Blue Peter Book Awards 2016

The Blue Peter Book Awards 2016 saw two graphic artists turned authors triumph as Ross Mackenzie's The Nowhere Emporium won the Best Story category and children crowned Adam Frost's The Epic Book of Epicness the Best Book with Facts for the year.

A panel of judges including TV presenter Angelica Bell and previous winner Pamela Butchart whittled down the shortlist, while the eventual winners were picked by over 200 children in ten schools across the UK.

Mackenzie and Frost were named the winners during a special World Book Day edition of Newsround before receiving their awards from the then Children's Laureate Chris Riddell during Blue Peter.

Get updates on this year's Blue Peter Book Awards

For more information, you can also follow @BookTrust on Twitter and visit the official Blue Peter website.

Best Story


Winner: The Nowhere Emporium

By Ross Mackenzie (Floris Books)

The Nowhere Emporium

The Blue Peter Book Awards Best Story 2016 winner was The Nowhere Emporium, by Scottish writer Ross Mackenzie - a graphic designer for a national newspaper.

The gripping tale tells the story of Daniel, who is constantly picked on by Spud Harper and his gang of bullies. But his life changes forever when he comes across The Nowhere Emporium, a mysterious shop that suddenly appears in Glasgow.

Ross described winning the Blue Peter Book Award as "extra special" explaining, 'Firstly, because it's an award chosen by the readers. It's fantastic and important that children have a voice, and I'm so glad they liked The Nowhere Emporium enough to give it their vote.

'And secondly, it's special because Blue Peter was such a huge part of my childhood.'

Find out more about The Nowhere Emporium

Shortlisted

The Astounding Broccoli Boy

Author: Frank Cottrell Boyce Illustrator: Steven Lenton

Rory Rooney is unremarkable in almost everything, apart from his capacity to attract the attention of the school bully. But when he suddenly and spectacularly turns green, he becomes a superhero!

Read more about The Astounding Broccoli Boy

Shortlisted

The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair

Author: Lara Williamson

Becket Rumsey decides to investigate the reasons behind the strange actions of some of the adults in his life. With the help of his brother Billy and his pet snail Brian, he uncovers some difficult truths - and some beautiful ones.

Read more about The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair

Best Book with Facts


Winner: The Epic Book of Epicness: The world's most epic facts in pictures

By Adam Frost (Bloomsbury)

The Epic Book of Epicness spread

The Blue Peter Book Award 2016 Best Book with Facts winner was The Epic Book of Epicness: The world's most epic facts in pictures - which basically does what it says on the tin!

This jaw-dropping book from Adam Frost is jam-packed with fantastic and wacky information graphics with all sorts of astonishing information about the world around us.

From green sand on a beach in Hawaii to why Norwegians ward off tricksy gnomes with a bowl of porridge outside their door at Christmas, The Epic Book of Epicness won children's votes to win the title of Best Book with Facts.

'I'm absolutely delighted to have won,' Adam said. 'I tried to fill my book with as many bizarre facts and funny pictures as possible. I loved writing it and am over the moon that kids are enjoying it.'

Read more about The Epic Book of Epicness

Shortlisted

FactFeed: The Ultimate Book of Randomly Awesome Trivia

Author: Penelope Arlon

This bright and highly illustrated large format paperback is chock full of facts about everything - from computer viruses to weather, weird foods to gross jobs. Its interactive quizzes should ensure it is picked up, read and enjoyed many times.

Read more about FactFeed: The Ultimate Book of Randomly Awesome Trivia

Shortlisted

The Silly Book of Weird and Wacky Words

Author: Andy Seed Illustrator: Scott Garrett

A thorough tour through the odd world of our mother tongue, there is much to love and learn in this funny book that should delight young readers - and have parents flicking through, too.

Read more about The Silly Book of Weird and Wacky Words

Judges

The winners for the Blue Peter Book Awards were picked by over 400 children in 12 schools across the UK, while the shortlist was selected by a panel of expert judges.

Ewan VinnicombeEwan Vinnicombe

Editor, Blue Peter

Ewan Vinnicombe has been Blue Peter Editor since January 2013. Ewan is also the Head of Presentation for CBeebies and CBBC and in his 17 years at the BBC he has worked on shows including Record Breakers, The Saturday Show and Live & Kicking.


Angellica Bell

Angellica Bell

TV presenter and blogger

Angellica Bell is a popular TV presenter who has worked in children's TV, adult factual, and entertainment programmes. Among other things, Angellica currently works on the BBC's The One Show.

 


Pamela Butchart

Pamela Butchart

Author and BPBA 2015 winner

Pamela Butchart is a teacher and award-winning children's author. She studied philosophy at Dundee University and education at Edinburgh University before becoming a secondary school philosophy teacher. Her books are mostly about the weird and wacky things that happen at primary school (if you're suspicious enough!)


Jim Sells

Jim Sells

National Literacy Trust Programme Manager

Jim Sells is the Programme Manager for the National Literacy Trust where he has developed the National Literacy Trust's football-themed literacy programmes since 2002. Working with the Premier League, he created the high-profile Premier League Reading Stars programme, which reached thousands of young people.

More about the Blue Peter Book Awards

Blue Peter Book Awards 2019

What's going on?

Get all the latest updates about the latest Blue Peter Book Awards, from the shortlist to the judges.

Latest updates