Winner of the Primary Award

We are thrilled to announce the winner of the Primary Award in the ReadingZone Picture Book Competition 2017 is The Monkey who Learnt his Lesson by Indi (age 10) from Fairways Primary School in Leigh on Sea. There are two Runners-up.

Judge Neal Layton said of the winning entry, "This imaginative tale of the lost monkey who learns is told equally though its illustrations and text. One of the things that impressed most was the way the narrative flowed from beginning to end using lots of different narrative techniques along the way. Great attention to detail in the illustrations too, especially all the broken toys. All in all a fun read, well done Indi!" The school will receive 50 printed copies of the winning picture book, supported by Hachette Children's Books, together with a set of ten books for their school library. We were also delighted that there are two Runners-Up for this category: Runner up Princess Aaliyah and the Little Bean Sprout By Nahima, Sameha, Zahir, Rafin, Wasim (ages 9,10) from Blue Gate Fields Junior School, London Judge Neal Layton said, "Good team work and collaborative research went into this clever twist on a well known tale. I also liked the different use of media and the novel concertina format which helps push narrative as the giant princess descends to the east end!" Runner up Dark Side of the Robot By Bethany and Fatima (ages 10,11) from Hob Green Primary School Judge Neal Layton said, "Magic trees, evil robots and themes of starting a new school are woven into this exciting tale. The detailed comic book style illustrations push the narrative along vigorously, and I also really liked the cliff hanger ending which leaves plenty of room for sequel!" The full shortlist for the Primary Award is as follows: Princess Aaliyah and the Little Bean Sprout By Nahima, Aaliyah, Sameha, Zahir, Rafin, Wasim (9, 10) Blue Gate Fields Junior School, London The Dark Side of the Robot By Bethany, Fatima (10,11) Hob Green Primary School, Stourbridge The Monkey Who Learnt His Lesson By Indi (10) Fairways Primary School The Day I Ate the Queen By Isaac James, Jayden Turner (11) Fairways Primary School The Bella Adventures By Natalie (9) St Marys Primary School, Lurgan The Migration Catastrophe Achievement Award By Matthew (11) Buckingham Park Primary School, Shoreham The Sandman and the Pyjama Farmer By Megan Grace (9) Home Educated Falcon Boy By Viktor Viktorsson, 10 British International School, Phuket Fitting In By Jeevan, Sam (8,9) Davenies School, Beaconsfield What Happened Next (inspired by Oliver Jeffers' Stuck) Written by KS1 class (6,7) / Illus by ages 9-11 St Peters Methodist School, Canterbury What Could it Be? By Esme, Adam and Grace Heathfield House School, London