Children's funniest book shortlist announced
Posted on Monday, June 5, 2017
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The shortlist for the 2017 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies), which celebrate the funniest children's books, has been announced by poet and former children's laureate Michael Rosen.
The Lollies were created by publisher Scholastic, following the closure of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and in response to findings from Scholastic's Kids and Family Reading Report, which found that most children choosing books for themselves wanted 'books that make me laugh'. Rosen said of the shortlist, "This is a collection of 12 whizzy, crazy, hilarious books. They are guaranteed to tickle. Parents and teachers wondering how to keep your children interested in reading, why not start here? And you can always start them off by reading them out loud - funny voices an' all!" The Lollies are awarded in three categories: Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book, Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8s and Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13s. The shortlisted books in each category are as follows: Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book - Oi Dog by Kes Gray and Jim Field (Hodder Children's Books) Eat Your People by Lou Kuenzler and David Wojtowycz (Orchard Books) Prince of Pants by Alan Macdonald and Sarah McIntyre (Scholastic) Danny McGee Drinks the Sea by Andy Stanton and Neal Layton (Hodder Children's Books) Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6-8 year olds - Thimble Monkey Superstar by Jon Blake and Martin Chatterton (Firefly Press) Hamish and the Neverpeople by Danny Wallace and Jamie Littler (Simon and Schuster) Eddy Stone and the Epic Holiday Mash-Up by Simon Cherry (Usborne) Future Ratboy and the Invasion of the Nom Noms by Jim Smith (Egmont) Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9-13 year olds - I Don't Like Poetry by Joshua Seigal (Bloomsbury) The Best Medicine by Christine Hamil (Little Island Books) My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord by David Solomons and Laura Ellen Anderson (Nosy Crow) AniMalcolm by David Baddiel and Jim Field (Harper Collins) The judges included Michael Rosen, Katie Thistleton, presenter and host of the CBBC Children's Book Club, and Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times Children's Book Editor. The winning book in each category will now be decided solely by children's votes, with schools and parents encouraged to help kids get involved and vote via the Lollies website, below. Teachers can cast 35 votes on behalf of their class for each category. The voting will close on 8th December 2017 and the winning books will be announced at an awards ceremony in London in January 2018.
