Tightrope-walking academic wins 10th Waterstones Children's Book
Prize
An author who drew inspiration from her own experiences of parkouring
amid Oxford's lofty spires has been awarded a prestigious children's
book prize.
Oxford University Fellow and tightrope walker Katherine Rundell was
crowned the overall winner of the 10th Waterstones Children's Book Prize
for her novel Rooftoppers.
The tale of a young girl's race to find her missing mother over
Paris' rooftops was inspired by Rundell's own night-time trespassing on
the gables of Oxford's colleges.
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Katherine Rundell |
Rundell, who is a Fellow of All Souls College, beat off shortlisted
authors including Dawn O'Porter, Call the Midwife actress Emerald
Fennell, and BBC3 Boom Town producer and son of the late Salmon Fishing
in the Yemen author Paul Torday, Piers Torday, to scoop this year's
£5,000 prize.
Rooftoppers, which was also named the best book in the 5-12 age group
category, beat teen category winner Geek Girl by Holly Smale and Nicola
O'Byrne's picture book Open Very Carefully to the main prize.
Both runners-up received a cheque for £2,000 at a ceremony at
Waterstones' flagship Piccadilly store in central London. Melissa Cox,
children's new titles buyer for Waterstones, said: "Katherine Rundell's
Rooftoppers is a hugely deserving winner of the 10th Children's Book
Prize: it already feels like a classic.
"Her lyrical writing style is immediately charming, effortlessly
taking the reader on magical flights of fancy over the English Channel
and up on to the rooftops of Paris."
The firm's managing director James Daunt said: "The 2014 category
winners are each of an outstanding quality which our booksellers have
delighted in unearthing and passionately championing.
"As in past years, the prize gives us the chance to shine a spotlight
on these books ensuring that more readers discover wonderful new authors
and illustrators, and we are immensely proud of the successes achieved
by 10 years of winners."
The Waterstones Children's Book Prize champions new and emerging
talent in children's writing and is unique in that it is solely voted
for by booksellers.
It consists of three categories: Best Picture Book; Best Fiction for
5-12s; and Best Book for Teens. Each category winner then competes for
the overall title of Waterstones Children's Book of the Year 2014.
The three finalists will see their sales boosted by a promotion
campaign in more than 278 Waterstones shops nationwide.
- The Independent |
