The tale of a misplaced penguin scoops the overall prize for new and emerging authors, with Sally Green taking the teen category and Robin Stevens winning the younger fiction award
 
Rob Biddulph
Rob Biddulph, winner of the Waterstones children’s book prize 2015. Photograph: Richard Saker for the Guardian
An adventure story about Penguin Blue and his friends’ unplanned trip from the Antarctic to the jungle (and back) has won the Waterstones children’s book prize.
Blown Away is Rob Biddulph’s first book, and he wrote it after telling the stories to his daughters at bedtime. He also works full time as the Observer Magazine’s art director.
Blown Away, which also won the best illustrated book category, is only the second picture book to take home the £5000 Waterstones prize. The prize has been running for 11 years and champions new and emerging talent in children’s books.
Rob Biddulph
Penguin Blue
 
Judge Melissa Cox, who is in charge of buying children’s books to sell at Waterstones, praised the winner: “The test of a good picture book is not how good it is on first reading, but how enjoyable it is on its 50th. Blown Away more than delivers – its whimsical, madcap plot engages immediately and its rhythmic text drives the story along while the illustrations charm and thrill on every page. It is truly wonderful, and a very worthy winner.”
Rob Biddulph fought off stiff competition for the overall Waterstones prize from Sally Green who was crowned winner of the best book for teenagers with Half Bad. Half Bad is the first part of a fantasy trilogy set among a society of warring Black and White Witches.
Sally Green’s debut novel was tipped to be great before it was even published. It broke records by being translated into 25 languages pre-publication but, according to our reviewer Firebird, Half Bad “fully lives up to the hype”. Read Firebird’s review here and check out the first chapter of Half Bad.
Half Bad
Sally Green
Sally Green, winner of the best book for teenagers with her debut novel Half Bad. Photograph: PR
The sequel to Half Bad, Half Wild, was published today (read the first chapter here) and one of our site members has already given it a glowing review, which you can read here. Also look out for an interview with Sally going up on the site on Friday morning.
The winner of best young fiction was Robin Stevens with Murder Most Unladylike, the first in the author’s series of boarding school mysteries, featuring schoolgirls Daisy Wells and Holly Wong of Deepdean School for Girls.
Murder Most Unladylike
Robin Stevens
Robin Stevens, winner of the best young fiction category with Murder Most Unladylike. Photograph: Max von Seibold/PR
Read this review from site member Kung Fu Kitty, who said once she started reading Murder Most Unladylike, she could not put it down. A sequel, Arsenic for Tea, was published in January with the third in the series, First Class Murder, due in July.
As category winners, Sally Green and Robin Stevens take home cheques worth £2000.
Congratulations to all the winners and all the shortlisted authors. Guardian teen site member TheReaderRunt will reporting on what happened at the Waterstones children’s book prize party on the site very soon – so look out for that!