Death Row tale wins children's book prize NEWS


Death Row tale wins children's book prize

'Ketchup Clouds' by Annabel Pitcher has won the Waterstones' Children's Book Prize.



'Ketchup Clouds' by Annabel Pitcher has won the Waterstones' Children's Book Prize.

The story is of a teenage girl who reveals a terrible secret through a series of letters written to a murderer on death row. The tale was voted for by booksellers across the UK, the book prize aims to reward new and emerging talent in children's writing. Pitcher, formerly a teacher, was shortlisted in the same category for her debut novel 'My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece' last year. 

Waterstones's Melissa Cox called Annabel Pitcher's second novel 'an unsettling yet fantastically fresh and brave take on the teen confessional'.

Prizes were awarded in three separate categories: best picture book, best fiction for 5-12s and best book for teens, with Annabel Pitcher winner of both the teen category and the overall prize.

Illustrator Rebecca Cobb won the picture book category for her story 'Lunchtime', about a little girl who doesn't want to eat her lunch. Melissa Cox stated that the book was:'Full of originality, our shortlist was rich and exciting, but Rebecca Cobb's 'Lunchtime' shone through, with its wonderfully expressive young girl and beautifully realised animals looming large on the pages.'

US author RJ Palacio's 'Wonder' won the 5-12 years category, with a story about a child with a facial deformity starting school for the first time. Judges called it 'thought-provoking read with timeless appeal'.

Each of the category winners receive £2,000, with Pitcher awarded an additional £3,000 as overall winner.

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