The KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards honour and promote excellence in books for young people
It’s that exciting time of year again for authors and illustrators of books for young people—the winners of the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards have been revealed.
These awards are not only the most prestigious of their kind in Ireland, but uplift and support Irish authors and illustrators, with a total prize fund of €16,000.
In the biggest year so far in the history of the awards, the judging panel read a record 158 titles from Irish-born or Ireland-based writers and illustrators.
The winners were announced by Rick O’Shea as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland said that this year’s winners show the outstanding quality and variety of contemporary Irish children’s literature.
“Through our junior-juries programme we have seen the joy and excitement these shortlisted books have sparked in over 12,700 young readers across Ireland. Today, in front of an audience of 600 excited readers, we’re proud to recognise the talent and hard work of these extraordinary writers and illustrators whose work will no doubt be such a formative part of so many childhoods.”
Alongside the winners of the six award categories, Maria Flannery, KPMG Ireland Partner, announced 11-year-old Alannah O’Donoghue, a fifth class student from St. Patrick’s Girls National School, Limerick, as the winner of the KPMG Reading Hero Award. This award recognises remarkable passion and achievement in reading by a young person. Alannah was awarded a trophy, a €200 book token, and her school will also receive a collection of books worth more than €1,000.
WINNERS
Book of the Year
Catfish Rolling, by Clara Kumagai
Honour award for fiction
Treacle Town, by Brian Conaghan (Andersen Press)
Honour award for illustration
Three Tasks for a Dragon, illustrated by PJ Lynch (Walker Books)
Eilís Dillon award for debut children’s book
Wider Than the Sea, by Serena Molloy (Hodder Children’s Books)
Judges’ special award and the KPMG junior juries’ award
The Hare-Shaped Hole, by John Dougherty, illustrated by Thomas Docherty (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
KPMG Reading Hero Award
Alannah O’Donoghue
Alannah O’Donoghue, a fifth class student from St. Patrick’s Girls National School in Limerick, received the KPMG Reading Hero Award, which recognises remarkable passion and achievements in reading by a young person. Speaking on the award, Alannah said: “Reading gets me into the zone, it calms me. When I read it’s like I’m living in the world of the characters, reading helps me escape from the stress of school and tests.”
