Services for Schools
Musical Theatre day
Free Musical Theatre day for secondary phase students
Published 8th July 2024
After six weeks of keen reading, engaging author talks, and enthusiastic voting, the Education Library Service is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2024 InspiRead Book Awards! The awards scheme, which celebrates UK authors and children books, encourages reading for pleasure for children of all age groups in schools and libraries during the summer term.
The awards are run by Inspire’s Education Library Service, which supports the teaching of the national curriculum, reading for pleasure, and wellbeing in primary, secondary and special school settings by loaning books to schools. The professional librarians at ELS carefully select and review the final shortlist based on outstanding children’s books published within the last year and features books suitable for all age groups. InspiRead began in 2020 during the first Covid-19 lockdown as a virtual primary book award and a way of engaging children with reading whilst they spent time outside of schools. The awards have continued to grow since, expanding onto the shelves at Inspire libraries and additional funding has been granted by Arts Council England, Nottinghamshire County Council and Arc Partnership.
The response to this year's awards has been phenomenal, attracting over 2000 votes from young readers, school pupils and families across Nottinghamshire. Among the three award categories and twelve shortlisted titles, the winners include:
Picture Book Winner
One Hungry Dragon by Alastair Chisholm, Illustrated by Alex Willmore
Shorter Book Winner
Pizza Pete and the Perilous Potions by Carrie Sellon, Illustrated by Sarah Horne
Longer Book Winner
Lost on Gibbon Island by Jess Butterworth, Illustrated by Rob Biddulph
Teachers can borrow these fantastic books from the Education Library Service or anyone can visit their local library in Nottinghamshire or beyond to enjoy the shortlisted and winning titles. For those who prefer to own copies, The Bookcase in Lowdham is offering a 20% discount on all titles for everyone, and Wonderland Bookshop in Retford is providing a 20% discount specifically for schools. As part of the awards, The Education Library Service and Priority Literacy Group have conducted free virtual author talks with the shortlisted authors and illustrators, all of which are now accessible on the Inspire website.
The Education Library Service is privileged to host InspiREAD with Inspire Public Libraries and promote children’s books and Reading for Pleasure throughout our community and beyond with the support of Arts Council England, Nottinghamshire County Council and ARC.
