BOOK OF THE YEAR  & NON-FICTION


OVERVIEW This shortlist draws heavily on themes which dominated the public conversation in 2020, covering topics such as systematic racism, isolation, hope and (a major one for parents) the constant task of keeping children entertained at home. Despite the timely topics, all of these books have the potential to become future classics.


BLACK AND BRITISH David Olusoga’s book is an essential introduction to 1,800 years of Black British history: from the Roman Africans, right up to the present day. Since he published Black and British: A Forgotten History in 2016 (Macmillan), parents have been asking Olusoga for a kids’ title. Leveraging the author’s profile, Macmillan Children’s secured broadcast, radio, print and online media marketing.


I’M STICKING WITH YOU Knowing that design and production would be key to publication, S&S paired Smriti Halls’ delightful rhyming text with artwork from début illustrator Steve Small. It originally planned a simultane- ous hardback and paperback publication but, with the shuttering of bookshops, split them and created an extensive digital campaign to ensure the success of this book.


KAY’S ANATOMY Puffin Books approached Adam Kay to work on his first chil- dren’s book, confident that the funny, engaging style that ran through his runaway hit This is Going to Hurt (Picador) would translate well for a younger market. Kay set out to make the body as interesting to children as Space or dinosaurs, and the bold and confident text was illustrated by the author’s friend Henry Paker.


PUBLISHERS


1 MACMILLAN CHILDRENS BOOKS


2 HARPERCOLLINS CHILDRENS BOOKS


3 SIMON & SCHUSTER CHILDRENS BOOKS


4 PUFFIN


5 BLOOMSBURY CHILDRENS BOOKS


6 HAMISH HAMILTON


THE LOST SPELLS The “little sister’”to The Lost Words, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris’ The Lost Spells (Hamish Hamilton) is a pocket- sized collection of acrostic poetry and artwork. A spon- taneous bout of crowdfunded campaigns saw the book being bought for three-quarters of all British primary schools, care homes and hospices, and saw it billed as “a cultural phenom- enon” by the Guardian.


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DRAW WITH ROB Rob Biddulph’s #DrawWithRob videos added some colour to lockdown, and HarperCollins Children’s reactively brought out a book of the same name. The title was planned, written, illustrated and designed in just three weeks. The author’s commitment to the project was clear: he gave interviews, created bespoke draw-along videos, and held multiple live and virtual events.


THE BOOK OF HOPES Featuring work from 133 kids’ authors and illustrators, this anthology was put together by Katherine Rundell during lockdown to cater for middle- grade readers. Bloomsbury initially published it online for free, with the hardback and audio editions following in the autumn to raise money for NHS Charities Together. “Sweet, sophisticated and pertinent,” said the Times.


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