The Tiger Who Came to Tea named Children's Classic at Sainsbury's Book Awards

Published on: 30 August 2018 Author: Catriona Wightman

Judith Kerr's iconic book The Tiger Who Came to Tea has been named the Sainsbury's Children's Classic 2018 at their Children's Book Awards.

Kerr - who won BookTrust's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 - was unable to attend the ceremony.

However, in a message she said that she was 'touched' that her beloved story, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, had won the prize.

Kerr also promised that she is busy working on a new book.

Celebrating new children's books

Elsewhere, Michael Whaite won the hotly contested Picture Book category with 100 Dogs and was later also awarded the Book of the Year prize by actor Ben Miller.

Miller said on stage that he was pleased to be a part of the awards, saying: 'Books are more important to children than we adults can ever imagine.'

An award also went to Steven Butler and Steven Lenton for their book The Nothing To See Here Hotel in a very strong Fiction 5+ category.

This was the fifth year that Sainsbury's had held their Children's Book Awards, while it is the second year that BookTrust has partnered with them.

The full list of nominees and winners is as follows:

Baby and Toddler

• Are You There Little Fox? by Sam Taplin, illustrated by Emily Dove (Usborne)
• Norman's New Shell by Paul Linnet, illustrated by Sue Hendra (Simon & Schuster) - WINNER
• My Magical Unicorn illustrated by Yujin Shin (Campbell/Macmillan)

Picture Book

• 100 Dogs by Michael Whaite (Penguin Random House) - WINNER
• How to Be a Lion by Ed Vere (Penguin Random House)
• The Wildest Cowboy by Garth Jennings, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie (Macmillan)

Fiction

• Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Orion)
• Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone (Simon & Schuster)
• The Nothing to See Here Hotel by Steven Butler, illustrated by Steven Lenton (Simon & Schuster) - WINNER

Learning and Development

• Fantastically Great Women Who Made History by Kate Pankhurst (Bloomsbury)
• The Book of Comparisons by Clive Gifford, illustrated by Paul Boston (Ivy Kids) - WINNER
• You Are Awesome by Matthew Syed, illustrated by Toby Triumph (Wren & Rook/Hachette Children's Books)

Favourite Characters

• Big Stickers for Tiny Hands: PJ Masks (Pat-a-Cake/Hodder & Stoughton)
• Peppa's Magical Unicorn (Ladybird/Penguin Random House) - WINNER
• Pokemon 1001 Sticker Book (Orchard Books/Hachette Children's Books)

Sainsbury's Children's Classic

• The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr