The inaugural Spark! Kingston and Richmond Children's Book Awards have announced the 12 authors that have made it onto the 2020-2021 shortlist.

The books were announced yesterday morning by the children of local Richmond and Kingston schools on a video posted to the Coombe Hill Junior School YouTube channel. Watch it HERE

The Spark Awards are supported by Kingston and Richmond Boroughs and Achieving for Children, a non-profit organisation which oversees education in the two boroughs.

Spark! is jointly managed by Debbie Thomas, Lead School Improvement Adviser (English) at AfC and Coombe Hill Headteacher, Mark Clutterbuck, who recently announced on Radio Jackie that 78 schools are now participating in the Spark Awards.

The awards are split into three age categories: 4-7, 7-9 and 9-11. Each category longlist (which featured a book a day for the 12 days of Christmas) was curated in December by a panel of teachers, librarians, booksellers and local authority advisers.

Each shortlist of four was then determined by the panels, using a list of specific criteria to select 'the most engaging books that reflect our diverse and exciting communities'. They considered: style, theme, narrative, diversity, accessibility, humour, illustrations (where applicable) and heart.

Out of over 100 children's books submitted by publishers, here are the final 12:

Ages 4-7:

Avocado Asks by Momoko Abe

The Last Tree by Emily Haworth-Booth

Who's Your Real Mum by Bernadette Green & illustrated by Anna Zobel

Clean Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola

Ages 7-9:

Llama Out Loud by Annabelle Sami

The Longlost Secret Diary of the World's Worst Samurai by Tim Collins & illustrated by Isobel Lundie

Too Small Tola by Atinuke & Onyinye Iwu

Willow Wildthing and the Swamp Monster by Gill Lewis & illustrated by Rebecca Bagley

Ages 9-11:

Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant

When Life Gives You Mangos by Kereen Getten

The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson

A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth by Francesca Gibbons

Children will have Spring term to read the shortlisted books and vote for their favourites, with their own competition for pupils to give the most creative responses to the stories.

Each nominee will be able to engage with schools in the local community between January and May of 2021 through pre-recorded messages and online school visits.

Winners will be announced and given a special trophy in an online ceremony that looks to take place in June, now that the voting deadline has been pushed back to 31st May.

Spark! are also raising additional funds to provide the shortlisted books to as many disadvantaged children across Kingston and Richmond as they can. Help them reach their £2000 goal by donating to their JustGiving page HERE