Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2016

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The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards are a set of industry-recognised awards set up by a collective of Irish booksellers in 2007 to acknowledge the best and brightest of Irish authors in all fields. The shortlist for this years' awards were launched on 25 October, with voting open to members of the public. On 16 November, the winners were announced. As a childrens' bookseller, I'm, of course most concerned with the two children's categories and am delighted to tell you all that the winners are:

In the SpecSavers Childrens Book of the Year Senior category -
the winner is Knights of the Borrowed Dark by Dave Rudden. A classically-styled childrens fantasy, this is the first in a series that follows the world of young Denizen Hardwick. Denizen doesn't believe in magic, until he's attacked by a shadowy monster and then witnesses it's destruction by a word made of sunlight.From that point forward, he is thrown into a battle of good vs evil. Fantastic! Congratulations, Dave. Can't wait for the rest of the series!




In the SpecSavers Childrens Book of the Year Junior category -
the award went to Katherine Watkins for the lovely Pigín of Howth. A collection of stories that Katherine created for her 5 wonderful grandchildren, we meet Pigín, a very popular pig about town. Friendly, curious and with impeccable manners,, Pigín and his friends share three exciting adventures that are sure to entrance children. Congratulations, Katherine!
For more on these two award-winning books, the shortlists and all the other (grown-up) awards, just follow the link:
http://www.irishbookawards.irish/fiction-shortlist-awards-2016/

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