Oscar's Book Prize is a British children's book prize awarded annually to a book for pre-school age children, which was first published in the UK during the previous calendar year. The £5,000 prize is supported by the London Evening Standard and sponsored by Amazon and the National Literacy Trust, its patron is Princess Beatrice. Actor Gillian Anderson was one of the judges for the 2015 prize. In 2021, the prize money was raised to £10,000.
The prize was founded in 2014 by James Ashton and Viveka Alvestrand in memory of their three-year-old son Oscar Ashton who died unexpectedly in 2012. It aims to celebrate a child's love for magical stories and to reward the creativity of early-years literature and to highlight the importance of reading with children.
2014
The 2014 prize was awarded to Benji Davies for The Storm Whale.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) Open Very Carefully Nick Bromley and Nicola O'Byrne The Black Rabbit Philippa Leathers The SnatchabookThomas Docherty The Storm Whale Benji Davies Spaghetti with the Yeti Charlotte Guillain, Adam Guillain, and Lee Wildish
2015
The 2015 prize was awarded to Steve Antony for The Queen's Hat.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) Dangerous! Tim Warnes HedgehugsSteve Wilson and Lucy Tapper The Queen's Hat Steve Antony The Sea Tiger Victoria Turnbull This Book Just Ate My Dog!Richard Byrne
2016
The 2016 prize was awarded to Gemma Merino for The Cow Who Climbed a Tree.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) Hector And Hummingbird Nicholas John Frith Sir Lilypad Anna Kemp and Sara Ogilvie The Cow Who Climbed A Tree Gemma Merino The Fox And The Star Coralie Bickford-Smith The Lion Inside Rachel Bright and Jim Field
2017
The 2017 prize was awarded to Rachel Bright and Jim Field for The Koala Who Could.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) Hello, Mr Dodo Nicholas John FrithOdd Dog Out Rob Biddulph The Knight Who Wouldn't FightThomas Docherty The Koala Who Could Rachel Bright and Jim Field There's A Tiger In The Garden Lizzy Stewart
2018
The 2018 prize was awarded to John Dougherty and Laura Hughes for There's a Pig Up My Nose.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) Lucie Goose Danny Baker and Pippa Curnick That Bear Can't Babysit Ruth Quayle and Alison Friend The Secret of Black Rock Joe Todd Stanton There's a Pig Up My Nose John Dougherty and Laura Hughes Sunk! Rob Biddulph
2019
The 2019 prize was awarded to Ed Vere for How to be a Lion.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) Almost Anything Sophie Henn Ruby's Worry Tom Percival The Way Home for Wolf Rachel Bright and Jim Field How to be a Lion Ed Vere Baby’s First Bank Heist Jim Whalley and Stephen Collins
2020
The 2020 prize was awarded to Benji Davies for Tad.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) The Suitcase Chris Naylor-Ballesteros A Mouse Called Julian Joe Todd Stanton Alphonse, There’s Mud on the Ceiling! Daisy Hirst I Am a Tiger Karl Newson and Ross Collins The Runaway Pea Kjartan Poskitt and Alex Willmore Tad Benji Davies
2021
The 2021 prize was awarded to Lu Fraser and illustrator Kate Hindley for The Littlest Yak.
Shortlisted Books List Title Author(s) I’m Sticking with you Smriti Halls and Steve Small Meesha Makes Friends Tom Percival Rain Before Rainbows Smriti Halls and David Litchfield The Hospital Dog Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie The Littlest Yak Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley Would You Like A Banana by Yasmeen Ismail
References
External links Oscar's Book Prize