Eva Eland has won the 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize for the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. She won for her book When Sadness Comes to Call (Andersen Press), in which a young child opens the door to an unexpected visitor, Sadness, personified as a semi-transparent amorphous shape. As the two spend time together, the child comes to know and understand Sadness, and then one day wakes up to find the visitor has left. Described by the judges as “a masterpiece of minimalism”, it is a sensitive and profound exploration of a complex emotion in a story that will speak to every child, no matter how young.

Eva Eland grew up in Delft, Netherlands. She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy and the School of Visual Arts in New York as well as at the Cambridge School of Art, where she received a distinction in children’s book illustration. She started working on the book while on the prestigious Cambridge MA course and originally planned to feature other ‘difficult emotions’ such as anger and fear.  However, she says: “Sadness was the one that most resonated with me, as it’s a feeling that has frequently visited me since childhood, and one that has become very familiar, almost like an old friend.”

Judge and winner of the 2019 Klaus Flugge Prize, Jessica Love says: “This book is profound in its simplicity. There isn’t a single line that Eva Eland puts down that doesn’t tell the truth. Perfect.”

Now in its fifth year, the Klaus Flugge Prize was founded to honour publisher Klaus Flugge, a supremely influential figure in picture books. Flugge set up Andersen Press in 1976 and has discovered and nurtured many of today’s most distinguished illustrators including David McKee, Tony Ross, Satoshi Kitamura, Ruth Brown and Susan Varley.

Receiving the prize, Eva Eland said: “When Sadness Comes to Call started as a personal exploration of difficult emotions in images and text during my studies at the MA Children’s Book Illustration in Cambridge and when I took my first version of this book to the Children’s Book Fair in Bologna, displayed on the stand of the Cambridge School of Art, I thought I had made something very peculiar and niche and had very little expectations of getting any serious interest. So when Andersen Press approached me and wanted to publish the book, I could hardly believe it. I didn’t think I was ready at all to publish my debut book as I was still studying and learning a lot, but I was gently reminded by my tutors that this was a great opportunity I shouldn’t let pass – and working with my publisher has been a wonderful, uplifting experience. To be shortlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize was such a delightful surprise and a huge honour, and now I’ve learned I won the award as well! It’s very encouraging to receive recognition like this and it will also help me to dedicate more resources to developing my work further. And I can’t help but smile at the fact that this often unwanted guest, called sadness, is now finding its way and being welcomed by so many more people and children, with a little help from my book and the Klaus Flugge Prize.”

The judges also chose to award Highly Commended to Sabina Radeva for her book, On the Origin of Species, an illustrated retelling of Darwin’s famous book.

Chair of the judges, Julia Eccleshare said: “The Klaus Flugge Prize puts picture book illustration and illustrators into the spotlight and, in its fifth year, we were particularly excited by the standard of books submitted and by the talent and ambition demonstrated by the shortlisted illustrators. When Sadness Comes to Call stands out, however.  It is very much a book for today when so many children will be experiencing sadness, struggling to understand why and how to express themselves. Yet it also has the makings of a classic, a perfect meeting of intention and delivery, and an example of how much picture books can do. We are also delighted to highlight On the Origin of Species, another outstanding picture book and a very different example of how illustration can successfully convey complex ideas clearly and with beauty.”

The announcement was made on the evening of Wednesday 16 September. Eva Eland wins £5,000.

Liz Hyder has just been announced (via Zoom) winner of the 2020 Branford Boase Award for the year’s outstanding debut novel for children for her powerful dystopia Bearmouth (ACHUKA’s Book of the Day on 30 April this year). Based on real-life stories of nineteenth century child miners, Bearmouth is set in a deep underground mine, and told in a distinctive dialect, invented by Hyder and maintained throughout. The award is shared with her editor, Sarah Odedina, editor-at-large, Pushkin Children’s Books.

The announcement of this important prize for a debut children’s book normally takes place in high summer at the offices of Walker Books, but like most prizes this year it had to be delayed and moved online.

The submissions in 2020 were particularly strong, and the judges chose to award Highly Commended to Katya Balen and her editor Lucy Mackay-Smith for The Space We’re In, a moving story about a boy and his relationship with his younger brother, who is autistic.

Muhammad Khan, last year’s Branford Boase Award winner said of the winning book : “[It] is a tour de force of a page-turner with an intricate and stylised plot. Liz Hyder has created a gritty world for her hugely likeable protagonist, Newt, and a unique language which evolves as the exciting story unfolds. Original and unforgettable.”

Liz Hyder says: “The Branford Boase Award is such a prestigious award and I love that it celebrates both editor and author. It was a true partnership to work with Sarah on Bearmouth. I learnt so much from her and can honestly say that the experience changed my life in so many ways. To be shortlisted felt like prize enough but to win feels utterly incredible! It means the world to me not only because I’m following in the footsteps of so many authors who I admire and cherish but also because I share it with Sarah who is the best, most inspiring, wonderful editor. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

Sarah Odedina, the book’s editor (also recognised by the award) said: “What marks Liz out for me is her courage and originality and her faultless ability to create a story that holds the reader’s attention by its sheer power.  As an editor there cannot be many higher accolades than to be on the Branford Boase Award shortlist.  To win the award in partnership with an author confirms that this task of bringing stories to young readers is a work of collaboration and one that is most successful when author and editor listen to one another and enjoy the process of creating a novel.”

Katya Balen and Lucy Mackay-Sim, Highly Commended, said: “We’re thrilled to have received this commendation from such a prestigious award, and to be recognised among a shortlist of such brilliant books – including a truly extraordinary winner. It’s also a delight to receive this accolade together on a book we both care about so much.”

Muhammad Khan says: ”The Space We’re In is a challenging story about neurodivergent siblings and what ‘family’ and ‘home’ means to them. Katya Balen writes with an assuredness that takes you directly into the characters’ lives and makes you feel every beat of their joys, woes and frustrations. An incredible first novel.”

This year the judges were Sue Bastone, vice-chair SLA; Victoria Dilly, creator of the Book Activist blog; Layla Hudson of Round Table Books, Brixton; and Muhammad Khan, author of I Am Thunder, winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award. The panel was chaired, as always, by Julia Eccleshare, children’s director of the Hay Festival and Branford Boase Award founder.

Liz Hyder receives a cheque for £1,000 and Liz and Sarah both receive engraved trophies.

The complete list of titles on the 2020 shortlist:

• Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties by Humza Arshad and Henry White, edited by Holly Harris and Sharan Matharu, illus Aleksei Bitskoff (Puffin)
• The Space We’re In by Katya Balen, edited by Lucy Mackay-Sim, illus Laura Carlin (Bloomsbury)
• A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby, edited by Liz Bankes and Sarah Levison (Egmont)
• Bearmouth by Liz Hyder, edited by Sarah Odedina (Pushkin Press)
• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, edited by Lindsey Heaven (Electric Monkey)
• Frostheart by Jamie Littler, edited by Naomi Colthurst (Puffin)
• The Million Pieces of Neena Gill by Emma Smith-Barton, edited by Naomi Colthurst (Penguin)

Overall Winner & Best Illustrated Book Category Winner
Look Up! by Nathan Bryon & Dapa Adeola

Best Book for Younger Reader Category Winner
High-Rise Mystery by Sharna Jackson

Best Book for Older Readers Winner
Bearmouth by Liz Hyder