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Pooja Puri, Dapo Adeola and Nadia Shireen are among the authors and illustrators who have made the shortlist for the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards.
Known as The Lollies, the prize is a set of awards created by Scholastic UK that celebrate the funniest children’s books. They were created in response to the end of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize in 2015 and have been expanded this year, adding additional categories following the news that the Blue Peter Book Awards have also ended.
The shortlists were selected by a panel of judges including Lollies ambassador Michael Rosen, illustrator Anita Mangan, authors Ella McLeod and Steven Butler, assistant headteacher Rani Tiwana and Book Club product manager Su Inglis.
Shireen has been shortlisted in the age 6 to 8 category for Grimwood, published by Simon & Schuster, while Adeola has been nominated for Best Illustrator of the Year. Pooja Puri has made the cut for the 9 to 12 age group with A Dinosaur Ate My Sister, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan (Macmillan).
McLeod said: “Judging the Lollies was such a delight. Not only did I have the unmitigated pleasure of reading some hilarious literature but I also spent a glorious couple of hours discussing what I’d read with fellow children’s literature professionals, some of whom I’ve admired for many years. It’s not always easy to encourage young people to read but it’s vital that we do, and comedy seems like an excellent place to start. Laughter is such a great unifier, isn’t it? A shared sense of humour can really connect people and I hope this shortlist provides ample opportunity for kids to sit and chat and giggle together.”
Rachel Partridge, group marketing and PR and schools commercial director, said: “We are delighted to have expanded the Lollies this year so that even more fantastically funny books will find their way to a wider audience. We know that schools look forward to getting involved in reading, discussing and picking their winners, but their feedback has also highlighted the value they place on the Lollies selections as a signpost to must-have books for their classrooms and libraries. The awards drive instant excitement but also create rich pickings for schools looking to get kids hooked on books that bring them joy and inspire every child to read.”
The shortlists for each category are:
Picture Book:
Agent Llama written by Angela Woolfe, illustrated by Duncan Beedie (Little Tiger)
Ten Delicious Teachers written by Ross Montgomery, illustrated by Sarah Warburton (Walker)
The King’s Birthday Suit written by Peter Bently, illustrated by Claire Powell (Bloomsbury)
Wee? It Wasn’t Me! written by Clare Helen Walsh, illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne (Macmillan)
Age 6 to 8 category:
A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch written by Pamela Butchart, illustrated by Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)
Genie and Teeny: Make a Wish written and illustrated by Steven Lenton (Harper Collins)
Grimwood written and illustrated by Nadia Shireen (Simon & Schuster)
The Worst Class in the World Gets Worse written by Joanna Nadin, illustrated by Rikin Parekh (Bloomsbury)
Age 9 to 12 category:
A Dinosaur Ate My Sister written by Pooja Puri, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan (Macmillan)
Freddy vs School written and illustrated by Neill Cameron (David Fickling)
The Amazing Edie Eckhart written by Rosie Jones, illustrated by Natalie Smillie (Hachette)
The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh written by Helen Rutter, illustrated by Andrew Bannecker (Scholastic)
Teenagers:
Hexed written by Julia Tuffs (Hachette)
Not My Problem written by Ciara Smyth (Andersen)
The Summer We Turned Green written by William Sutcliffe (Bloomsbury)
You’re the One That I Want written by Simon James Green (Scholastic)
Non-fiction:
A Day in the Life of a Caveman, a Queen and Everything in Between written by Mike Barfield, illustrated by Jess Bradley (Michael O’Mara)
Corpse Talk: Dead Good Storytellers written by Adam and Lisa Murphy (David Fickling)
So You Think You’ve Got It Bad? A Kid’s Life in the Aztec Age written by Chae Strathie, illustrated by Marisa Morea (Nosy Crow)
Unleash Your Creative Monster: A Children’s Guide to Writing written by Andy Jones, illustrated by Olaf Falafel (Walker)
Poetry:
Daydreams and Jellybeans written by Alex Wharton, illustrated by Katy Riddell (Firefly Press)
Midnight Magic: Mirror Mischief written by Michelle Harrison, illustrated by Elissa Elwick (Little Tiger)
Yapping Away written by Joshua Seigal, illustrated by Sarah Horne (Bloomsbury)
This is NOT a Unicorn written by Barry Timms, illustrated by Ged Adamson (Nosy Crow)
Illustrator of the Year:
Dapo Adeola
Liz Pichon
Steven Lenton
Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet