CMIS Evaluation Primary Focus

The winners of the second annual Roald Dahl Funny Prize were announced last night.

Winner in the category of books for the Under Sixes was Mr Pusskins : Best in Show, one of our 2009 Primary Focus Fiction selections.

And for older readers, it was Grubtown Tales : Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky (Philip Ardagh and Jim Paillot).

‘Disgusting and horrible‘ is how former Children’s Laureate and one of the two judges Michael Rosen called it, so it is sure to appeal to lots of readers.

If you are looking for funny, the shortlist from which these winners came is here.

For our blog post on the CBCA winners see our Fiction Focus blog.

What a great way to celebrate the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. Follow the links and you can even watch the NZTV coverage.

Full marks to the organisers.

The 2009 Shortlist for the Book of the Year Awards and the Notable Australian Children’s Books have been announced by the Children’s Book Council of Australia.

The winners and honour books will be announced on Friday 21 August 2009 at the beginning of Book Week.

Book Week runs from 22 August to 28 August.

The theme for Book Week 2009 is Book Safari.

For your start on this exciting safari, the CMIS Resource Bank has reviews of most of the Shortlisted and Notable Books. 

More information about the reviews organised by category can be found on the CMIS Evaluation Book Week webpage. 

What a wonderful idea! A new prize has been created in Roald Dahl’s name to honor the best funny books for children.

Founded by the Children’s Laureate, Michael Rosen, the Roald Dahl Funny prize honours the funniest children’s authors. Two prizes will be awarded — one for the funniest book for children six and under, and one for the funniest book for children seven to fourteen.

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize aims to boost the profile of humorous books as part of Rosen’s campaign to put the fun back into children’s reading. It hopes to promote laughter and humour in children’s books and encourage families to read together and discover the pleasure of humorous books. This in turn will reinforce the message that reading together promotes family togetherness..

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize also aims to reward those authors and artists who use humour in their stories, poetry and fiction.

A shortlist of six books in each category was announced on 8 September to tie in with the third Roald Dahl Day on 13 September. The winners will be announced in November 2008.

Find out more about the shortlisted books and the award from the official Roald Dahl Funny Prize website or about Roald Dahl from his website.

Emily Gravett’s whimsical Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears is this year’s winner of the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, which was announced in London last night.

Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears is on this year’s Primary Focus list along with Meerkat Mail and Monkey and Me.

As reported on The Guardian website, Emily’s technique in the making of this book was rather unorthodox. The Guardian website also contains a set of eight of Gravett’s illustrations from all of her books to date.

A detailed background article about Gravett and her winning book is available on the CILIP website. You can also view the press release and the judges’ comments on the 2008 shortlist.

Joy Cowley and Gavin Bishop’s delightful Snake and Lizard is this year’s winner of the prestigious New Zealand Post Book of the Year prize and Junior Fiction Award.

Snake and Lizard is highly recommended on this year’s Primary Focus list.

Excellent articles about Cowley and Bishop are available on the New Zealand Book Council website.

The winners for the 2008 New Zealand Post Book Awards were announced at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 21 May at the Wellington Town Hall.

View the press release, the judges’ report and the 2008 winning titles.