Archived news: 6 December 2011
Moon: Apollo 11 and Beyond...The Ultimate Guide to Our Nearest Neighbour by Stewart Ross (OUP) is the winner of the 2011 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award.
The £2,000 award was given at the All Party Writers Group (APWG) Winter Reception at the House of Commons on Tuesday 6th December.
The judges, children’s writer Nicola Davies, teacher Chris Freudenberg and librarian Fiona Kirk, described the book as:
"A highly readable text and a fascinating mix of science, history, literature, music, cinema, folklore and religion…"
The award is for an outstanding example of traditionally published non-fiction that enhances teaching and learning, and this year the 2011 Award focuses on books for 7-11 year olds, published in 2010 and 2011.
The Educational Writers’ Award was established in 2008 by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors “to celebrate educational writing that inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications”.
Other books on the shortlist:
- Nick Baker's Bug Zoo by Nick Baker (Dorling Kindersley)
‘Ideal for all budding zoologists…full of information and practical activities for children to find out more for themselves…’
- Gorilla Journal by Carolyn Franklin (Salariya Book Company)
‘Looks and reads like a real journal with a great mix of informative text, sketches and photographs…’
- Mission Explore by The Geography Collective (Can of Worms Press)
‘A brave book which encourages children to explore the world around them, developing their curiosity, confidence and courage along the way…’
Please contact Awards Secretary Paula Johnson with any queries.
Past Winners
2010
The winner of the 2010 Award, for the 12-18 age group, was Bill Bryson for A Really Short History of Nearly Everything (Doubleday), which was abridged and edited by Felicia Law (Diverta Ltd.) with whom he shared the Award.
The 2010 shortlist:
- Shakespeare on Toast by Ben Crystal (Icon Books)
- Do You Think You’re Clever? by John Farndon (Icon Books)
- A Slice of Pi by Liz Strachan, illustrated by Steven Appleby (Constable)
The 2010 judging panel included three educational experts: school librarian Maggie Campbell, teacher Louise Gerrard and writer Stewart Ross.
2009
- The 2009 Award - for the 5-11 age group - was won by the ‘disgustingly good’ Gooey, Chewy, Rumble, Plop Book by Steve Alton, Nick Sharratt and Sally Symes (Bodley Head), seeing off strong competition.
The four other shortlisted were:
- How to Make Manga Characters by Katy Coope (Collins Big Cat)
- Chocolate – The Bean that Conquered the World by Vivian French, ill. Paul Howard (Walker)
- Tail-End Charlie by Mick Manning & Brita Granström (Frances Lincoln)
- Archie’s War – My Scrapbook of the First World War by Marcia Williams (Walker)
2008
- The winner of the inaugural Educational Writers' Award was Ian Gilbert for The Little Book of Thunks: 260 Questions to Make your Brain Go Ouch! (Crown House Publishing).
The three other shortlisted titles were:
- Simon Basher & Adrian Dingle for The Periodic Table – Elements with Style! (Kingfisher)
- Tish Farrell for Write Your Own Adventure Stories (Ticktock Media)
- Glenn Murphy for Why Is Snot Green? (Macmillan)
The judges also commended Meg Harper's Wha'ever published by The Spinal Injuries Association.