The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal goes to Town Is by the Sea!

We are absolutely thrilled that Sydney Smith has won the 2018 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal for Town Is by the Sea, written by Joanne Schwartz.

Sydney's stunning illustrations show the striking contrast between a sparkling seaside day and the darkness underground where the miners of the town dig.

This beautifully understated and haunting story brings a piece of mining history to life. The ever-present ocean and inevitable pattern of life in a mining town has enthralled children and moved adult readers, as a young boy wakes up to the sound of the sea, visits his grandfather's grave after lunch and comes home to a cosy dinner with his family, but all the while his mind strays to his father digging for coal deep down under the sea.

You can watch Sydney talk about Town Is by the Sea here, and discover learning resources for all the shortlisted books here.

Sydney Smith has illustrated multiple children’s books, including The White Cat and the Monk, written by Jo Ellen Bogart, and the highly acclaimed Footpath Flowers, which was a New York Times Children’s Book of the Year, a winner of the Governor General Award for Illustration and shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. 

Find him on Twitter as @sydneydraws.



Also appearing on the shortlist from Walker Books: 

King of the Sky illustrated by Laura Carlin, written by Nicola Davies. Watch Laura discuss the book here.

A Fist Book of Animals illustrated by Petr Horáček, written by Nicola Davies. Watch Petr discuss the book here.

This is the 11th CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal win for Walker Books, you can find a list of winners below.

2018 Sydney Smith, Town Is by the Sea

2014 Jon Klassen, This is Not My Hat

2012 Jim Kay, A Monster Calls
2004 Chris Riddell, Jonathan Swift's “Gulliver”
2002 Bob Graham, Jethro Byrde- Fairy Child
2001 Chris Riddell, Pirate Diary
1999 Helen Oxenbury, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1997 P J Lynch, When Jessie Came Across the Sea
1995 P J Lynch, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
1988 Barbara Firth, Can't You Sleep Little Bear?
1985 Juan Wijngaard, Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady

Three Walker Picture Books Shortlisted for the 2018 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

We are absolutely thrilled to say that three Walker picture books have made the shortlist of the 2018 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. You can see the full selection of titles below.

King of the Sky illustrated by Laura Carlin, written by Nicola Davies

A Fist Book of Animals illustrated by Petr Horáček, written by Nicola Davies 

Town is by the Sea illustrated by Sydney Smith, written by Joanne Schwartz

Good to luck to all the illustrators shortlisted! You can pick copies of all these books at your local bookshop.

PREVIOUS KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL WINS FOR WALKER BOOKS:

2014 Jon Klassen, This is Not My Hat
2012 Jim Kay, A Monster Calls
2004 Chris Riddell, Jonathan Swift's “Gulliver”
2002 Bob Graham, Jethro Byrde- Fairy Child
2001 Chris Riddell, Pirate Diary
1999 Helen Oxenbury, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1997 P J Lynch, When Jessie Came Across the Sea
1995 P J Lynch, The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
1988 Barbara Firth, Can't You Sleep Little Bear?
1985 Juan Wijngaard, Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady

WIN King of the Sky by Nicola Davies

A powerful and beautifully illustrated story about migration and the meaning of home.

King of the Sky is a breathtaking new picture book by children's author Nicola Davies, illustrated by Laura Carlin, winner of the Bratislava Illustration Biennale and the Bologna Ragazzi Prize for Illustration. Starting a new life in a new country, a young boy feels lost and alone – until he meets an old man who keeps racing pigeons. Together they pin their hopes on a race across Europe and the special bird they believe can win it: King of the Sky.


Behind the scenes with Nicola Davies

We’re excited to welcome Nicola to the Picture Book Party blog for a behind-the-scenes on the inspiration behind King of the Sky.

As we were putting together A First Book of Nature the illustrator Mark Hearld asked me to write a poem about pigeons. At the time, I'd just moved to a house with a view of an old Victorian hospital. All day pigeons would strut and play on the roof top, pirouetting like weathercocks. So the poem came easily.

And it got me thinking.

I read about pigeons; wild ones, domestic ones, message carrying ones, racing ones. I watched videos of tough northern blokes cuddling their racing birds with heart-breaking tenderness. I read how they navigate - learning the shapes of their local landscape by that characteristic flying in circles thing they do; recognising the smells of home, so that downwind they can follow the scents to their loft.

Something else got in with the biological information in my head - belonging and what happens when you have to change where you live and make a new home.

All of it sloshed around in my mind until one night I heard a song written about the real Sheffield racing pigeon “The King of Rome” that won a race to the North all the way from Italy. Another component of the story fell into place.

The final piece of the jigsaw was the setting. I wanted a displaced people and found what I needed when I remembered my mum’s stories about sitting in the Italian ice cream parlour in Gowerton. Italian families had come to Wales in the 20s and had found a culture like their own, centred on family, where singing and high emotion were both valued.

So I wrote a story set on my own doorstep, and connected with my own family history in South Wales.

I read it aloud at a conference and two wonderful things happened: someone came and told me that I’d described the story of their family and another said: “All my adult life I’ve thought my background in the valleys was something I had to get away from. You’ve shown me it’s my best material.” That’s when I realised that this little story about a boy and a bird had done what I wanted, and told a bigger more universal story about belonging, and what that means.

I worked with Pontadawe Arts Centre and director Derek Cobley to make King of the Sky into a theatre production - a musical in fact - that played at the Hay festival in 2015 and 16 and toured in South Wales. It was great to see the story spoke to audiences of all ages. Grown-ups cried, children cheered when the pigeon made it home, people went out singing the songs. I hope when they read the book they’ll carry the words in their hearts in the same way.

WIN
To celebrate the release of King of the Sky we’ve got five beautiful limited edition prints and signed copies of the book to give away! To enter, just answer this question:

In the new book King of the Sky, what kind of bird does the old man keep?
a) Hawks
b) Sparrows
c) Pigeons

To enter, just email competitions@walker.co.uk with 'King of the Sky' in the subject line before 9th June 2017. Terms and conditions apply.

Join in the fun and download these free King of the Sky activity sheets and pick up a copy of King of the Sky at your local bookshop.


Nicola Davies is an award-winning author, whose many books for children include A First Book of Nature, Ice Bear, Big Blue Whale, Dolphin Baby, Bat Loves the Night and the Silver Street Farm series. She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Nicola lives in Crickhowell, Wales. Visit Nicola as www.nicola-davies.com.


Laura Carlin is a graduate of the Royal College of Art and the winner of several awards, including the V&A Book Illustration Award. Her work has featured in Vogue, the Guardian and The New York Times; her previous books for Walker include The Promise by Nicola Davies and The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. See Laura's work at lauracarlin.blogspot.co.uk.

Win a signed copy of two amazing picture books!

The weather may be changing but don't let the end of summer ruin your fun! This is a bumper month for picture books at walker, and to celebrate we've got a signed copies of Help! We Need a Title! and The Promise up for grabs. Simply enter your details below, and five lucky winners will receive a signed copy of each of these amazing books.

Competition closes 31 October 2013, 5 p.m. Open to residents of the UK and Ireland only. Terms and Conditions apply.

   

       

Want to know more about these books?

Hear about Help! We Need a Title! from author–illustrator Herve Tullét.

Nicola Davies talks about The Promise, and Laura Carlin talks about illustrating it, at thepromise.uk.com

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