Oscar's Book Prize is a British children's book prize awarded annually to a book for pre-school age children, which was first published in the UK during the previous calendar year. The £5,000 prize is supported by the London Evening Standard and sponsored by Amazon and the National Literacy Trust, its patron is Princess Beatrice.[1] [2] Actor Gillian Anderson was one of the judges for the 2015 prize.[3] In 2021, the prize money was raised to £10,000.[4]
The prize was founded in 2014 by James Ashton and Viveka Alvestrand in memory of their three-year-old son Oscar Ashton who died unexpectedly in 2012. It aims to celebrate a child's love for magical stories and to reward the creativity of early-years literature and to highlight the importance of reading with children.[5]
The 2014 prize was awarded to Benji Davies for The Storm Whale.[6]
Shortlisted Books List
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Open Very Carefully | Nick Bromley and Nicola O'Byrne | |
| The Black Rabbit | Philippa Leathers | |
| The Snatchabook | Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty | |
| The Storm Whale | Benji Davies | |
| Spaghetti with the Yeti | Charlotte Guillain, Adam Guillain, and Lee Wildish |
The 2015 prize was awarded to Steve Antony for The Queen's Hat.
Shortlisted Books List
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Dangerous! | Tim Warnes | |
| Hedgehugs | Steve Wilson and Lucy Tapper | |
| The Queen's Hat | Steve Antony | |
| The Sea Tiger | Victoria Turnbull | |
| This Book Just Ate My Dog! | Richard Byrne |
The 2016 prize was awarded to Gemma Merino for The Cow Who Climbed a Tree.
Shortlisted Books List[7]
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Hector And Hummingbird | Nicholas John Frith | |
| Sir Lilypad | Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie | |
| The Cow Who Climbed A Tree | Gemma Merino | |
| The Fox And The Star | Coralie Bickford-Smith | |
| The Lion Inside | Rachel Bright and Jim Field |
The 2017 prize was awarded to Rachel Bright and Jim Field for The Koala Who Could.[8]
Shortlisted Books List[9]
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Hello, Mr Dodo | Nicholas John Frith | |
| Odd Dog Out | Rob Biddulph | |
| The Knight Who Wouldn't Fight | Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty | |
| The Koala Who Could | Rachel Bright and Jim Field | |
| There's A Tiger In The Garden | Lizzy Stewart |
The 2018 prize was awarded to John Dougherty and Laura Hughes for There's a Pig Up My Nose.
Shortlisted Books List
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Lucie Goose | Danny Baker and Pippa Curnick | |
| That Bear Can't Babysit | Ruth Quayle and Alison Friend | |
| The Secret of Black Rock | Joe Todd Stanton | |
| There's a Pig Up My Nose | John Dougherty and Laura Hughes | |
| Sunk! | Rob Biddulph |
The 2019 prize was awarded to Ed Vere for How to be a Lion.[10]
Shortlisted Books List[11]
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Almost Anything | Sophie Henn | |
| Ruby's Worry | Tom Percival | |
| The Way Home for Wolf | Rachel Bright and Jim Field | |
| How to be a Lion | Ed Vere | |
| Baby’s First Bank Heist | Jim Whalley and Stephen Collins |
The 2020 prize was awarded to Benji Davies for Tad.[12]
Shortlisted Books List[13]
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| The Suitcase | Chris Naylor-Ballesteros | |
| A Mouse Called Julian | Joe Todd Stanton | |
| Alphonse, There’s Mud on the Ceiling! | Daisy Hirst | |
| I Am a Tiger | Karl Newson and Ross Collins | |
| The Runaway Pea | Kjartan Poskitt and Alex Willmore | |
| Tad | Benji Davies |
The 2021 prize was awarded to Lu Fraser and illustrator Kate Hindley for The Littlest Yak.[14]
Shortlisted Books List[15]
| Title | Author(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| I’m Sticking with you | Smriti Halls and Steve Small | |
| Meesha Makes Friends | Tom Percival | |
| Rain Before Rainbows | Smriti Halls and David Litchfield | |
| The Hospital Dog | Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie | |
| The Littlest Yak | Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley | |
| Would You Like A Banana by | Yasmeen Ismail |