Elys Dolan is a children's book writer and illustrator, and lecturer at the Cambridge School of Art. [1] She came in second for the Macmillan Prize for Children's Picture Book Illustration as a student. [2] She won the Zena Sutherland Award for Excellence in Children's Literature 2015. [3] Her books are typically humorous, [4] and she illustrates primarily with ink. [5]
Dolan's first book, Weasles (2013), was praised for its humour and for the wide age range to which it appealed. [6] It was shortlisted for the 2013 Roald Dahl Funny Prize.
Her book Doughnut of Doom (2016) attracted controversy in 2018 over its treatment of food allergies. [7] The main character, a peanut butter sandwich, saves the town by causing the villain, a giant doughnut, to have an allergic reaction. In response to complaints, the publisher Nosy Crow recalled and destroyed all copies of the book it was sent. [8] Dolan subsequently revised the book, changing the story and some parts of the art to remove references to allergies, and a new version was published in 2019. [9]
Mr Bunny's Chocolate Factory won Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book at the 2018 LOLLIES awards. [10] The book has been described as "political" and pro-union. [11] How the Borks Became (2019), illustrated by Dolan and written by Jonathan Emmett, won Best Early Years Book in the STEAM Children's Book Prize for educating children about evolution. [12]
Other works include Super Snail, The Haunted Farm, Steven Seagull, Nuts in Space, Knighthood for Beginners, and others. [4] [13]
Dolan has a BA in Fine Art, an MA Children's Book Illustration, and a Ph.D. in Children's Book Illustration (awarded 2020) from the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University.
Dolan collects pocket watches. [14] She is partially deaf. [3]
The Carnegie Medal for Writing, established in 1936, is a British literary award that annually recognises one outstanding new English-language book for children or young adults. It is conferred upon the author by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), who calls it "the UK's oldest and most prestigious book award for children's writing". CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award.
Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris is a British author, best known for her 1999 novel Chocolat, which was adapted into a film of the same name.
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award was a literary award that annual recognised one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It was conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It was a lifetime award in that previous winners were not eligible. At least from 2000 the prize was £1,500. The prize was apparently discontinued after 2016, though no formal announcement appears to have been made.
The Nestlé Children's Book Prize, and Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for a time, was a set of annual awards for British children's books that ran from 1985 to 2007. It was administered by BookTrust, an independent charity that promotes books and reading in the United Kingdom, and sponsored by Nestlé, the manufacturer of Smarties chocolate. It was one of the most respected and prestigious prizes for children's literature.
The Carnegie Medal for Illustration is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) which inherited it from the Library Association. CILIP is currently partnered with the audio technology company Yoto in connection with the award, though their sponsorship and the removal of Greenaway’s name from the medal proved controversial.
Penny Dale is an English illustrator and writer of children's books.
Maggie O'Farrell, RSL, is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Her acclaimed first novel, After You'd Gone, won the Betty Trask Award, and a later one, The Hand That First Held Mine, the 2010 Costa Novel Award. She has twice been shortlisted since for the Costa Novel Award for Instructions for a Heatwave in 2014 and This Must Be The Place in 2017. She appeared in the Waterstones 25 Authors for the Future. Her memoir I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death reached the top of the Sunday Times bestseller list. Her novel Hamnet won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020, and the fiction prize at the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Awards. The Marriage Portrait was shortlisted for the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction.
The Children's Book Award is a British literary award for children's books, run by the Federation of Children's Book Groups and previously known as the Red House Children's Book Award. Books published in the U.K. during the preceding calendar year are eligible. It recognises one "Overall" winner and one book in each of three categories: Books for Younger Children, Books for Younger Readers, and Books for Older Readers. The selections are made entirely by children, which is unique among British literary awards.
The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is therefore open only to authors who have published no more than two or three books, depending on which category they are in. The prize is awarded by British book retailer Waterstones.
The Children's Book of the Year Award: Early Childhood has been presented annually since 2001 by the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA).
Anthony John McGowan is an English author of books for children, teenagers and adults. He is the winner of the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal for Lark.
Emma Dodd is an English author and illustrator. She is best known for her children's books published by Orchard Books, Templar Publishing, Penguin Books, Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins (US), Scholastic Corporation and Nosy Crow.
Tracey Corderoy is a British children's writer. She has published 76 books since 2010, and works with publishers; Little Tiger Press, Nosy Crow, Scholastic Children's Books, Alison Green Books, Meadowside Children's Book, Egmont and Stripes.
Nosy Crow is an independent children's publisher, based in London. The company was founded in 2010 by Kate Wilson, formerly MD of Macmillan Children’s Books and Group MD of Scholastic UK Ltd, Adrian Soar, formerly Book Publishing CEO of Macmillan Publishers, and Camilla Reid, formerly Editorial Director of Campbell Books. In 2020, the company was named Independent Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards. As of 2021, Nosy Crow is the UK's 11th largest children's publisher, according to Nielsen BookScan data.
Peter Bently is a British children's writer. He is best known for his rhyming picture books including The Great Dog Bottom Swap, Meet the Parents, The Shark in the Dark and Potion Commotion. Cats Ahoy!, his first picture book with Jim Field, won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2011 and King Jack and the Dragon was named as an American Library Association Notable Book of the year.
This Is Not My Hat is a 2012 American children's picture book by the author and illustrator Jon Klassen. The story is told through the unreliable narration of a little fish, who has stolen a hat from a big fish and how the big fish reacts to the theft. It is a thematic follow-up to I Want My Hat Back (2011) and was meant to be a more literal sequel until Klassen took a suggestion to change which animals were in the story. The book was well received by critics, who praised its dark or ironic humor which could only be understood by comparing the words of the little fish's narration against the events of the illustrations. In addition to several positive reviews, Klassen received the 2013 Caldecott Medal and the 2014 Kate Greenaway Medal, making This is Not My Hat the first book to win both awards. This is Not My Hat was also a commercial success.
Charlotte "Charli" Howard is an English model, author and body activist. She is from South-East London, England. She is an activist for diversity within the fashion industry. In September 2019, she was announced as the presenter of new BBC podcast Fashion Fix, a podcast about the fashion industry.
Oyinkan Braithwaite is a Nigerian-British novelist and writer. She was born in Lagos and spent her childhood in both Nigeria and the UK. Braithwaite is best known for her debut novel My Sister, the Serial Killer.
Jim Field is a British illustrator from London, who now lives in Paris with his wife and daughter.
Louie Stowell is a British author, best known for her comic series of illustrated children's books about the Norse god, Loki.