Speaking Volumes award winners revealed

Magnus McFarlane-Barrow’s The Shed that Fed a Million Children (William Collins) and Alison Mitchell’s The One O’clock Miracle, illustrated by Catalina Echeverri (The Good Book Company), are the winners of the Speaking Volumes Book Awards 2016.

The award celebrating "modern-day miracles" aims to highlight Christian books that are "good-quality" and "easy-to-understand" as well as being appropriate for libraries to encourage the books to be shared.

The authors each took home a £1,000 prize pot for the adult and children’s category respectively, presented by Reverend Bottley, resident vicar on Channel 4’s Gogglebox, at CRE’s first-ever London Christian Book Fair at London ExCel today (17th May).

The Shed that Fed a Million Children is the "miraculous" story of how Mary’s Meals grew from being a one-off aid project supporting survivors in the Bosnian war to become a global organisation. The book is written by the charity’s founder, McFarlane-Barrow.

The One O’clock Miracle is an imaginative re-telling of the healing of the centurion’s daughter in John’s Gospel, designed to share with children the "instant power of the words of Jesus". It is part of a new "Tales that Tell the Truth" series of children’s books and the latest of several collaborations between author Alison Mitchell and illustrator Catalina Echeverri.

Rev Bottley said: "There’s no substitute for curling up with a good-quality book when you’re in need of comfort or inspiration – and today’s winners are brilliant examples of why good books will never go out of fashion."

Speaking Volumes is the only Christian book awards to be voted on by the public in the UK. Speaking Volumes director Paula Renouf said: "Voting was brisk as ever this year, which we take as a sign of people’s continuing love affair with good books. Our very worthy winners – and the other authors shortlisted for the awards – are wonderful examples of how a good Christian book can appeal to people of all faiths and none, including those who’ve never picked up Christian literature before."