Pye and Stower among finalists for Alligator's Mouth Award

The shortlist for the Alligator's Mouth Award has been announced, with Ali Pye and Adam Stower among the finalists.

The award, which was founded in 2018 by The Alligator’s Mouth children’s bookshop and The Bright Agency, celebrates the "best books" for 6–8-year-olds.

This year's five shortlisted titles are: The Adventures of Harry Stevenson, written and illustrated by Ali Pye (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK); Hotel Flamingo written and illustrated by Alex Milway (Piccadilly Press, Bonnier); King Coo: The Curse of the Mummy’s Gold, written and illustrated by Adam Stower (David Fickling Books); The Naughtiest Unicorn, written by Pip Bird and illustrated by David O’Connell (Egmont); and Two Sides written by Polly Ho-Yen and illustrated by Binny Talib (Stripes Publishing),

The shortlist was chosen by a panel of children’s book experts including illustrator Nick Sharratt, who won the inagural prize in 2018. Author and illustrator Yasmeen Ismail, and founder of the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature John McLay were also judges, alongside specialist literacy teacher Richard Charlesworth, and  co-owners of the Alligator’s Mouth bookshop Margaret Wallace-Jones and Tony West. Arabella Stein, director at the Bright Agency, completed the panel.

Ismail commented: "It’s always fantastic to have children’s book awards, but in particular The Alligator’s Mouth award champions the sometimes under represented early fiction titles. It was a great longlist to read, and I am delighted that the shortlist we have chosen reflects some of the funniest and most heartfelt titles published recently. Regardless of who the winner is, I hope children everywhere will get a chance to read all of these great titles

This year, the judges will meet virtually to decide the winner and the prize will be announced in June via a digital ceremony.

The award is partnered with Gardners, which is offering bookshops up to 52.5% off the listed titles.