Impossible Creatures

There is no stopping Katherine Rundell as the author reaches new heights with her first middle-grade fantasy novel, Impossible Creatures. Rundell’s voracious imagination captivated our judges, who garlanded the novel and its writer with praise: "She can do no wrong," said one judge. "A book that will last and last" they agreed.

A trio of illustrators worked on the book, with cover design and art direction by Laura Bird; cover art was by Daniel Egneus, the imaginary bestiary by Tomislav Tomic and the map of the archipelago by Virginia Allyn creat­ing a "beautiful package".

Bloomsbury Children’s campaign positioned Impossible Creatures as "the book of Rundell’s career". Publication was marked with a launch party at the Natural History Museum and a sweep of supermarket slots followed - as did Waterstones Book of the Year and Foyles’ Children’s Book of the Year wins.