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Henrietta Branford Writing Competition 2021

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This annual competition for young writers is now open. It’s a superb competition to enter and shortlisted authors are invited to a special prize ceremony which includes the announcement of the Branford Boase First Novel Award, attended by the shortlisted authors and editors and invited guests from the children’s publishing world.

The competition is open to anyone aged 19 or under and the challenge is to finish a story started by Branford Boase Award winner, Liz Hyder. Find the starter paragraph and additional details about the competition here: https://branfordboaseaward.org.uk/2021-competition-details/

Deadline is Sunday 23rd May 2021

Ana on the Edge by A. J. Sass

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 19 Jan 2021

Waterstones
Amazon
Bookshop [unlisted]

After all those years of hard work and her single Chinese-American mother’s many sacrifices, 12 yr-old Ana-Marie Jin, reigning U.S. Juvenile Figure-Skating Champion, is determined not to let anything spoil her dream of achieving another national title.

But she is far from thrilled to  learn that the new choreographer has designed a skating program that requires her to portray a princess. She’s just not a frilly-dress princess kind of girl! 

When  Hayden, a transgender boy new to the rink, mistakes Ana for a boy she decides not to correct him, and soon settles into a comfortable, boyish identity whenever he’s around. As their friendship develops, Ana realises that it’s not easy to juggle two different identities on one slippery sheet of ice and, with a major competition approaching, she must decide whether the truth is worth risking everything they’ve trained for.

The novel provides a behind-the-scenes look into the world of competitive figure skating, while also giving readers a nonbinary protagonist to root and cheer for along the way.

The author comments: “It was an intentional choice to include two trans characters because I wanted to highlight how no two trans experiences are the same. Hayden’s known who he is for a while by the time he and Ana meet, whereas Ana is just starting to explore the layers of her identity. As I touched on in an earlier answer, I think it can sometimes be a revelation to see an aspect of yourself reflected in someone else. That’s what happens when Ana meets Hayden: Hayden’s identity doesn’t match Ana’s precisely, but she recognizes a shared commonality, one that spurs her to dig deeper and learn more about herself.”
extracted from an online interview

The author has a highly informative website: https://sassinsf.com

Henrietta Branford Writing Competition Now Open

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The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, the annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award, is now open.

The Branford Boase Award recognises a debut children’s author and their editor and was set up in memory of the outstanding children’s writer Henrietta Branford and the gifted editor, Wendy Boase, Editorial Director of Walker Books. They both died of cancer in 1999. 

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition aims to find and encourage writers of the future, something Henrietta Branford was always keen to do.

 The 2018 competition is open now and anyone under the age of 19 can enter. Entrants are invited to complete this story begun by last year’s winner, author of Beetle Boy, M. G. Leonard:

 ‘The map had led us to an old wall covered with ivy. I reached through the leaves till I was touching the bricks and felt my way sideways. The wall continued three paces then changed from the rough touch of fired sand to the smooth damp texture of rotting wood. We pulled the evergreen curtain aside. Beneath it was a hidden door. I grabbed the heavy iron ring handle that was riveted to the ancient wood and twisted it with both hands, hoping the door would open.’

The story should be no longer than 1000 words, must follow on from the starter paragraph, and have a title. All entrants must live in the UK and be under 19 years of age. Entries will be judged by Prue Goodwin, consultant and lecturer in children’s literature. She says: ‘We are looking for stories that keep the reader wanting to know what is going to happen from beginning to end, are imaginative and unpredictable, and are written with a genuine reader in mind’.

Six winners will be invited to attend the Branford Boase Award celebration party in London in July. There they will meet M. G. Leonard and the authors shortlisted for the 2018 award as well as editors, publishers, agents, and other professionals in this field. They will receive a copy of each of the books shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award and be able to have their books signed.

The closing date for the competition is Saturday 21 April 2018.

Full details are available on the website:

http://www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk/HBWC/HBWC_current/henriettabranfo1.html

Tweeted: Picture Book Prize

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The Prize is open to UK-based debut writers and illustrators over 16, and the winning book will be published in 2019 by Salariya imprint, Scribblers. The winner will receive a £5000 advance against royalties and career advice from a leading children’s book agent. The final date for entries is 5th March 2018 with the winner announced in April 2018.

https://www.salariya.com/article/stratford-salariya-childrens-picture-book-prize-2018

WBD launches children’s illustration competition

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World Book Day (WBD) is teaming up with National Book Tokens to launch a children’s illustration competition.

To enter the Oodles of Doodles competition, which launches Monday 9th January, children and teenagers are being asked to design a new National Book Token to mark this year being the 20th anniversary of WBD.

A winner from each of the three age categories – 8-years-old and under, 9-12 and 13-16 years – will win £200 worth of National Book Tokens for themselves, as well as £200 for their teacher and £500 for their school, and one overall winner will have their design turned into a book token. 

 

The competition deadline is midonight 14th April.
Entries should be sent to World Book Day Design a Book Token Competition, Book Tokens Ltd, 6 Bell Yard, London WC2A 2JR. =
via WBD launches children’s illustration competition | The Bookseller.

Read80: School Library Association Photography Competition Announced

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SLATo mark the School Library Association’s birthday in 2017 a photographic competition ‘Read80’ has just been announced to celebrate reading for pleasure and the impact school libraries have.

Competitors are encouraged to take photographs that show people of any age celebrating the joy of reading anywhere and to submit them to our competition.

Submission is by upload to Instagram or Twitter with the tag #SLARead80 – all images so tagged will be automatically entered into the competition.

The competition is for entries from 1 September 2016 to Friday 23 December 2016. A selection of entries may be included as part of a celebratory publication during 2017.

There will be 2 prizes of the Reading Cloud (one for Primary and one for Secondary Schools)
“The Reading Cloud is a fantastic new online reading community designed to engage students, parents, teachers and librarians in reading for pleasure. The Reading Cloud uses the very latest technologies to really capture the imagination of students, linking real and virtual reading experiences to drive up literacy standards and develop core reading skills.”
NB Please note that the winning schools will require an existing Junior Librarian.net or an Eclipse.net hosted licence.

For individual junior and senior competitors the prize will be £80 worth of National Book Tokens to tie in with the SLA’s 80th birthday.

Full details and small print about the competition are available here – http://www.sla.org.uk/slaread80.php

Children’s Bookshow 2015 – Dates and Venues

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Full list of dates and venues for this year’s Children’s Bookshow now on the website… [see link below]

The national tour brings some of the best children’s authors from the UK and abroad to local theatre venues and gives teachers and school children the opportunity to hear world-class artists talk about their work.
This year Bernardo Atxaga, Patrick Benson, Kevin Crossley-Holland, Benji Davies, Daniel Morden, Marie-Aude Murail, Catherine Rayner, Rachel Rooney, Michael Rosen, Jessica Souhami and Kit Wright are taking to the stage, everywhere from London to Leicester and Stafford to Snape Maltings. Events take place from September through to November.

Booking is now open and you can find full details at The Children’s Bookshow website:http://www.thechildrensbookshow.com/arts-award.html

One of this year’s participants in the The Children’s Bookshow is Rachel Rooney,shortlisted for the CLPE Poetry Award. In conjunction with The Children’s Bookshow Rachel is running a poetry competition for children in two age brackets (9 and under, and 9-11).

http://www.thechildrensbookshow.com/dates.html

Malorie Blackman launches Project Remix

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Project Remix, backed by Booktrust with partners Movellas and Penguin Random House, is asking young people aged 13-19 to create a piece of creative writing, comic strip, book cover, book trailer or music composition based on one of 24 works of literature chosen by Blackman, including works such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Sophie McKenzie launches the new Times/Chicken House competition

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chickenhouse
thetimes

The Times and the independent publisher Chicken House are launching this year’s children’s fiction award. The winner will receive a £10,000 advance and a deal to get their book published. Like JK Rowling, you too could be successful enough to hand £1 million to the No campaign (Better Together) in Scotland.

via Sophie McKenzie launches the new Times/Chicken House competition | The Times.

John Burningham’s animals – in pictures

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Guardian slideshow of John Burningham’s animal illustrations from his picture books.
Leading off with a scene from his new book, The Way to The Zoo, the original drawing for which is a prize in a giveaway competition. Entry details in the link…

John Burningham has created some of the sweetest characters in children’s books over the past 50 years – here we celebrate some of his most beautiful animals, from Courtney the dog to Malcolm in It’s a Secret to the many fabulous animals in his new book The Way to the Zoo.

via John Burningham’s animals – in pictures | Children’s books | theguardian.com.