• UKLA Awards
• UKLA Children’s Book Award 2011
• UKLA Children’s Book Award 2010
• UKLA Children’s Book Awards 2009
• UKLA Author Award
• John Downing Award
• Student Research Awards
• UKLA / Wiley Blackwell Research in Literacy Education Award 2009

UKLA reviews of the 2008 Childrens Book Award winners

PICTUREBOOK WINNER

Penguin

Polly Dunbar

The panel was enchanted by Polly Dunbar’s Penguin.

When Ben opens his present to find a penguin, he is delighted but his joy soon turns to frustration and then to anger when he finds Penguin immune to his increasingly inventive attempts to elicit conversation.  Even in the face of Ben’s tantrum and being launched by rocket into outer space, Penguin remains impassive. There’s only one thing to do… feed Penguin to a passing blue Lion. Well, that’s not a very sensible thing to do and Lion swallows Ben whole. Obviously Ben doesn’t know Edgar Wallace’s story of ‘Albert and the Lion’. In a surprising twist, Penguin bites Lion on the nose rescues Ben and we discover that while he may have seemed unresponsive, Penguin has in fact been listening to everything Ben has said to him. A satisfying ending.

Overt assertions about love are common in picturebooks for young children. These books are often cloyingly saccharine but Polly Dunbar’s Penguin stands out for the unsentimental treatment of its themes. It balances comforting reassurance with a realistic edginess, which will resonate with both child and adult readers. The story is perfectly paced, maximising the drama of the turning page and delighting the reader with its surprising twists and satisfying final resolution. Dunbar has an intuitive ear for the tune of a text which reads aloud so well. In fact it is almost impossible to read Penguin aloud badly.  Text and page arrangement combine to invite a performative reading: a contrasting whisper ‘Penguin said nothing’ with a stentorian ‘SAY SOMETHING’. The repetitive refrain encourages young readers to join in and the wordless double page spread provides the space for them to take over the storytelling filling the ‘readerly gap’ with their own stories and interpretations. 

The illustrations are equally delightful. Free from the clutter of a busy background, the soft white space allows character and emotion to take centre stage. Colour also plays its part in evoking an aesthetic response. Dunbar’s bright but restrained palette is playful and her use of childlike mixed media to convey Penguin’s recount is inspired.

Penguin is a deceptively simple story which has a thematic richness: Ben’s and Penguin represent many relationships, child and a best loved toy, friends, parent/child or transposed child/parent. Polly Dunbar, has produced a perfect picturebook with emotional integrity and timeless charm.

---

FICTION WINNER

Here lies Arthur

Philip Reeve (Scholastic)

The panel were agreed that this was a most compelling tale, cleverly told with imagination and originality, to create a very different retelling of the well known Arthur legend. Gone are all notions of chivalry and courtly manners, instead the familiar roles are replaced with much more human, fault-ridden characters. From the very beginning the quality and evocative power of the language used draws the reader into an unsettled world, where no one can be completely trusted and nothing is quite what it appears. The events are mostly narrated through the eyes of the servant girl, Gwyna, who learns first hand the importance of adapting to survive!

Although set in a time long past the themes of the book are as relevant today, with it’s emphasis on the power of the story-teller to make and shape a perception of history that will persist for future generations. Young teenagers, with a burgeoning political awareness will appreciate the role of Myrddin as an early ‘spin doctor’. ‘Men see whatever you tell them to see’ he says, as he sets about constructing a version of events designed to motivate men, knowing that if he tells the story well enough, it will become the truth. Thus the pun in the book’s title is revealed. The closeness of his name to the more familiar, Merlin is an obvious link to the traditional character of Arthur’s magician. However, Myrddin possesses no supernatural powers, the magic he weaves is all achieved through the power of story and perception. Magic it is nonetheless, and magical is the story woven by Philip Reeve.

---

SPECIAL COMMENDATION

The Story Spinner

(a series of DVDs told by Phil McDermott, published by Day One Productions).

Each story is wonderfully told, and stories are included for children from reception to Y6.  Members of the panel delighted in the stories and had many tales to tell of their effect in classrooms.  Moving, amusing and enthralling, this set of DVDs is a wonderful example of a multimodal text using talk and gesture to great effect and fully deserves the UKLA Commendation.