The Alligator's Mouth Award 2025: Meet The Judges

We are thrilled to announce the judging panel for The Alligator’s Mouth Award 2025!

This beautiful and necessary award, celebrating outstanding illustrated fiction for children aged 6-8, brings together a brilliant panel of judges, each with a unique perspective and a passion for children’s literature. Our judges are dedicated to finding books that inspire, delight, and nurture a love for reading in young readers. Here’s a closer look at this year’s judges.

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Philip Reeve

Author

Philip Reeve is the author of numerous books for children and young adults, including the Mortal Engines series. For the past twelve years he has also been co-authoring stories with Sarah McIntyre, such as Pugs of the Frozen North and their current Adventuremice series. He lives on Dartmoor with his wife and son.

As the 2024 winner of The Alligator’s Mouth Award, Philip Reeve brings firsthand experience to the judging panel this year. Known for his captivating storytelling and imaginative illustrations, he understands the importance of engaging young readers with stories that are both fun and meaningful.

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Sarah McIntyre

Sarah McIntyre is a celebrated illustrator and author, also a previous winner of The Alligator’s Mouth Award. Instantly recognisable in her pointy specs, British-American author/illustrator Sarah McIntyre creates the highly-illustrated Adventuremice books with her co-author Philip Reeve

“I’m thrilled to be part of the team judging this year’s Alligator’s Mouth Award. The bookshop itself is a wonderful treasure trove, and its team do marvellous working connecting young people to books they’ll read and remember for the rest of their lives. Philip and I were thrilled to win last year’s award for our book, Adventuremice: Otter Chaos, and we look forward to judging this year’s award, to help highlight some standout books.”

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Tom Griffiths

Tom Griffiths is a passionate educator and advocate for reading, currently serving as Head Teacher at Cheswick Green Primary School. With a background in championing diverse and inclusive literature, Tom encourages students to find stories that reflect their own experiences. He shares his love for books through his blog, Check ‘Em Out Books, where he highlights children’s books that captivate and inspire.

“Reading is my life, and there’s such an incredible array of children’s books out there right now. I can’t wait to work with my fellow judges to find this year’s winner for highly illustrated fiction for 6-8 readers.”

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Amy Lewis

Working with Coram Beanstalk since 2011 Amy uses her experience of working in a range of operational roles to ensure the charity delivers the very best outcomes for children. Prior to working with Coram, Amy originally trained to teach, led major retail departments and set up a volunteer programme for the local hospice which brings a broad skill set to her current role. Amy believes firmly in the power of human connection and that together we are stronger. This ethos underpins her leadership of the Coram Beanstalk team of staff and committed volunteers, and connections with other charities and organisations, to bring a love of reading to children who may not have reading advocates in the home.

"”We know that illustrations can really draw children in to reading, and with our latest research showing that one of the main drop off points for children choosing to read is in the 6-8 age group I am delighted to be able to help showcase some of the books that may help them continue to choose to read.”

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Jasmine Richards

Jasmine Richards read English Language and Literature at Oxford University and has over 18 years of experience in children’s publishing. She was the Lead Editor on the multi-million-selling series Beast Quest and has written a dozen books for children, including The Unmorrow Curse and Myth Keeper. Jasmine has also been a screenwriter on Disney’s PJ Masks and BBC’s JoJo and Gran Gran. In 2019, she founded Storymix, a multi-award-winning fiction studio dedicated to centring children and teens of colour in stories filled with joy and adventure. In 2023, Jasmine received a prestigious special commendation in the Editor of the Year category at the British Book Awards. She is also a Bookseller Rising Star and the creator of The Write Beach Hut, a creative sanctuary by the sea which is designed to nurture and empower writers and creatives through workshops, mentoring, and affordable writing retreats.

“Highly illustrated chapter books hold a special place in my heart having written or edited many over my 20 year career. This is where readers are truly made, and while there is still important work to be done in this category to ensure all children see themselves in the stories they read, I’m excited to celebrate the books that spark that early love of reading. “

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Mariesa Dulak

Mariesa Dulak writes picture books and young fiction about identity and family life. She was born in Yorkshire of dual heritage (English/Barbadian). A self-confessed book nerd, after a degree in English Literature, an MA in Children’s Literature and a career in publishing, Mariesa started writing her own books. Her debut, There’s a Tiger on the Train (illustrated by Rebecca Cobb) won the FAB Prize and went on to be shortlisted for The Indie Book Award and the UKLA Award and selected as one of Waterstones Best Books of 2024. It was chosen as ‘one to watch’ by The Times and described as ‘pointedly satirical and highly enjoyable,’ by The New Statesman. Mariesa’s second picture book The Silver Shadow will publish in Spring 2025 with Walker Books.

"”The Alligators Mouth is one of my favourite local Indies and this award is one of the few that celebrates young, illustrated fiction. As a Primary School Librarian I know how important this type of fiction is for capturing readers early and building good reading habits. I can’t wait to get reading all these brilliant books and start discussing them with the other lovely judges!”

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Margaret Wallace-Jones & Tony West

Co-owners of The Alligator’s Mouth Bookshop and founders of The Alligator’s Mouth Award.

“Another year, another fabulous set of judges from all areas of expertise in the world of children’s books. Their mission is to find the finest highly illustrated books published this year, which will delight young readers now and thrill future generations. It is a big ask, but we are confident they will rise to the challenge. This award is for books which will encourage confidence in new readers as they discover the joys of reading for pleasure.”

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This year’s judging panel brings together an inspiring mix of authors, illustrators, educators, and industry professionals, all dedicated to finding books that will ignite young imaginations. Stay tuned as we follow the judges on their journey to select the best illustrated fiction for young readers. We look forward to celebrating the incredible talent of the 2025 nominees and, ultimately, a new winner for The Alligator’s Mouth Award.

The longlist will be announced in March 2025, and the shortlist will be announced in May 2025.

Keep up to date with the awards at www.thealligatorsmouth.co.uk/award and on Twitter by following #AlligatorsAward.