We are delighted to welcome talented and versatile author-illustrator Yasmeen Ismail to the blog to introduce the books she and her fellow judges chose to shortlist for this year’s Klaus Flugge Prize, and explains why the award, which highlights debut illustrators, is so important.

I am always excited to be judging anything for a variety of reasons. First up, there’s the fact that I get to have an opinion. Then there’s the excitement of knowing the winners before anyone else does; the look on the winners’ faces when they find out they’ve won; the awards ceremony; the catering… Oh my! 

The whole ritual around awards is so much fun, and it’s wonderful to be a part of it, especially one as prestigious as the Klaus Flugge Prize, because this award champions debut illustrators. There is something particularly rewarding when you are celebrating a new talent.

As a judge I looked for several things in the illustrations. I wanted to see how the illustrator handled the subject matter, how the pictures flowed and whether the images added anything to the story or lifted the story to a different level. I was, of course, also looking for illustrations that were aesthetically pleasing. I was looking for something new and fresh in the illustration style. For me it is not enough to just draw the pictures to match the story, I want to see the pictures working with the story, looking beautiful and interesting, but providing a depth of feeling, and being imaginative, playful, and relatable. 

I am always cheered when I receive books in the post and when I received this longlist it was great to see such a variety from these new illustrators. Some books were tackling very tough subject matter, others were more playful. It was heartening to see so many different styles in all the debut books. This certainly did make it trickier to judge, but there were some stand out winners whose illustrations filled all my criteria and made my heart skip to boot.

When we did sit around the table to judge together, I think we all had some favourites in mind. There were five of us on the judging panel  - last year’s winner Kate Winter, my fellow illustrator Bruce Ingman, early years expert Rachna Joshi and chair, Julia Eccleshare, and we were all, thankfully, pretty much in agreement. 

Mikey Please’s book, The Café at the Edge of the Woods, is so funny. The illustrations of the ogre and Glumfoot made me laugh out loud. There was a real atmosphere to the style of the illustrations, but most of all it was the humour in the pictures that won me over. The whole thing feels very new and original.

Emma Farraron’s illustrations for Charlie Castles’ My Hair is as Long as a River are so fresh. A real treat to see her loose style used with such imagination. I really enjoyed her endpapers too, the use of colour is lovely. There’s real imagination and fun in this book.

Finally, Rhian Stone’s illustrations for Frances Tosdevin’s book, Grandad’s Star, are so moving and well executed. Not only are the illustrations incredibly beautiful and well thought out, but they are also full of emotion. 

It’s so important to support new illustrators. Illustrating is a pretty solitary endeavour, and it’s difficult to look objectively at the work you are doing when you are doing it. Once a book is out there it’s sort of gone, and unless you walk outside of your home or studio and demand an opinion (which has its own perils), there’s no real way of knowing if your work holds any value in the outside world. Awards provide that validation. Validation that your work has been seen, looked at, considered, and enjoyed. Not only that, they celebrate different books. Books that children may not have heard about, in a world where only a handful of authors and illustrators are promoted. Awards like the Klaus Flugge Prize give space to showcase something new, fresh, exciting, and different. Books that we may not have noticed, but which deserve to be in the spotlight.

Irish-born, Bristol-based Yasmeen Ismail is an award-winning author, illustrator and animator. After co-founding a successful animation production company, Yasmeen changed her focus to writing and illustrating picture books. Her first picture book ‘Time for Bed, Fred’ with Bloomsbury Publishing, won the V&A Best Illustrated Book Award and The New York Times Best Illustrated Book award. It was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, longlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, and nominated for the National Cartoonists Society “Silver Reuben” Award. Following the success of her debut picture book she has been nominated for her other works many times since and has been selected by the Society of Illustrators to have her work shown in the Original Art Exhibition in New York six years in a row. Her most recent book is Meena’s Saturday (Puffin), written by Kusum Mepani.

The books shortlisted for this year’s Klaus Flugge Prize are:

My Hair is as Long as a River illustrated by Emma Farrarons, written by Charlie Castle (Macmillan)

The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Grandad’s Star illustrated by Rhian Stone, written by Frances Tosdevin (Rocket Bird Books)

The winner will be announced on 11 September 2025. klausfluggeprize.co.uk


Image below shows Yasmeen Ismail, taken by Jake Green.

Big thanks to Yasmeen Ismail for such a terrific blog and to Andrea Reece and the Klaus Flugge Prize for the opportunity.

We are delighted to welcome Rachel Ip, author of The Last Garden to the blog to talk about the horticultural inspirations behind the book.

I wrote The Last Garden after reading about real gardens made in wartime and conflict. By their very nature, these gardens are not always documented or recorded, and I hope The Last Garden can shine a light on the incredible true stories behind them.

The Last Garden follows the story of a little girl who tends the last garden in a war-torn city. As the city breaks, everyone is forced to leave and soon the girl must leave her beautiful garden behind. Though the garden is empty and alone, its seeds scatter throughout the city and roots begin to take hold.

Slowly, as people return, the city begins to bloom again, and the girl comes home to her garden.

The research

War gardens (or conflict gardens as they’re sometimes called) have existed all over the world, some created by individuals, some bringing whole communities together. Initially inspired by news articles about gardens in Syria, I started researching historical and contemporary conflict gardens.

I contacted the Imperial War Museum and spoke to their photography archivists. I searched their online catalogues for historical photos and trawled written records of photos that were yet to be digitised. I also contacted the Royal Horticultural Society, and searched their incredible photography archive in London. 

I found gardens on rooftops and windowsills, in school grounds and in bomb craters. From camp and prison gardens in Singapore to peacebuilding gardens in Sudan, from the gardens in Polish and Lithuanian ghettos of WWII to victory gardens across the UK, US and Canada, these gardens each have their own unique story.

In Hong Kong, where I live, prisoners in WWII planted gardens on the rooftop of Stanley prison, smuggling seeds from their food rations. In the UK, “Open spaces everywhere were transformed into allotments, from domestic gardens to public parks – even the lawns outside the Tower of London were turned into vegetable patches.”^[1] 

The Great Escape

In a prison camp in Germany in WWII, prisoners dug tunnels to escape the camp and concealed the tunnel dirt by working it into the soil of the garden. “While providing a long-term source of food and activity for prisoners, gardening also ironically cultivated the hope of escape by providing a cover for those intent on tunnelling out.”^[2] This may sound like a familiar story, as it was later made into the film: The Great Escape.

Hope and optimism

Gardens are uniquely hopeful. The very act of planting is hopeful. There is hope that something will grow, that someone will be there to see it, to enjoy it, or to harvest it.

Gardens in conflict zones can have many layers of meaning to those involved. They can provide food security, where access to food may be limited. They can provide refuge and solace; hope and optimism; a little bit of beauty.

The Last Garden, beautifully illustrated by Anneli Bray, commemorates the many war gardens and gardens for peace-building around the world.  Anneli Bray was recently longlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize for her illustrations for The Last Garden: https://www.klausfluggeprize.co.uk/longlist-2021/

In the words of Audrey Hepburn: “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

Find out more about the real gardens behind the story in the classroom resources and in the blog about war gardens on Rachel’s website.

It is a real pleasure to welcome Andrea Reece, editor of Books for Keeps, the brilliant journal that offers news, features and reviews of children's books.  Books for Keeps is the 'go-to' publication about children's books in the UK and is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary and is currently undergoing a fundraising campaign to enable a new more flexible and user-friendly site.  

Please can you introduce yourself

I took on the role of Managing Editor of Books for Keeps in 2012, having been directly involved in the magazine since 2010, and a fan since I first came across it in the late 1980s.  At that point, and for the next twenty years, I worked in publishing and specifically within children’s marketing departments. I began my career at Transworld before moving to Reed as it was then, Egmont as it is now, then HarperCollins and Hodder Children’s Books, and then later for Piccadilly Press. To be honest I fell into children’s publishing completely by accident but have never regretted it and indeed feel extraordinarily lucky to have met or worked with so many talented authors, illustrators, editors and designers over the years. 

What does your role as editor of Books for Keeps entail and how long have you been doing it for?

Books for Keeps is published six times a year, and each issue will include a mix of articles, reviews and comment.  The lead article is always the Authorgraph, an in-depth interview with a notable children’s author or illustrator. This year’s Authorgraph subjects have included Catherine Johnson, Joshua Seigal and Elizabeth Acevedo and our next is Kevin Crossley-Holland. Other long-running articles include the Windows into Illustration feature in which an illustrator explains their technique and approach to a particular illustration; Ten of the Best which highlights ten of the best books on a particular theme; and our Classic in Short – 800 words on a children’s classic written by the inimitable Brian Alderson. It’s my job to commission these plus other articles for the magazine, make sure they are in on time and edited before being sent to our designer, the wonderful Louise Millar, who creates our digital version.  I’ll also sort through the new books we’ve received from publishers and send them out to our team of reviewers. With the help of editorial assistants Eloise Delamere and Alexia Counsell all the reviews and articles are then added to the website ready for the publication of our new issue. At the moment there’s no charge to read Books for Keeps, instead we rely on marketing support from publishers. I’m also responsible for that liaison with publishers and indeed, the invoicing.

Books for Keeps is celebrating its 40th year.  Can you tell us a little about its background and origins.

Books for Keeps owes its existence to the vision of Richard Hill who set it up in 1980 as part of the School Bookshop Organisation. Its aim, as laid out in the very first editorial, was “to reach out to people involved with children and books, whether in professional or private capacities, and try our best to provide lively, imaginative and helpful ideas and information about the enormous range of books available to today's children.” That’s a great summary I think and still applies today. Richard remained in charge until stepping down in 2010 but, I’m pleased to say, is still very much involved. In its 40 year history, the magazine has had four editors: Pat Triggs, Chris Powling, Rosemary Stones and Ferelith Hordon. They’ve each shaped the magazine, making it the intelligent, entertaining, scholarly but accessible read it is today.

There are very few reviews and coverage for children's books in the media, what impact does this have and how important is it for the industry to have a dedicated publication?

There are lots of great, great children’s books being published at the moment and they all deserve to be read and to be discussed and appraised. There are lots of people looking to buy children’s books too and they deserve to be informed about what’s new, what’s unmissable, and what will best suit the young readers they know. So reviewing matters.  I know that people are gloomy about the amount of coverage at the moment, but in fact there are lots of great places to find reviews of children’s books – Books for Keeps of course, but also Lovereading4kids, ReadingZone and Toppsta too, as well as some wonderful blogs. Plus there are informed, passionate independent booksellers who can point adults and children in the right direction, not to mention librarians. 

And in the September issue of Books for Keeps, there will be over 50 reviews of new books, and we’re proud of our reviewers, all of whom have a wealth of experience and specialist knowledge of children’s literature. 

A few years back Books for Keeps went digital, what changes has this led to both in terms of the creation of the magazine and with regard to its readership?

It’s actually over ten years since the last print edition, though we still get the occasional email or Tweet mourning its disappearance. I think there are real advantages to being digital only.  Unlimited space for one thing; the ability to publish news articles as the news happens, plus new book reviews and interviews on publication.  I think being digital makes it much easier for people to share our content, something which makes us very happy. We have readers across the world, all able to access the magazine quickly, easily and for free.

One of the very exciting aspects about the publication is the wealth of material that is available from the past, it's a real treasure trove, can you tell us about some of your favourite content from the past 40 years?

It is absolutely a treasure trove! I love delving into the archive and am always finding something new.  Particular favourites though are this article on the art of writing by Jan Mark, which I think every editor should read. I am a huge admirer of Diana Wynne Jones, and love the Authorgraph interview with her (issue 46); ditto Geraldine McCaughrean, whose Authorgraph was conducted by Stephanie Nettell – actually it’s worth reading all Stephanie’s articles for BfK. I love the Windows into Illustration features, and am proud that BfK gives proper space to the consideration of illustration – Shaun Tan’s is fascinating. We scooped an interview with Philip Pullman in July 2017, rereading that is always very satisfying, and I recommend Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor’s Beyond the Secret Garden series to everyone interested in contemporary children’s literature.

At the moment Books for Keeps is undergoing a big fundraising campaign, how can librarians and libraries help out.

Well, to paraphrase Bob Geldof, “Give us your money”! We are looking to raise £10,000 via Givey and area already nearly half way there. Huge thanks to everyone who has supported us and any contribution, no matter how small, will help. We’d also appreciate help in spreading the word about what a great resource Books for Keeps is – libraries and librarians are key to this.

Can you tell us anything about future plans for Books for Keeps?

We are currently developing the new website. Our current site has come to the end of its life, and the new site will be more flexible, simpler to navigate and more easily searchable. The content of course will remain as it always has been – articles, reviews, interviews and features written by experts and aimed squarely at all those who value and appreciate literature for children.

Thank you so much to Andrea Reece for giving us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Books for Keeps and for the work that goes into this insightful and unmissable publication.

The Youth Libraries Group are delighted to welcome L D Lapinski to talk about a lifetime of reading and escapism and how this has influenced her novel The Strangeworlds Travel Agency book in with us now to discover more as YLG's part of her blog tour.  A big thank you to L D Lapinski for writing such a superbly engaging feature.

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency is a book of escapes. The main character, Flick, longs to escape from what she sees as a dull and repetitive existence. Her new friend, Jonathan, wants to escape from responsibility he neither asked for nor expected. And there are other, less genial characters, looking for escapes of their own.

Escapism has always been a selling point for me when it comes to books. I spend so much of my time worrying about things that are happening in the real world that when it comes to choosing art to enjoy, I want to settle down with something that’s happening in a galaxy far, far away, or even further. And right now, I am extremely keen to escape in any way I can. Stories have never been more important, in whatever form we choose to access them. Books, film, TV, video games – all of them offer escapes into other worlds, where we either craft stories of our own, or choose to lose ourselves in someone else’s for a while. I suppose, too, there is some sort of safety and comfort to be taken from seeing conflict happening where it can’t get you – like when you’re at school and there’s a fight happening but you’re up high and safe, so it’s ok to shout advice down!

I am a child of books. My entire childhood was a journey of travelling from book to book, world to magical world. I loved anything magical, anything where our world was infiltrated and set alongside a more magical one. The idea that adventure was merely a step away was something I’ve always loved reading about, and always wanted to write about, too. I used to write “books” all the time at the table, folding paper and writing stories about a frog named Pip who lived in a tree house and flew a little aeroplane around. As I got older, I kept on writing what was often poorly-disguised Lord of the Rings fanfiction before moving back to making up original stories of my own. And they were always about magic, in some form or another. And, more often than not, set in other worlds. But how to get there… that was something I’d never really figured out!

As much as I love books where there is one other secret or magical world behind the curtain, I’m much more of a fan of a multiverse, or myriad of worlds. I have always loved how, in His Dark Materials, Will has access to an infinite number of worlds when he uses The Subtle Knife. And the whole concept of him being the custodian of all those worlds – and yet able to step into them at any time – was something that played on my mind for years. The responsibility of keeping the worlds safe comes at great cost to Will, and I wondered how that might work if such a responsibility was handed down in a family. And what might happen if someone who wasn’t a part of that family suddenly knew about the secrets. I also very much wanted to make access to the worlds contained in one place. Somewhat like Narnia, where the portals are in definite places, but instead of each one taking you only to one specific world, there could be many possibilities. The whole idea of using suitcases was not one that I consciously set out to craft – it came to me suddenly, and the idea of other-worlds-in-storage suddenly had a place to land.

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency is the product of a lifetime of reading, of stories in all forms. It is a book I never sat down and planned, because it’s almost as though it has been slowing coming into existence for my whole life. The portals, the magic, and other worlds, have all been percolating in the back of my mind without me really knowing it. Which, ultimately, is the real magic of books – they inspire. Perhaps not instantly. Perhaps not consciously. But they are catalysts of imagination, each and every one. I am privileged to have grown up in a household where books were available, where the library was (and still is) in the village to be visited with ease. I am dreaming of the day libraries are open again, so I might see The Strangeworlds Travel Agency on one of their shelves. It is the result of a lifetime being in love with stories, and it is my hope that it will become part of another child’s reading journey, wherever that might take them.

In 2018, UCLan Publishing, in partnership with The British Interplanetary Society, set up the inaugural STEAM Children’s Book Prize. It’s a unique award as it is the first book prize to focus solely on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) in children’s literature, from Early Years to Young Adult. It covers all genres, with the 2020 list of nominated titles including a wide range of subject matter in four categories: Early Years, Middle Grade, Young Adult and Information.

As a librarian, I value any educational initiative which removes barriers and promotes inclusion. By highlighting the importance of STEAM subjects, this prize recognises children and young people benefit immeasurably from developing critical thinking skills and having the opportunity to explore their own creativity and ability to innovate. Asking why and how, and learning to problem solve effectively, is at the core of STEAM and is celebrated in each of this year’s shortlisted titles, including The Longest Night of Charlie Noon by Christopher Edge, overall winner of The STEAM Children’s Book Prize 2019 with The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day.

STEAM Children’s Book Prize 2020 shortlists

 Early Years:

Arty! The First Artist in Space                      William Bee                                                       Pavilion Books

Why Do We Poo?                                         Harriet Blackford                                              Boxer Books

Lifesize Dinosaurs                                        Sophie Henn                                                     Egmont

Suzy Orbit Astronaut                                    Ruth Quayle & Jez Tuya                                   Nosy Crow

A Place for Pluto                                          Stef Wade                                                         Raintree

Astrogirl                                                        Ken Wilson-Max                                               Otter-Barry Books

Middle Grade:

The Train to Impossible Places                    P.G. Bell                                                             Usborne

Mega Robo Revenge                                   Neil Cameron                                                     David Fickling Books

Fire Girl, Forest Boy                                     Chloe Daykin                                                      Faber & Faber

The Longest Night of Charlie Noon              Christopher Edge                                               Nosy Crow

Wildspark                                                      Vashti Hardy                                                      Scholastic

Race to the Frozen North                            Catherine Johnson                                              Barrington Stoke

Lightning Mary                                             Anthea Simmons                                                 Andersen Press

YA:

Beauty Sleep                                                Kathryn Evans                                                    Usborne

Earth Swarm                                                 Tim Hall                                                              David Fickling Books

The Quiet at the End of the World                Lauren James                                                     Walker Books

The Starlight Watchmaker                            Lauren James                                                     Barrington Stoke

Nowhere on Earth                                         Nick Lake                                                            Hodder

The Chaos of Now                                        Erin Lange                                                          Usborne

Information:

The Usborne Book of Planet Earth             Megan Cullis & Matthew Oldham                       Usborne

Science You Can Eat                                   Stefan Gates                                                      DK

The Beetle Collector’s Handbook                 M.G. Leonard                                                    Scholastic

Science is Magic                                           Steve Mould                                                      DK

The Marvellous Adventure of Being              Dr. Max Pemberton                                          Wren and Rook

Engineering Scribble Book                           Eddie Reynolds & Darran Stobbart                   Usborne

I was honoured to be invited to judge The STEAM Children’s Book Prize 2020, alongside fellow judges Dom Conlon, Ros Harding and Ralph Timberlake. It was a difficult choice to whittle down a brilliant selection of over 70 nominated titles, but we managed to arrive at shortlists which exemplify the best of the best: from the lives of renowned English palaeontologist Mary Anning and Arctic explorer Matthew Henson, to fusion bananas (only the creative genius of P.G. Bell could dream this up) and books about dinosaurs, digestion, dung beetles and otherworldy marvels, I’m sure we’ll all enjoy our next few months of reading. I encourage school librarians and teachers to explore these books with pupils and incorporate them into their teaching and learning across all key stages.

The winners will be announced at the Lancashire Science Festival at the end of June 2020. In the meantime, it’s full STEAM ahead!