Roald Dahl Funny Prize winners announced

(L-R) Liz Pichon, Peter Bently, Jim Field

A rhyming picture book about pirate cats has seized the bounty for the funniest book for children aged six and under in this year's Roald Dahl Funny Prize. Cats Ahoy! is written by Peter Bently (who was also shortlisted in 2009 for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize), and illustrated by Jim Field. It is joined on the podium by The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, the winner of the seven to fourteen category, and the first in a series of books about Tom, an expert doodler and master of excuses, written and illustrated by Liz Pichon.

Both winners received their award and prize cheque of £2,500 today (Tuesday 8 November 2011), presented at an awards ceremony at the Unicorn Theatre in London by the judges and Roald Dahl's widow Felicity Dahl.

There must be something in the sea air as both Peter and Liz are coastal residents; Peter lives in Totnes in Devon, which he credits as the inspiration for Cats Ahoy! and Liz lives in Brighton, a veritable hub of funny writing talent, also being home to previous Roald Dahl Funny Prize winners, Sam Lloyd and Louise Rennison.

Michael Rosen, Chair of Judges, comments on the winning books:

'The real beauty of these books is not only the deep down in your belly, shoulder shaking laughter that the words induce, but the expertly crafted interactive relationship they have with the VERY funny illustrations. These two books are master classes in how to write and how to draw funny.'