Cogheart wins 'Awesome' award
Posted on Thursday, May 3, 2018
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Hundreds of young readers from across the South East have celebrated the Awesome Book Awards 2018 prize-giving, with author Peter Bunzl taking the top prize for his first children's novel, Cogheart.
Peter said, "I was delighted to be shortlisted and grateful to the schools for giving children the chance to get involved in reading and reviewing new books. "The Awesome Book Awards are an important new prize in children's fiction and it's fantastic to hear from so many children who have enjoyed my story," he added. Peter, who has since published a sequel, Moonlocket, was presented with his prize and trophy by the winner of last year's inaugural Awards, Ross Welford. Peters advice to aspiring young writers was: "Read as much as you can, and write as much as you can - anything and everything. Poetry, novels, short stories, non-fiction - whatever interests you. Read it all and write it all, and don't fear failure - you learn by trial and error until you've found your voice and the story you want to tell". The Awesome Book Awards honours the best new fiction authors for young readers aged between seven and ten. The other shortlisted books included: Erica's Elephant by Sylvia Bishop; Radio Boy by Christian O'Connell; The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange; and The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson. Thousands of pupils from schools across the South East read the whole shortlist and then voted for their favourite overall. Cranleigh Pupil Ted Mills, who voted for the winner and introduced him on the stage, said: "As the front cover of the book states, I completely agree that Cogheart is a stunning adventure of danger and daring. I hope many of you in the audience will read the sequel to Cogheart which is called Moonlocket and is just as compelling." M.G. Leonard, a former Awesome Awards nominee and author of the Beetle Boy trilogy, also presented the prizes to the pupils who had written the best review of a shortlisted book. "There is no other way than stories to celebrate getting to know creatures and people of all shapes and sizes. An award for writing and reading is a wonderful thing," she said. Cranleigh Prep Schools Head of English, Kate Schutte, who came up with the idea for the Awards, estimated that some 2000 children will have read some or all of the shortlisted books. "I have loved reading the reviews that many of the participating children wrote about their favourite books."
