SITA BRAHMACHARI SCOOPS WATERSTONE’S CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE

Debut author Sita Brahmachari has won one of the most valuable and prestigious children’s book awards in the country for her striking coming-of-age novel about life, death, friendship and love. Artichoke Hearts was announced as the winner of the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize 2011 by Children’s Laureate Anthony Browne at an evening ceremony at Waterstone’s Piccadilly, on Wednesday 9th February. Anthony Browne described Artichoke Hearts as “a beautifully written book about family, friendship, grief and hope, which made me laugh and cry – sometimes at the same time.” Inspired by the author’s ‘beautiful and bohemian’ mother-in-law, whose long battle with cancer was heartbreaking for her family, Brahmachari started writing the book as a way of dealing with her grief. Artichoke Hearts was praised by the judging panel for the way it tackles the issue of death head on, treating it as part of the cycle of life and of growing up, and for the “effortless way in which it shows how inspiring grandparents and the older generation can be for children.”