Adeola and Rutter among Lollies 2023 winners

Dapo Adeola, Helen Rutter and Ciara Smyth are among the winners of this year’s Laugh Out Loud Book Awards, known as the Lollies.

Now in their sixth year, the Lollies were created by Scholastic in response to the end of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. The prizes have historically been awarded in three categories; Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book, Best Laugh Out Loud Book for six to eight-year-olds and Best Laugh Out Loud Book for nine to 12-year-olds.

This year, the awards have been expanded to include four new categories: Teens, Poetry Book, Non-fiction and Illustrator of the Year.

At a digital awards ceremony hosted by author Ella McLeod, on 13th July, Adeola was named Lollies Illustrator of the Year, while Helen Rutter’s The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh (Scholastic) was named Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 9 to 12-year-olds.

Wee? It Wasn’t Me (Macmillan Children’s Books) by Clare Helen Welsh and illustrated by Nicola O’Byrne was crowned Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book, A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch! (Nosy Crow) written by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by Thomas Flintham was crowned Best Laugh Out Loud Book for 6 to 8-year-olds and Not My Problem (Andersen Press) by Ciara Smyth won Best Laugh Out Loud Book for Teens.

Yapping Away (Bloomsbury Education) by Joshua Seigal, illustrated by Sarah Horne, was named Best Laugh Out Loud Poetry Book, and Unleash Your Creative Monster: A Children’s Guide to Writing (Walker Books) by Andy Jones, illustrated by Olaf Falafel, was named Best Laugh Out Loud Non-fiction Book.

The judging panel consisted of head judge and long-time Lollies ambassador, Michael Rosen, illustrator Anita Mangan, authors Ella McLeod and Steven Butler, assistant head-teacher, Rani Tiwana and Scholastic Book Club manager, Su Inglis. While the judges selected the shortlist, the winners of the awards were decided entirely by children’s votes. This year, over 11,000 votes were cast.

The digital awards ceremony saw schools nationwide join online to celebrate the winners in all seven categories and enjoyed performances from Rosen, Stephen and Anita Mangan and a special appearance from author and illustrator, Sarah Bowie, debuting a first look at her new book, Nina Peanut (Scholastic), publishing in March 2024.