About the Award
| 2004 winner | ANTHONY HOROWITZ with “Scorpia” |
| 2005 winner | J.K. ROWLING with “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” |
| 2006 winner | CONN & HAL IGGULDEN with “The Dangerous Book for Boy” |
| 2007 winner | J.K. ROWLING with “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” |
| 2008 winner | DEREK LANDY with "Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire" |
The Award
The Berkshire Children’s Book Award was launched in 2004 for the best, recently published book written for young people. This Award is the first of its kind in Berkshire and differs from similar Award schemes by enabling young people to both nominate the titles and select the winner. In 2007/8 over 1500 young people in over 60 Berkshire schools took part.
The Aim of the Berkshire Book Award is to contribute to young people’s achievement by:
- developing a love of reading and encouraging them to become lifelong readers
- encouraging social inclusion by organising events and activities for young people
Research has shown that a love of reading is more important to young peoples’ educational success than either their family’s wealth or social class. Supporting young people to take part in the Award is one way in which school and public libraries can encourage young people to read more, improving their educational opportunities and encouraging social responsibility by giving them a major say in running the Award. The National Year of Reading in 2008 gave added weight to the importance of reading and we are proud of the Award’s contribution to reading across our county.
Target Audience & Criteria
The Award is for books written for 11-14 year olds and participation is open to all children in Berkshire through secondary schools and public libraries. Non fiction or fiction books suitable for the age range published in the current year may be nominated – the criteria being “a good read”. Reference books are not eligible.
The dedicated Award website provides support and information about the Award and enables young people to exchange views about their “good reads” with one another. Children are also involved in discussion groups in and between schools and libraries. An Award event takes place during the shortlist reviewing process
The Award is organised by a group of secondary school librarians with the support of the Education Library Service and Local Education Authorities. The Award also involves bookshops and public library groups.
For further information please contact us.
Sponsors and supporters
 | We have been fortunate to secure sponsorship from Business Objects for the second year running |
 | The Berkshire Book Award website is created and maintained by the Berkshire Education Library Service |