# Blue Peter Book Award

The Blue Peter Book Awards were a set of literary awards for children's books conferred by the BBC television programme Blue Peter. They were inaugurated in 2000 for books published in 1999 and 2000. The awards were managed by reading charity, BookTrust, from 2006 until the final award in 2022. From 2013 until the final award, there were two award categories: Best Story and Best Book with Facts.
The awards were discontinued in 2022, one month after the end of the Costa Book Awards, which included a category for children's book, leaving only three widely recognized awards for children's literature (the Kate Greenaway Medal, the Carnegie Medal, and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize).

## Categories

The Book of the Year dated from 2000 when there were also some "Voters' Awards" (2000 to 2002). Previously there were award categories for:
* Most Fun Story with Pictures, from 2007
* Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud, 2004 to 2006
* Best Book with Facts, from 2003
* Best New Information Book, 2002
* Favourite Story, 2011
* Book I Couldn't Put Down, 2000 to 2010
Three books in each category were announced 4 December 2014 and considered by the panel of 200 children from 10 schools. The two winners for the 2015 awards were announced on 5 March 2015, or World Book Day (UK and Ireland).

## Winners

Blue Peter Book Award winners :
| Year | Category | Author | Title |
| 2000 | Book of the Year | Geraldine McCaughrean, illus. by Jason Cockcroft | A Pilgrim's Progress, retelling of The Pilgrim's Progress |
| 2000 | Best Book to Read Aloud | Julia Donaldson, illus. by Axel Scheffler | The Gruffalo |
| 2000 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | Alan Gibbons | Shadow of the Minotaur |
| 2000 | Special Book to Keep Forever | Geraldine McCaughrean, illus. by Jason Cockcroft | A Pilgrim's Progress |
| 2000 | Voters' Awards: Best Book With Facts in It | | Guinness Book of World Records |
| 2000 | Voters' Awards: Best Book to Share | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
| 2000 | Voters' Awards: Book that Made Me Laugh the Loudest | Roald Dahl, illus. by Quentin Blake | Matilda |
| 2001 | Book of the Year | William Nicholson | The Wind Singer |
| 2001 | Best Book to Keep Forever | Geraldine McCaughrean | The Kite Rider |
| 2001 | Best Book to Read Aloud | Allan Ahlberg and Paul Howard | The Bravest Ever Bear |
| 2001 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | William Nicholson | The Wind Singer |
| 2001 | Voters' Awards: Best Book of Knowledge | Terry Deary | Rotten Romans |
| 2001 | Voters' Awards: Best Storybook | J. K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone |
| 2002 | Book of the Year | Nicky Singer | Feather Boy |
| 2002 | Best Book to Read Aloud | Ted Dewan | Crispin, the Pig Who Had It All |
| 2002 | Best New Information Book | Lucy Lethbridge | Ada Lovelace: The Computer Wizard of Victorian England |
| 2002 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | Nicky Singer | Feather Boy |
| 2002 | Voter's Awards: Best Book With Facts In | Terry Deary, illus. by Martin Brown | Terrible Tudors |
| 2002 | Voter's Awards: Best Storybook | Jacqueline Wilson | The Story of Tracy Beaker |
| 2003 | Book of the Year | Philip Reeve | Mortal Engines |
| 2003 | Best Book to Read Aloud | Julia Donaldson, illus. by Axel Scheffler | Room on the Broom |
| 2003 | Best Book with Facts | Richard Platt, illus. by Chris Riddell | Pirate Diary |
| 2003 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | Philip Reeve | Mortal Engines |
| 2004 | Book of the Year | Simon Bartram | Man on the Moon |
| 2004 | Best Book with Facts | Daniel Hahn, Leonie Flynn, and Susan Reuben (eds.) | The Ultimate Book Guide |
| 2004 | Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud | Simon Bartram | Man on the Moon |
| 2004 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | Eleanor Updale | Montmorency |
| 2005 | Book of the Year | Michael Morpurgo | Private Peaceful |
| 2005 | Best Book with Facts | Simon Chapman | Explorers Wanted! At the North Pole |
| 2005 | Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud | Julia Donaldson, illus. by Axel Scheffler | The Snail and the Whale |
| 2005 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | Michael Morpurgo | Private Peaceful |
| 2006 | Book of the Year | Oliver Jeffers | Lost and Found |
| 2006 | Best Book with Facts | Giles Thaxton | Spud Goes Green |
| 2006 | Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud | Oliver Jeffers | Lost and Found |
| 2006 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | Charlie Higson | Blood Fever |
| 2007 | Book of the Year | S. F. Said, illus. by Dave McKean | The Outlaw Varjak Paw |
| 2007 | Best Book with Facts | Tony Robinson | The Worst Children's Jobs in History |
| 2007 | Book I Couldn't Put Down | S. F. Said, illus. by Dave McKean | The Outlaw Varjak Paw |
| 2007 | Most Fun Story With Pictures | Andy Stanton and David Tazzyman | You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum |
| 2008 | Prize didn't run | Prize didn't run | Prize didn't run |
| 2009 | Book of the Year | Matt Haig | Shadow Forest |
| 2010 | Book of the Year | Ali Sparkes | Frozen in Time |
| 2011 | Book of the Year | Lauren St. John | Dead Man's Cove |
| 2012 | Book of the Year | Gareth P. Jones | The Considine Curse |
| 2013 | Best Book with Facts | Nick Arnold and Tony De Saulles | House of Horrors |
| 2013 | Best Story | Liz Pichon | Tom Gates: Genius Ideas (Mostly) |
| 2014 | Best Book with Facts | Tony Robinson, illus. by Del Thorpe | Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: World War II |
| 2014 | Best Story | Katherine Rundell | Rooftoppers |
| 2015 | Best Book with Facts | Andy Seed, illus. by Scott Garrett | The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff |
| 2015 | Best Story | Pamela Butchart, illus. by Thomas Flintham | The Spy Who Loved School Dinners |
| 2016 | Best Book with Facts | Adam Frost | The Epic Book of Epicness |
| 2016 | Best Story | Ross MacKenzie | The Nowhere Emporium |
| 2017 | Best Book with Facts | David Long, illus. by Kerry Hyndman | Survivors |
| 2017 | Best Story | Kieran Larwood, illus. by David Wyatt | Podkin One Ear |
| 2018 | Best Book with Facts | Susan Martineau, illus. by Vicky Barker | Real-Life Mysteries |
| 2018 | Best Story | Cressida Cowell | The Wizards of Once |
| 2019 | Best Book with Facts | Clive Gifford, illus. by Marc-Etienne Peintre | The Colours of History |
| 2019 | Best Story | Onjali Q. Rauf | The Boy at the Back of the Class |
| 2020 | Best Book with Facts | Amanda Li, illus. by Amy Blackwell, designed by Kim Hankinson and Jack Clucas | Rise Up: Ordinary Kids with Extraordinary Stories |
| 2020 | Best Story | Vashti Hardy | Wildspark |
| 2021 | Best Book with Facts | Mike Barfield, illus. by Jess Bradley | A Day in the Life of a Poo, A Gnu And You |
| 2021 | Best Story | Elle McNicoll | A Kind of Spark |
| 2022 | Best Book with Facts | Christiane Dorian, illus. by Gosia Herba | Invented by Animals |
| 2022 | Best Story | Hannah Gold | The Last Bear |

## Shortlists
### 2020

* Best Book with Facts:
** Rise Up: Ordinary Kids with Extraordinary Stories by Amanda Li, illus. Amy Blackwell designed by Kim Hankinson and Jack Clucas (Buster Books)
** Fanatical About Frogs by Owen Davey (Flying Eye)
** How To Be An Astronaut and Other Space Jobs by Dr Sheila Kanani & Sol Linero (Nosy Crow)
* Best Story
** Wildspark by Vashti Hardy (Scholastic)
** Owen and the Soldier by Lisa Thompson, illus. Mike Lowery (Barrington Stoke)
** Vote for Effie by Laura Wood (Scholastic)

### 2019

* Best Book with Facts:
** The Colours of History by Clive Gifford, illus. Marc-Etienne Peintre (QED Publishing)
** Professor Astro Cat’s Human Body Odyssey by Dr Dominic Walliman, illus. Ben Newman (Flying Eye Books)
** The Element in the Room: Investigating the Atomic Ingredients that Make Up Your Home by Mike Barfield, illus. Lauren Humphrey (Laurence King)
* Best Story
** The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf (Orion Children's Books)
** The Clockwork Crow by Catherine Fisher (Firefly)
** The House With Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson (Usborne)

### 2018

* Best Book with Facts:
** Real-Life Mysteries by Susan Martineau, illus. Vicky Barker (b small)
** Beyond the Sky: You and the Universe by Dara Ó Briain, illus. Dan Bramall (Scholastic)
** Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Scientists by Adam Murphy and Lisa Murphy (David Fickling Books)
* Best Story
** The Wizards of Once by Cressida Cowell (Hodder Children's Books)
** The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Chicken House)
** Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans (David Fickling Books)

### 2017

* Best Book with Facts:
** Destination: Space by Christoph Englert, illus. Tom Clohosy Cole (Wide Eyed Editions)
** Football School: Where Football Explains the World by Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton, illus. Spike Gerrell (Walker Books)
** Survivors by David Long (Faber and Faber)
* Best Story:
** Lost Tales by Adam Murphy (David Fickling Books)
** Podkin One Ear by Kieran Larwood, illus. David Wyatt (Faber and Faber)
** Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford (Harper Collins )

### 2016

* Best Book with Facts:
** The Epic Book of Epicness by Adam Frost
** The Silly Book of Weird and Wacky Words by Andy Seed, illus. by Scott Garrett
** FactFeed by Penny Arlon
* Best Story:
** The Astounding Broccoli Boy by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, illus. by Steven Lenton
** The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair by Lara Williamson
** The Nowhere Emporium by Ross MacKenzie

### 2015

* Best Book with Facts:
** Animalium by Jenny Broom, illus. Katie Scott (Big Picture Press)
** The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff by Andy Seed, illus. Scott Garrett (Bloomsbury)
** Corpse Talk: Season 1 by Adam Murphy (David Fickling Books)
* Best Story
** The Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (DoubleDay)
** Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death by Chris Riddell (Walker)
** The Spy Who Loved School Dinners by Pamela Butchart, illus. Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)

### 2014

* Best Book with Facts:
** Marvellous Maths by Jonathan Litton, illus. Thomas Flintham (Templar Publishing)
** The World in Infographics: Animal Kingdom by Jon Richards illus. Ed Simkins (Wayland)
** Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: World War II by Tony Robinson, illus. Del Thorpe (Macmillan)
* Favourite Story
** Whale Boy by Nicola Davies (Random House)
** Oliver and the Seawigs by Philip Reeve, illus. Sarah McIntyre (Oxford University Press)
** Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (Faber & Faber)

### 2013

* Best Book with Facts:
** House of Horrors (Horrible Science series) by Nick Arnold, illus. Tony De Saulles (Scholastic)
** Fantastic Mr Dahl by Michael Rosen (Puffin)
** Walter Tull's Scrapbook by Michaela Morgan (Frances Lincoln Children's Books) – about Walter Tull
* Favourite Story
** Tom Gates: Genius Ideas (Mostly) by Liz Pichon (Scholastic)
** Hero on a Bicycle by Shirley Hughes (Walker)
** The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas by David Almond, illus. Oliver Jeffers (Walker )

### 2012

* Best Book with Facts:
** The Official Countdown to the London 2012 Games by Simon Hart (Carlton Books)
** Discover the Extreme World by Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon, Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele (Miles Kelly)
* Favourite Story
** The Considine Curse by Gareth P. Jones (Bloomsbury)
** A Year without Autumn by Liz Kessler (Orion Children's Books)

### 2011

* Most Fun Story with Pictures:
** Lunatics and Luck (Raven Mysteries, 3) by Marcus Sedgwick, illus. Pete Williamson (Orion Children's Books)
** Alienography by Chris Riddell (Macmillan)
** Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree by Andy Stanton, illus. David Tazzyman (Egmont)
* Best Book with Facts:
** Do Igloos Have Loos by Mitchell Symons (Doubleday)
** How the World Works by Christian Dorion, illus. Beverley Young, pop-ups designed by Andy Mansfield (Templar Publishing)
** What You Need To Know Now: The World in Facts, Stats, and Graphics by Joe Fullman, Ian Graham, Sally Regan and Isabel Thomas, illus. Sheila Collins, Mik Gates, Jim Green, Katie Knutton, Phillip Letsu and Hoa Luc (Dorling Kindersley)
* Favourite Story
** Dead Man's Cove (Laura Marlin Mystery, 1) by Lauren St John (Orion Children's Books)
** A Web of Air (Mortal Engines prequel) by Philip Reeve (Scholastic Children's Books)
** Tall Story by Candy Gourlay (David Fickling Books)

### 2010

* Most Fun Story with Pictures:
** Peter the Penguin Pioneer by Daren King (Quercus)
** Spells by Emily Gravett (Macmillan)
** Dinkin Dings and the Frightening Things by Guy Bass (Stripes)
* Best Book with Facts:
** Usborne Lift-the-flap Picture Atlas by Alex Frith and Kate Leake (Usborne)
** Tail-End Charlie by Mick Manning and Brita Granström (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
** Why Eating Bogeys is Good for You by Mitchell Symons (Red Fox)
* Book I couldn't Put Down
** Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan)
** The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43 by Harriet Goodwin (Stripes)
** Frozen in Time by Ali Sparkes (Oxford)

### 2009

* Most Fun Story with Pictures:
** Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear by Andy Stanton and David Tazzyman (Egmont)
** Fleabag by Helen Stephens (Alison Green Books)
** Lost! The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong, illus. Rowan Clifford (Puffin Books)
* Best Book with Facts:
** Archaeology Detectives by Simon Adams (Oxford University Press)
** 100 Most Dangerous Things on the Planet by Anna Claybourne (A & C Black)
** Planet in Peril (Horrible Geography series) by Anita Ganeri, illus. Mike Phillips (Scholastic)
* The Book I Couldn't Put Down:
** Abela by Berlie Doherty (Andersen Press)
** Shadow Forest by Matt Haig (Corgi)
** Foul Play by Tom Palmer (Puffin)

### 2008

Prize didn't run.

### 2007

* Most Fun Story with Pictures:
** Melrose and Croc Together at Christmas by Emma Chichester Clark
** Charlie Cook's Favourite Books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler
** You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum by Andy Stanton and David Tazzyman
* Best Book with Facts:
** Why is Snot Green? by Glenn Murphy
** The Worst Children's Jobs in History by Tony Robinson
** A Little Guide to Wild Flowers by Charlotte Voake
* The Book I Couldn't Put Down:
** Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce
** The Bad Spy's Guide by Pete Johnson
** The Outlaw Varjak Paw by S. F. Said, illus. Dave McKean

### 2006

* Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud:
** Traction Man is Here by Mini Grey
** Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins)
** Guess Who's Coming for Dinner by John Kelly and Cathy Tincknell
* Best Book with Facts:
** Connor's Eco Den by Pippa Goodhart
** Poo by Nicola Davies and Neal Layton
** Spud Goes Green by Giles Thaxton (Egmont)
* Book I Couldn't Put Down:
** GRK and the Pelotti Gang by Joshua Doder
** Blood Fever by Charlie Higson (Puffin)
** The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo

### 2005

* Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud:
** The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson, illus. Axel Scheffler (Macmillan)
** Biscuit Bear by Mini Grey (Red Fox)
** Aristotle by Dick King-Smith, illus. Bob Graham (Walker)
** Rapunzel: A Groovy Fairy Tale, retelling of "Rapunzel" by Lynn Roberts, illus. David Roberts (Chrysalis)
* Best Book with Facts:
** Explorers Wanted! At the North Pole by Simon Chapman (Egmont)
** What's My Family Tree? by Mick Manning, illus. Brita Granström (Watts)
** Art Fraud Detective by Anna Nilsen, illus. Andy Parker (Kingfisher)
** Rome in spectacular cross-section by Andrew Solway, illus. Stephen Biesty (Oxford University Press)
* Book I Couldn't Put Down:
** Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Macmillan)
** SilverFin by Charlie Higson (Puffin)
** Thora by Gillian Johnson (Hodder)
** Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo (Collins)

### 2004

* Best Illustrated Book to Read Aloud:
** The Woman Who Won Things by Allan Ahlberg, illus. Katharine McEwen (Walker Books)
** Man on the Moon by Simon Bartram (Templar)
** Quiet! by Paul Bright, illus. Guy Parker-Rees (Little Tiger Press)
** Atticus the Storyteller's 100 Greek Myths by Lucy Coats, illus. Anthony Lewis (Orion)
** The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson, illus. Axel Scheffler (Macmillan)
* Best Book with Facts:
** Journey into the Arctic by Bryan and Cherry Alexander (OUP)
** Brilliant Brits: Shakespeare by Richard Brassey (Orion)
** Who is Emily Davison? by Claudia Fitzherbert (Short Books)
** The Ultimate Book Guide edited by Daniel Hahn (A & C Black)
** I Spy: Shapes in Art by Lucy Micklethwaite (Collins)
* Book I Couldn't Put Down:
** Stealing Stacey by Lynne Reid Banks (Collins)
** Fat Boy Swim by Catherine Forde (Egmont)
** The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird (Macmillan)
** When Mum Threw Out the Telly by E. F. Smith (Orchard Books)
** Montmorency by Eleanor Updale (Scholastic)