At a time when comedy fiction is at a premium, I am
delighted that Scholastic has announced the launch of a new book prize to
celebrate the best funny books in children's literature. Poet and author
Michael Rosen will chair the judging panel with other participants to be
announced.
The Laugh Out Loud Book Prize, which Scholastic said will
be known as the "Lollies", will be awarded in three categories: Best
Laugh Out Loud Picture Book, Best Laugh Out Loud book for 6–8s and Best Laugh
Out Loud book for 9–13s. Publishers will be invited to submit books for consideration
from late October. The panel will select four books to make up the shortlist in
each category, but the winners will be decided entirely by children, with
voting taking place via a website: www.scholastic.co.uk/lollies.
The publisher decided to champion the new award after its
recent Kids & Family Reading Report (www.scholastic.co.uk/readingreport)
showed that funny books are really engaging for children, with 63% saying that
what they want most in books is "books that make me laugh".
The shortlist will be announced in March 2016 and the
final awards will take place in September 2016.
Michael Rosen said: "Everyone who is interested in
children's reading knows that for many, many children, the thing that gets them
going is a book that makes them fall about laughing. Weirdly, they're not
always that easy to find. This prize will be like a great big signpost saying,
'This way laughs' and that could be the moment that a child who doesn't read,
turns into one who does. I think that's really exciting."
The submissions process will be open between 23rd October
and 6th November 2015 and publishers can download an entry form at
www.scholastic.co.uk/lollies when submissions open.
John Dean
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