SALFORD CELEBRATES ITS 20TH CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 

The winner of the 20th Salford Children’s Book Award has been announced at an event attended by 130 pupils from ten high schools across Salford.

The Salford Children’s Book Award, which is run by Salford Schools’ Library Service, encourages older children to read a wide range of books and authors, to promote that reading is fun and enhance literacy development.

Since 2003, thousands of local school children have read some of the highest quality fiction, met and voted for some of the most popular authors, and participated in one of the longest standing regional book awards in the UK.

Each year five outstanding books are shortlisted and sent to participating schools to read over the course of a few months. At the end of this period, students vote for their favourite titles from the selection.

This year, to mark the 20th anniversary, there were six books shortlisted including Cardboard Cowboys by Brian Conaghan, Storm Horse by Jane Elson, How I Saved The World in a Week by Polly Ho-Yen, Ghostcloud by Michael Mann, Twitch by M. G. Leonard, and Nisha’s War by Dan Smith.

The winner was Ghostcloud by Michael Mann and all six shortlisted authors attended the event, which was held at University of Salford’s New Adelphi Building. On the day, children met their literary icons, made presentations about their favourite books, and heard the authors talk about their creative writing processes and literary journeys.

Winning author, Michael Mann, said:

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I am on cloud nine and I am over-the-moon! It means such a lot to us authors to get feedback from fans and readers and the Salford high school pupils were simply amazing today; their presentations and insight was so impressive.

 

Chris Farey, Head of Libraries at Salford Community Leisure, said:

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We are delighted to be celebrating 20 years of the Salford Children’s Book Award. The Salford Schools’ Library Service has worked tirelessly for many years on this event and encouraging pupils in local schools to love reading, and we are continually looking to inspire and engage young people by providing the most diverse range of reading materials possible in our libraries. It’s well known that reading for pleasure enhances learning, literacy and well-being, and greatly improve future prospects. It’s a very popular event in the calendar and hugely beneficial to pupils and schools from all around the city. 

 

The event, which was hosted by award-winning author and comedian, James Campbell, took place at the University of Salford’s New Adelphi Building.

Councillor Gina Reynolds, the Ceremonial Mayor of the City of Salford was also in attendance, who comments:

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For two decades, the Salford Children's Book Award has been a beacon of inspiration, nurturing the imaginations of countless young readers. It has been a platform of creativity and fuelling their dreams.

Even in the face of unprecedented challenges during the pandemic, the spirit of this award persevered. It demonstrated the resilience of our community and the unyielding belief in the transformative power of literature.

Our children, confined to their homes, found solace in the pages of books, exploring new realms, and discovering the wonders of their own minds.

We celebrate the talented authors, but we must also thank the dedicated teachers, librarians, and parents who have tirelessly supported our young readers, instilling in them the belief that they, too, can become storytellers, shaping the narratives of tomorrow.

 

Since 2003, Salford Community Leisure’s Children’s Book Award has distributed over 3,500 books to schools across Salford, has generated over 2,000 votes and has awarded 19 different authors since the start. As well as the school book award, Salford has 16 libraries with (fine-free) free-to-loan books for everyone in the community aged 0-100. As well as all the latest books, classics and fiction titles, the libraries have an extensive event programme including free and low cost events for all the family and other facilities including computers, eBooks and e-Audiobooks.