Lancashire Book of the Year facts for kids
The Lancashire Book of the Year is a super cool award for books written for young people. It started in 1987 and is all about celebrating great stories. What makes this award special is that young readers, often aged 12-14, get to be the judges! They read the books and vote for their favorite.
The award is organized by the library service of Lancashire County Council. It also gets support from the University of Central Lancashire. This means it's a big deal in the world of children's books!
What is the Lancashire Book of the Year?
The Lancashire Book of the Year award is given out every year. It celebrates the best new books for children and teenagers. The main idea is to get young people excited about reading. It also helps them discover new authors and stories.
How the Award Works
Each year, a group of young judges is chosen. These judges come from schools and libraries across Lancashire. They read a shortlist of books that have been picked by experts. After reading all the books, the young judges discuss them. Then, they vote for the one they think is the best. This makes the award truly special because it's chosen by the readers themselves!
Past Winners of the Award
Many fantastic authors and books have won the Lancashire Book of the Year award over the years. It's a great way to find new books to read!
Some of the early winners included The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman in 1987. Brian Jacques won twice with his popular books Redwall in 1988 and Mattimeo in 1991.
In 2002, Malorie Blackman won for her powerful book Noughts & Crosses. Jonathan Stroud won in 2005 for The Amulet of Samarkand. Anthony Horowitz, a very popular author, won in 1989 for Groosham Grange and again in 2006 for Raven's Gate.
More recently, authors like Sarah Crossan won in 2019 for Moonrise. Samuel Pollen won in 2020 for The Year I Didn't Eat. Ben Oliver won in 2021 for The Loop.
Cynthia Murphy has been a very successful winner in recent years. She won in 2022 for Last One To Die, in 2023 for Win Lose Kill Die, and in 2024 for The Midnight Game. The winner for 2025 is A J Clack for Lie Or Die.
The award has celebrated many different types of stories. These include fantasy, adventure, and realistic fiction. It shows the wide range of amazing books available for young readers.