Sainsburys Childrens Book Awards shortlist announced

We are delighted to see three United Agents clients shortlisted for the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards 2020. Now in their seventh year, the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards in partnership with BookTrust aim to highlight the best children's books for families to share together. Judged by a panel of experts, the awards aim to encourage parents and carers to spend more time reading with their children. This is the fourth time that BookTrust have partnered with Sainsbury's for the awards, which honour books in six categories - and the shortlist has now been unveiled. There is a cash prize for the winner of each category, and all of the shortlisted books are promoted in Sainsbury's stores.

In the Activity Book section, Rob Biddulph has been shortlisted for his book Draw With Rob, published by Harpercollins Children's Books. In March 2020 Rob started #DrawWithRob, a series of twice-weekly draw-along videos designed to help parents whose children were forced to stay home from school due to the coronavirus pandemic. It proved immensely popular, garnering millions of views and international media coverage. The first #DrawWithRob activity book was published in July 2020 and is a number one bestseller.

Oi See It Say It, written by Kes Gray and illustrated by UA client Jim Field, has been shortlisted in the Character/License category. It is a fun-packed rhyming sticker activity book, featuring all your favourite characters from the TopTen bestselling, award-winning Oi Frog and Friends series. Jim is the illustrator for a string of bestselling, multi-award-winning children's books, including The Lion Inside and young fiction series Rabbit and Bear and his authorial debut, Monsieur Roscoe, is a bilingual picture book and was published in July 2020. Jim is the 5th bestselling illustrator in the UK.

And last but by no means least, Frann Preston-Gannon has been shortlisted in the Picture Book category for her book The Bad Day, a hilarious story about the mishaps of a group of woodland friends contains a powerful message about working together. Frann Preston-Gannon is a London based illustrator and designer. She has been widely published and her first picture book, The Journey Home, was published in October 2012 and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Prize. In 2018 the poetry collection she illustrated I am the Seed that Grew the Tree was the Waterstones Gift Book of the Year.

Winners of the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards will be announced on 16th October.