PW: Letter From London

[ PW Home ] [ Bestsellers ] [ Subscribe ] [ Search ]

Children's Features

Letter From London
Julia Eccleshare -- 1/3/00

Harry in the Winners' Circle
The success of J.K. Rowling's series of books about Harry Potter knows no bounds. For the third year running, a Harry Potter title has won gold in the Nestle Smarties Prize for the 9-11 age range. Chosen to be on the shortlist by a panel of adult judges, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third book in the series, then romped home as the winner when children from 50 schools around the country made it their choice for the gold medal. It made a hat trick of golds for the young boy magician.

With four more Harry Potter adventures already promised, Rowling made an emotional announcement about his future. "Harry is reaching adolescence and the hormones are kicking in. Next year he will be too old, too much of a teenager, to fit comfortably with the Smarties, so I am suggesting that future Harry Potter titles are not submitted for the prize." In recognition of her unique contribution to the prize, Rowling was awarded a special Smarties certificate. When she accepted the certificate, Rowling said, "I am particularly attached to the Smarties prize as it was the first major recognition for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,and it was the first prize that I had ever won."

Other winners in the 9-11 category are David Almond for Kit's Wilderness (Hodder), which received the Silver award, and Louise Rennison for Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging (Piccadilly), which won the Bronze award. Nestle Smarties Book prizes in other categories are as follows: the Gold award-winners in the five and under category are Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler for The Gruffalo (Macmillan). Silver and Bronze award-winners in this category were Bob Graham for Buffy: An Adventure Story (Walker) and Lydia Monks for I Wish I Were a Dog (Methuen), respectively. The Gold award-winners in the 6-8 category are Laurence Anholt and Arthur Robins for Snow White and the Seven Aliens (Orchard); Silver and Bronze award-winners were Emily Smith for Astrid the Au Pair from Outer Space (Corgi) and Lauren Child for Clarice Bean, That's Me (Orchard).

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is also on the shortlist for the 1999 Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and is the bookmakers' favorite to win the overall £21,000 Whitbread Book of the Year. Children's books are back in contention for the Book of the Year, having been excluded for the last two years.

The other Whitbread shortlisted titles are: Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo (Heinemann); The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson (Doubleday); and Meeting Midnight by Carol Ann Duffy (Faber).

Emil-Maschler Award

Oxenbury has won the 1999 Emil-Maschler Award, given for a children's book that combines excellence in both text and illustration, for her new edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Walker Books). Oxenbury's illustrations were described by the judges as creating "a brave modern update of a classic, making it something entirely new." The winner of the Award receives £1,000 and a bronze statue of Emil, a character from Emil and the Detectives by Erich KÃ¤stner, which was published by Maschler in 1929.

On the Move
David Fickling has resigned his position as publishing director of Scholastic Press to become publisher of David Fickling Books, a list of between 12 and 20 titles a year. The new imprint will operate within Scholastic, making use of its sales and marketing teams. Fickling has been at Scholastic for eight years and was previously with Oxford University Press and Transworld. He has a reputation as a creative and innovative editor of picture books and novels, and has worked with Debi Gliori, Nick Sharratt, Jacqueline Wilson, Susan Price, Jan Mark and Philip Pullman. David Fickling Books will be launched in the spring; the first titles on the list include Troy by AdÃ©le Geras and The Amber Spyglass, the eagerly awaited last part of Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy.

Egmont Children's Books has lost a second key figure with the resignation of Gill Evans as publishing director of Mammoth. Evans's departure follows Jane Winterbotham's move to Walker Books two months ago and ends a -year career with Egmont and Reed Children's Books, the company Egmont bought two years ago. Winterbotham and Evans had worked closely to build up Reed Children's Books, holding the company together during the uncertain years when it was for sale. Evans said, "The time for a move seemed right. Mammoth has just celebrated its 10th birthday and I am very proud of my contribution to those years. Now it seems the moment to move in a new direction."
Back To Children's Features
--->