• Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List - Jenny Pearson
• Has Anyone Seen Archie Ebbs - Simon Packham
• Little Horror - Daniel Peak *WINNER*
• The Lost Whale - Hannah Gold

The KS3 shortlisted entries include:

• Can You Feel the Noise - Stewart Foster
• The Chime Seekers - Ross Montgomery *WINNER*
• The Hunt for Nightingale - Sarah Ann Juckes
• Julia and the Shark - Kiran Millwood Hargrave
• Olive Jones and the Memory Thief - Kate Gilby Smith

Copies of the shortlisted titles are donated to all schools subscribing to the Hull Schools Library Service and the authors are invited to the city to work with the young people. Students can also achieve their Arts Award Discover by logging their thoughts and ideas for each of the books in a special award diary.

It will then be up to the pupils to vote for their favourite story. The Picture Book Award will take place during National Storytelling Week with votes cast on Friday 3 February 2023.

The KS2 and KS3 award ceremonies will take place on 20th and 21st June 2023 at The Big Malarkey Festival when children are invited to hear from the writers, share their opinions of the books and vote for their winning title. The votes are collated on the day and a specially commissioned trophy is presented to the winning writer.

All of the shortlisted books will be available to borrow for free at Hull’s libraries.

For further information contact [email protected]