The annual Award is hosted by Warwickshire Schools Libraries Services (WSLS) with the objective of encouraging more students to enjoy reading for pleasure through school and library settings.

The Warwickshire Junior Book Award is a summer term initiative delivered in primary schools during the summer term each year, with an exciting reading list carefully selected by the experienced WSLS team. The shortlist of books chosen for pupils to read this year included:

• The Whisperling by Hayley Hoskins
• Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List by Jenny Pearson
• The Unmorrow Curse by Jasmine Richards
• Ajay and the Mumbai Sun by Varsha Shah

To participate, year 5 and 6 pupils were encouraged to read all four books from the shortlist and to vote for their favourite book as the winner, using the criteria that the book must simply be ‘a good read’.

The initiative culminated in a final award ceremony on Thursday 29 June at Benn Hall in Rugby, where more than 200 pupils attended to find out which author was pronounced the winner as voted for by their cohort. The event was attended by all four authors who delivered fascinating presentations and took part in a pupil-led Q&A, as well as special guests Carl Lewis from the County Council’s Children and Families team, Councillor Yousef Dahmash, and Matthew Barton, Team Leader at Rugby Library.   

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