The submissions are in, and the votes have been counted; Juniper Education are very pleased to announce that the ‘Book of The Year’ at this year’s Juniper Book Awards is…‘The Book of Stolen Dreams’ by David Farr.
The Juniper Book Awards (JBA) is an annual event that celebrates reading for pleasure in children ages 10+ across primary and secondary school education. The winners were announced on Friday 24th March during a live ceremony that was attended by participating schools from around the country. The online event was presented by Hazel Murrell and Sally Harrison, both Librarians at Juniper Education, along with 4 of the 6 shortlisted authors: Maisie Chan, Stewart Foster, Jessica Scott-Whyte, and Simon Fox. Sadly, Varsha Shah and David Farr were unable to attend on the day.
The national event, that is organised and hosted by Juniper’s Education Resource Service, helps to inspire children to engage with reading. It also acts as a starting point for pupils to take part in creative projects linked to the books. Almost 50 schools from around the country took part, which saw some amazing and awe inspiring entries and submissions across the following award categories:
Best Pupil Reviews
Pupils are invited to read the six shortlisted books and submit their own book reviews online.
Best Book Trailer
Children can create, direct and star in their own film style trailer to summarise their favourite book.
Best Creative Award
Participants are encouraged to come up with a creative idea linked to one of the shortlisted books. Previous entries have included music, dance, live-action drama video, poetry, and art.
Most Innovative School
Schools can submit evidence describing the innovative ways their school has embraced the JBA.
Book of The Year
Considered the most prestigious award, pupils are asked to judge and vote for the book they consider the best.
You can view the full list of winners and watch the whole awards ceremony on our official Juniper Book Awards 2023 page here.
Regarding the event, Hazel Murrell, said: “As part of our ongoing commitment to improving learning outcomes in schools, The Juniper Book Awards were designed to help increase reading for pleasure and improve literacy. This year’s Awards were a great success, thank you for all the entries and submissions by the wonderful children who took part, and to the authors for making the event even more memorable than the last. We can’t wait to see what JBA 2024 has in store”.
Sally Harrison also said: “Reading is the core skill helping children to access all aspects of the curriculum, and research suggests that children who read for pleasure do better throughout their education and beyond. A huge congratulations to all of the award winners, to the schools and children who took part and a special thanks to the authors whose books we shortlisted. We are thrilled that so many schools took part this year and look forward to hosting many more schools from around the country in 2024.”
Why Should Your School Get Involved Next Year?
The Juniper Book Awards is a fun and great place to start if you are looking for ways to encourage reading, and it costs a lot less than you might think.
Here’s just some of the reasons why we think signing up to the Juniper Book Awards 2024 should be on your to do list for the next academic year:
- Encourage reading for pleasure in your school.
- Promote healthy competition and teamwork.
- Inspire creativity and imagination.
- Create opportunities for book-chat, sharing reviews and author interactions.
- Supports cross-curricular projects with departments around the school.
- Introduces children to a wider and more diverse range of authors, characters, and settings than they may otherwise encounter.
