Hervé Tullet wins Author of the Year award in China

Hervé Tullet, Julia Donaldson and Nicola Davies were amongst the authors who won prizes at the 2018 Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Awards, where Tullet picked up the Author of the Year Award.

French artist Tullet was proclaimed author of the year for his innovative picture books such as Press Here, which is published in the UK by Chronicle Books.

Judge and journalist Sophie Van der Linden presented the prize, saying Tullet’s work "strikes us with its originality". "Hervé doesn’t consider himself an illustrator, he is more a creator of concepts, as we can see from his unique picture books such as Press Here," she said.

The Day the War Came by Nicola Davies and Rebecca Cobb (Walker Books) and Animalphabet by Julia Donaldson and Sharon King-Chai (Two Hoots) were announced among the five best picture books of the year, along with The Wolf, The Duck and The Mouse by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen (Candlewick), Where Have the Tickets Gone? by Liu Xugary (Global Views Commonwealth Publishing), and Grandma’s Magic Cloth Scaps by Ao Zi (21st Century Publishing Group).

Five authors - Gerekhimig Blackcrane, Tang Sulan, Wu Ran, Cheng Wei and Liu Hu - won prizes for best literary works and Zhang Mingzhou, vice president of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), won a special contribution award. There were also prizes for contributions to children's literature magazines. 

Gao Hongbo, who chaired the judging panel, said the judges had taken two days to decide which books should win. They received 549 entries from more than 30 countries, he said.