Early Years Award Winners and Big Picture

Booktrust was thrilled to announce both the winners of their coveted Early Years Awards, and the launch of their Big Picture campaign whose aim is to find the best new illustrators.

Speaking at the awards ceremony at BAFTA in Piccadilly Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen revealed Booktrust’s plans to encourage and embrace the new generation of talented illustrators by launching the search for the Best New Illustrators. Booktrust aim to find the best illustrators first published in the UK in or after 2000. The winners will be announced in spring 2008.
Michael Rosen, Children’s Laureate: "The picture book is a wonderful art form that can delight the eye and the ear at the same time. It is really good that we have this campaign to support this medium. Awards like this will enable us to welcome in the next generation, which will gives us the Quentin Blake, Raymond Briggs and Shirley Hughes of the future."

Booktrust were delighted to announce the winners for their 2007 Early Years Awards, which exemplify the remarkable creativity in words, design and illustration necessary to encourage young children into reading.
The winner for the Baby Book Award:
Jess Stockham Tucking In Child’s Play
The winner for the Pre-School Award:
Polly Dunbar Penguin Walker Books
The winner for the Best Emerging Illustrator:
Emily Gravett Monkey and Me Macmillan Children’s

Wendy Cooling presented the winners for each category with a cheque for £2,000 and a customised trophy. The best new illustrator was presented with a specially commissioned piece of original artwork donated by the children’s illustrator Axel Scheffler. The publishers of the three winning titles were presented with trophies naming them as one of the Booktrust Early Years Awards Publishers of the Year.
Viv Bird, Director of Booktrust:
"We were overwhelmed by the number of entries to our awards this year. The three deserving winners hugely impressed the panel with their creativity and beautifully illustrated books to delight and inspire new readers."
The judges for 2007 are:
Wendy Cooling, Children’s Book Consultant (Chair)
Axel Scheffler, Illustrator
Elena Dalrymple, Editor of Mother & Baby Magazine
Clive Barnes, Children’s Librarian
Angela Lewis, Modernisation Lead for Children, Young People and Families at East Riding of Yorkshire Primary Care Trust
The Booktrust Early Years Awards are supported by the national Bookstart Programme and their sponsors and The Unwin Charitable Trust. Booktrust would like to thank Mother & Baby Magazine for being our 2007 media partner.

The Big Picture is a campaign to put picture books in the public eye. In particular it will work to improve the status and profile of illustrators and to engage more adults with picture books. The Big Picture's Best New Illustrators initiative is open to all illustrators first published in the UK in or after 2000. Publishers should consult the submission guidelines on www.bigpicture.org.uk for more details of how to take part. The Best New Illustrators will be announced in spring next year and will form the core of the Big Picture's national promotion through the rest of 2008. The Big Picture is supported by children's publishers and by Bookstart. For more information contact Abigail Campbell (abigailatwork@googlemail.com) or Emma Phillips (emma@booktrust.org.uk)