The Teach Primary Book Awards 2019 – Meet the Judges!
Infinite Monkey Cage presenter Robin Ince, YouTube sensation Connie Glynn and Jamie Johnson author Dan Freedman will join the panel for this year’s competition…
The judges for this year’s Teach Primary Book Awards have finally been announced – and yet again, the list includes an impressive array of talent and experience.
“We are enormously proud of our judging panel, which includes children’s authors, literacy experts and champions of reading for pleasure, to ensure that every title is assessed for its potential in the classroom as well as for reading at home,” explains Teach Reading & Writing editor Helen Mulley.
“The Teach Primary Book Awards are unique, in that they pick out books that not only will children really love, but that also have genuine educational potential, whether that’s through engaging artwork, clever wordplay, thought-provoking storylines – or all of the above!”
Judging the Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 categories will be:
Dan Freedman – a former sports journalist, and author of the hugely popular Jamie Johnson football books series, as well as a young adult novel, Unstoppable.
Connie Glynn – whose debut novel Undercover Princess saw her become the UK’s number one debut YA author of 2017, with rights sold in over 10 countries. Her online persona – formerly known as Noodlerella – has amassed over a million followers across her platforms, and she will be vlogging to fans about her favourite shortlisted books.
Sinead Naidoo – programme manager for the Young Readers Programme at the National Literacy Trust, a charity dedicated to raising literacy levels in the UK.
Brough Girling – the co-founder of the Readathon charity. A qualified teacher, he has written over 30 children’s books, broadcast widely and lectured in children’s reading from Canada to Cairo. He was head of the Children’s Book Foundation in London and founding editor of the Young Telegraph.
Tamara Macfarlane – a children’s author and the owner of Tales on Moon Lane Children’s Bookshop, Moon Lane Education, and Moon Lane Ink, which runs Pop-Up Bookshop Enterprise Days in secondary schools. She is passionate about promoting reading for pleasure through brilliant books and lively events.
Judging the inaugural non-fiction category will be:
Comedian, actor and writer, Robin Ince – He is best known for presenting the BBC radio show The Infinite Monkey Cage with physicist Brian Cox, and his latest book, I’m a Joke and So Are You: A Comedian’s Take on What Makes Us Human blends memoir, wit, and popular science to examine the human condition. He’s also a father who loves adventuring with his young son – absolutely the right person to pick out the best books for curious kids!
To find out more about the Awards, visit the website teachwire.net/bookawards.
