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Sarah McIntyre and I had the honour last week of hosting this year's Children's Book Awards, organised by the Federation of Children's Book groups, and voted for by young readers the length and, indeed, longth of the UK. Since the ceremony had to be online for obvious pandemical reasons we recorded our intro and links at my house when Sarah and her husband ventured down to visit us a few weeks back. (We had planned to do it in the garden, also for obvious pandemical reasons, but it was a bit blustery outside, so we retreated, slightly windswept, to my well-ventilated office.)

You can see the ceremony here, including the announcements of the winning titles by the children of North Somerset Children's Book Group, and speeches by the winners themselves. Spoilers: here they are...

We also wrote a special book awards based Kevin story for the occasion. If you'd like to read it yourself rather than listen to us do so, Sarah's put the full text up over on her blog. Sarah's website is really the place to go for all Reeve & McIntyre related news. (She's also created a terrific half hour drawing and comics-making workshop based on two of our favourite  side-characters from the Kevin books, adventure-crazed guinea pigs Neville and Beyoncé.)

Thanks to Steph Weller and her crew for filming us and editing it all together, to Sarah Stuffins and everyone in the FCBG for inviting us to host the event, BIG thanks to all the young readers who voted, and congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and everyone who won! Naturally as a host I don't have favourites, but I was very pleased that Kjartan Poskitt - author of the Murderous Maths series and Urgum the Axeman books I illustrated, and part-time deity in the world of Mortal Engines - won in the Books For Younger Children category for The Runaway Pea, illustrated by Alex Willmore. He's the pea's knees.



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