Illustrator takes scenic route to prize

A FIRST book by a young, new author has been named Bisto Children’s Book of the Year.

A Bit Lost, written and illustrated by Chris Haughton (32), tells the story of an accidentally orphaned owl, who has fallen out of his nest and needs to find his way back to his mummy. It is aimed, says Haughton, at "children from about 1½ to about 4".

He was “absolutely shocked and surprised” to be named overall winner in the 21st year of the awards.

“I have just been overwhelmed at the response to the book. It’s my first book and it has been amazing.”

The judges in their citation said the book’s “brilliantly simple verbal text, complemented by a quirkily psychedelic and surreal visual text, captures both the anxiety and the thrill of being lost”.

Haughton, who has worked as an illustrator for a number of newspapers including The Irish Timesand the Guardian, said he had always wanted to produce a children's book since teaching children English in east Asia.

This book was first published in Korean, by a Korean publisher he met at the Bologna Book Fair, before being taken up by Walker Books here.

Haughton also won the Eilís Dillon award for a first-time author or illustrator.

The Children's Choice Award went to Sheena Wilkinson for her novel aimed at teenagers, Taking Flight. Set in Northern Ireland it tells the story of troubled 15-year-old Declan, from a poor area in Belfast, who has to go and live with his wealthier cousin Vicky after his mother goes into rehab.

Three special awards were also made. The Judges Special Award went to Oliver Jeffers, for his book The Heart and the Bottle, for the sensitive way in which it deals with grief and bereavement in children.

The Honour Award for Illustration went to Andrew Whitson, for Mac Rí Eireann, which the judges described as a "true work of art".

The Honour Award for Fiction went to Wilkinson, again for Taking Flight,for its "masterfully structured narrative which suggests, in an unsentimental manner, that the inner struggle to understand oneself can be redemptive".

Keith O’Sullivan, chairman of the judging panel, said the standard in children’s books was rising all the time.

“The quality of the submissions this year reflects the growing sophistication and appeal of books by Irish authors and illustrators,” he said.

A travelling exhibition documenting the awards and the previous 20 winning titles – among them The Boy in the Striped Pyjamasby John Boyne; You, Me and the Big Blueby Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick; and The New Policemanby Kate Thompson – will open in libraries in Meath, Donegal, Cork and Mayo at different times this year.