The Week Junior Book Awards 2023: Winners Announced!

3 October, 2023

SF Said, Rob Biddulph and Serena Patel were among the winners crowned at an event held to celebrate the inaugural Week Junior Book Awards at London’s County Hall on 2nd October.

These new children’s book awards were established earlier this year by children’s news and current affairs magazine The Week Junior in partnership with The Bookseller to raise the profile of children’s books in the mainstream media and shine a light on the work of both established children’s authors and new, diverse voices.

Judged by panels of authors and illustrators, booksellers, children’s book experts and representatives from The Week Junior and The Bookseller, the nine award categories celebrate the wealth of talent and the range of titles available for children aged 7-14.

Commenting on the awards, Anna Bassi, chair and editorial director of The Week Junior, said: “Our wonderful – and thoroughly deserving – winning titles represent a broad and fascinating spectrum of topics, genres and voices, but what they all have in common is their absolute power to captivate, entertain and inform young readers. The judges were unanimous in their decisions and I feel privileged to celebrate the success of the authors, illustrators and publishers whose brilliant books bring such pleasure to children, and help form a love of reading that will have benefits for the rest of their lives.”

Editor of The Bookseller Philip Jones said: “We are delighted with the winners at these inaugural children’s book awards, organised so brilliantly by The Week Junior. This is bold, diverse, and wonderfully rich storytelling backed by brilliant, striking design and illustration.”

Congratulations to all the winning authors and illustrators!

Cover shots of the nine category winners for the 2023 Week Junior Book Awards

The Week Junior Book Awards 2023 – Category Winners

Children’s Book Cover of the Year – Peanut Jones and The Twelve Portals written and illustrated by Rob Biddulph (Macmillan Children’s Books). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year – Frankie’s World written and illustrated by Aoife Dooley (Scholastic). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Book of the Year: STEM – 24 Hours in Space written by Rob Lloyd Jones and illustrated by Laurent Kling (Usborne Publishing). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Book of the Year: Younger Fiction –  Anisha, Accidental Detective: Holiday Adventure written by Serena Patel and illustrated by Emma McCann (Usborne Publishing). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Book of the Year: Younger Non-Fiction 6-9 –  The Extraordinary Book That Makes You Feel Happy written by Poppy O’Neill and illustrated by Caribay M. Benavides (Weldon Owen Children’s Books). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Book of the Year: Older Fiction – Tyger written by SF Said and illustrated by Dave McKean (David Fickling Books). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Book of the Year: Older Non-Fiction 9-12 – Real-Life Dragons and their Stories of Survival written by Anita Ganeri and illustrated by Jianan Liu (Wayland). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Book of the Year: Breakthrough – The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger written by J. T. Williams and illustrated by Simone Douglas (Farshore). See the full shortlist here.

Children’s Audiobook of the Year – Audio Adventures: Natural Wonders of the World written by Sidra Ansari and narrated by Ben Bailey-Smith (Penguin Audio). See the full shortlist here.

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