Danica Novgorodoff is the winner of the 2022 Yoto Greenaway Medal for her illustrations to the graphic novel version of Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down picked as an ACHUKA Book of The Day in November 2020. It’s the first time a graphic novel has been selected as the winner since Raymond Briggs’ Father Christmas in 1973.

Novgorodoff, a writer and graphic artist, graduated from Yale in 20o2. During her time at Yale, she worked as an assistant to photographer Sally Mann.

After some attempts at self-publishing (see below), her first published title was Slow Storm, a graphic novel published by First Second Books.

This was followed by Refresh, Refresh and The Undertaking Of Lily Chen.

She was recently interviewed by Jake Hope for Books for Keeps and told him: “‘I self-published several short books, mini-comics and comics before I was published… ‘I was in my twenties in New York and would ride my bike around asking shops ‘will you take this book on consignment’ where you give them a book and if they sell it, you go back and collect the money.  It’s a real process and a money-losing prospect, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Danica delivered a powerful acceptance speech following the award announcement, expounding on the merits of illustrated stories. In the BfK interview, she says, “The best graphic novels combine text and images in a way that’s really fascinating.  You’re reading two types of media at the same time.  You’re getting information from each which makes your mind work in a different way than happens with other types of literature or visual media.  There are so many different possibilities around what you can do when combining texts and images.”

Danica was a recent guest on The Perks of Being a Book Lover podcast.

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The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has announced the 2022 shortlist for the CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education Poetry Award). Established in 2003, the CLiPPA is the UK’s leading award for published poetry for children.

The full shortlist is:

Stars with Flaming Tails by Valerie Bloom, illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max, Otter-Barry Books. The judges called this a lively demonstration of how children’s poetry can move from the personal to the planetary, the surreal to the scientific, laugh-out-loud to stop-and-think, in a breath.

Being Me Poems about Thoughts, Worries and Feelings by Liz Brownlee, Matt Goodfellow and Laura Mucha, illustrated by Victoria Jane Wheeler, Otter-Barry Books. The judges said: Being Me weaves three distinctive writing voices with a deft and witty illustrator’s eye to give young readers words and images to help them map all angles of their inner lives.

Caterpillar Cake by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Krina Patel-Sage, Otter-Barry Books. The judges said: Caterpillar Cake shows that we can bring subtlety and scope to the youngest reading ages by the power of reading aloud, not just hearing but feeling the words on your tongue.

The Crossing by Manjeet Mann, Penguin. The judges said: The Crossing combines the narrative reach of a novel and the line by-line impact of poetry to tell the most urgently contemporary of stories in personal voices we cannot ignore.

Cloud Soup by Kate Wakeling, illustrated by Elina Brasliņa, The Emma Press. The judges said: Cloud Soup whirls its readers deep into the play of the imagination so effortlessly that we barely notice how much we are learning about the craft, the thrilling possibilities, of poetry.

Poet and former professor of Creative Writing at the University of South Wales Philip Gross, who is chair of the judges, said, “This year’s crop of books shows the diverse energies of children’s poetry exploding in all directions, a glorious quandary for the judges to have: how to reduce this abundance to a shortlist, let alone a single winner. There seems to be a new confidence in the air, among publishers as well as writers – building on poetry’s full resources, searching out new growing points.”

Philip Gross is joined on the judging panel by fellow poets Nikita Gill and John Lyons, Becky Swain, Director of the Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University, and Charlotte Hacking, Learning and Programme Director at CLPE.

In keeping with its aim of involving children in the CLiPPA celebrations, the shortlist was announced live at a special event at the Manchester Poetry Library at Manchester Metropolitan University, hosted by poet Ruth Awolola. Schools from across the city attended with pupils reading poems from each of the shortlisted collections on stage. Shortlisted poets Valerie Bloom, Matt Goodfellow, Laura Mucha and Kate Wakeling also attended and read their poems for the hugely enthusiastic audience.

The Shadowing Scheme is free for schools and launches on 17 May 2022.

The next date on the CLiPPA calendar is a celebration at The Globe on 20 June when shortlisted poets will perform for another live audience at the Poetry By Heart competition finals at The Globe.

The winner of the CLiPPA 2022 will be announced at a very special ceremony in central London on Friday 8 July. The venue is the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. Young winners of the 2022 Shadowing Scheme competition will perform live onstage to an invited audience as will all the shortlisted poets. The event will be streamed live into schools across the UK and beyond.

From the list of nominations announced last November, we now have confirmation of the titles longlisted for the two most prestigious UK children’s book awards, the Carnegie and the Greenaway, now renamed the Yoto Carnegie Greenaway Awards 2022, following the signing of a three year sponsorship agreement with the makers of Yoto, a screen-free speaker.
Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators, who must now wait another month for the shortlists to be announced.

The 2022 Yoto Carnegie Medal longlist is (alphabetical by author surname):

• October, October by Katya Balen, illustrated by Angela Harding (Bloomsbury)
• Musical Truth by Jeffrey Boakye, illustrated by Ngadi Smart (Faber)
• We Were Wolves by Jason Cockcroft (Andersen Press)
• Guard Your Heart by Sue Divin (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• When the Sky Falls by Phil Earle (Andersen Press)
• When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten (Pushkin Children’s Books)
• The Climbers by Keith Gray (Barrington Stoke)
• Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock (Faber)
• The Wolf Road by Richard Lambert (Everything With Words)
• Rat by Patrice Lawrence (Oxford University Press)
• The Crossing by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Children’s Books)
• Grow by Luke Palmer (Firefly Press)
• The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury)
• Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada (Guppy Books)
• Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas (Walker Books)
• Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle (Andersen Press)
• In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner (Andersen Press)
• Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

The 2022 Yoto Kate Greenaway Medal longlist is (alphabetical by illustrator surname):

• While You’re Sleeping illustrated by John Broadley, written by Mick Jackson (Pavilion Books)
• Drawn Across Borders illustrated and written by George Butler (Walker Books)
• The Midnight Fair illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio, written by Gideon Sterer (Walker Books)
• Wild Child illustrated by Barry Falls, written by Dara McAnulty (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• A Cat Called Waverley illustrated and written by Debi Gliori (Otter-Barry Books)
• Too Much Stuff illustrated and written by Emily Gravett (Two Hoots)
• Diamonds illustrated and written by Armin Greder (Allen & Unwin Children’s Books)
• Over the Shop illustrated by Qin Leng, written by JonArno Lawson (Walker Books)
• Long Way Down illustrated by Danica Novgorodoff, written by Jason Reynolds (Faber)
• The Invisible illustrated and written by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
• Milo Imagines the World illustrated by Christian Robinson, written by Matt de la Pena (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• Shu Lin’s Grandpa illustrated by Yu Rong, written by Matt Goodfellow (Otter-Barry Books)
• I Talk Like a River illustrated by Sydney Smith, written by Jordan Scott (Walker Books)
• The House by the Lake illustrated by Britta Teckentrup, written by Thomas Harding (Walker Books)
• The Wanderer illustrated and written by Peter Van den Ende (Pushkin Children’s Books)

The full list of shortlisted titles (in alphabetical order by author) for the 2022 Prize are:

Illustrated Books

Alone! by Barry Falls (Farshore)

The Viking Who Liked Icing by Lu Fraser (author), Mark McKinley (illustrator) (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Wolfboy by Andy Harkness (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Out to Sea by Helen Kellock (Thames & Hudson)

The Duck Who Didn’t Like Water by Steve Small (Simon & Schuster)

Grandad’s Camper by Harry Woodgate (Andersen Press)

Books for Younger Readers

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston (author), Godwin Akpan (illustrator) (Farshore)

Bumble and Snug and the Angry Pirates by Mark Bradley (Hodder Children’s Books)

Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean (author), Sandhya Prabhat (illustrator) (Simon & Schuster)

The Last Bear by Hannah Gold (author), Levi Pinfold (illustrator) (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré (Chicken House)

Front Desk by Kelly Yang (author); Maike Plenzke (illustrator) (Knights Of)

Books for Older Readers

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (OneWorld)

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Usborne Publishing)

The Upper World by Femi Fadugba (Penguin Random House Children’s)

The Crossing by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House Children’s)

Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach (Usborne Publishing)

Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth (Andersen Press)

Florentyna Martin, Waterstones Head of Children’s says: “At a time when books are increasingly relied upon to help us navigate an uncertain world, our booksellers have keenly chosen shortlists that inspire readers. Offering varied perspectives on themes of belonging and identity, the shortlisted books invite young readers to find comfort in familiar communities, discover engaging new worlds, or adventure to the unknown, all whilst being guided by unique, life-changing and relatable characters. The skill and talent of these writers and illustrators showcases the dynamism of children’s books, and the power of sharing stories.”

The winners will be announced on Thursday 31^st March 2022. The winner of each category will receive £2000, with the overall winner receiving an extra £3000. In the event that the prize is awarded to a partnership, then the prize money will be split equally between the joint winners.

The longlist for the 2022 Branford Boase Award can be revealed today. Set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children. It has a notable record in picking out the most talented authors at the start of their career. Past winners and shortlisted authors have included Siobhan Dowd, Meg Rosoff, Mal Peet, Frank Cottrell Boyce and Patrick Ness as well as Frances Hardinge, M G Leonard and Philip Reeve. Uniquely, the award also honours the editor of the winning title and highlights the importance of the editor in nurturing new talent.

This year a record number of books were submitted: 69 in total, from 30 publishers. Here are the 25 long listed titles. Congratulations to all authors and editors concerned.

The 2021 Branford Boase Award Longlist 

• Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-ÍyÍmídé, edited by Becky Walker (Usborne)
• Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen, edited by Carmen McCullough and Tricia Lin (Penguin)
• Rapids by Anna Bowles, edited by Elaine Bousfield (Zuntold)
• Love is for Losers by Wibke Bruegemann, edited by Rachel Petty (Macmillan)
• Freddy vs School by Neill Cameron, edited by Anthony Hinton (David Fickling Books)
• Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths by Maisie Chan, edited by Georgia Murray (Piccadilly Press)
• The Girl Who … by Andreina Cordani, edited by Olivia Hutchings (Atom)
• Me, My Dad, and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean, edited by Lucy Rogers (Simon and Schuster)
• The Upper World by Femi Fadugba, edited by Emma Jones, Stephanie Stein & Asmaa Isse (Penguin)
• The Book of Stolen Dreams by David Farr, edited by Rebecca Hill (Usborne)
• 29 Locks by Nicola Garrard, edited by Joan Deitch (Hope Road)
• Maggie Blue and the Dark World by Anna Goodall, edited by Bella Pearson (Guppy Books)
• Circus Maximus Race to the Death by Annalise Gray, edited by Fiona Kennedy (Zephyr)
• Emmy Levels Up by Helen Harvey edited by Clare Whitson (OUP)
• The Amazing Edie Eckhart by Rosie Jones, edited by Polly Lyall Grant (Hodder Children’s Books), illus by Natalie Smillie
• The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant, edited by Natalie Doherty (Puffin)
• Grow by Luke Palmer, edited by Penny Thomas (Firefly Press)
• The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr, edited by Zöe Griffiths (Bloomsbury)
• The Peculiar Tale of the Tentacle Boy by Richard Pickard, edited by Kesia Lupo (Chicken House)
• Digger and Me by Ros Roberts, edited by Ella Whiddett (Little Tiger)
• The Boy who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter, edited by Lauren Fortune (Scholastic)
• Grimwood by Nadia Shireen, edited by Ali Dougal (Simon and Schuster)
• Something I Said by Ben Bailey Smith, edited by Ellen Holgate (Bloomsbury)
• The Ice Whisperers by Helenka Stachera, edited by Emma Jones (Puffin)
• The Lightning Catcher by Clare Weze, edited by Lucy Mackay-Sim (Bloomsbury)

The shortlist for the Award will be announced on Thursday 28 April 2022. and the winners (author and editor) will be presented with their awards on 14July 2022 at an award ceremony in London.

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, the annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award, will open on Monday 7 February 2022.