The Alligator's Mouth Award 2020 Longlist

We’re delighted to reveal the Alligator’s Mouth Award 2020 longlist, featuring ten fantastic highly illustrated children’s fiction books!

Bright is once again partnering with The Alligator’s Mouth children’s bookshop to celebrate the best books for 6-8 year olds. Ten books have been longlisted for The Alligator’s Mouth Award 2020, the second year in which it will recognise both authors and illustrators of highly illustrated children’s fiction. Themes of friendship, bravery and adventure all feature prominently in the line-up of books.

Bright Director Arabella Stein commented: ‘We are delighted with the diverse range of books selected for the 2020 longlist. There were so many strong candidates submitted and it shows the wealth of highly illustrated books available for early readers. We are pleased to be able to champion such exciting stories from such talented authors and illustrators.’

The full longlist for The Alligator’s Mouth Award 2020:

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The Adventures of Harry Stevenson written and illustrated by Ali Pye (Simon & Schuster)

Amelia Fang and the Half-Moon Holiday written and illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson (Egmont)

Dave Pigeon (Royal Coo!) written by Swapna Haddow and illustrated by Sheena Dempsey (Faber & Faber)

Hotel Flamingo written and illustrated by Alex Milway (Bonnier Piccadilly)

King Coo: The Curse of the Mummy’s Gold written and illustrated by Adam Stower (David Fickling Books)

Kitty and the Moonlight Rescue written by Paula Harrison and illustrated by Jenny Løvlie (Oxford University Press)

The Naughtiest Unicorn written by Pip Bird and illustrated by David O’Connell (Egmont)

Sophie Takes to the Sky written by Katherine Woodfine and illustrated by Briony May Smith (Barrington Stoke)

Teacup House: The Twitches Meet a Puppy written by Hayley Scott and illustrated by Pippa Curnick (Usborne)

Two Sides written written by Polly Ho-Yen and illustrated by Binny Talib (Stripes Publishing)

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Books wholesaler Gardners, an official partner of the award for 2020, are offering independent bookshops across the UK a 52.5% discount on all ten longlisted titles throughout March, April and May.

Nick Sharratt, who won the inaugural award at a ceremony held at The Bright Emporium with Nice Work for the Cat and the King (Alison Green Books, Scholastic Children’s Books), returns this year to join award-winning author and illustrator Yasmeen Ismail on the judging panel.

Also on the judging panel are the founder of the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature, John McLay; Specialist Literacy Teacher, Richard Charlesworth; co-owners of The Alligator’s Mouth, Margaret Wallace-Jones and Tony West; and Arabella Stein of The Bright Agency.

Axel Scheffler presenting Nick Sharratt with last year’s award at The Bright Emporium.

Nick Sharratt commented: ‘It was a real pleasure to read the entries for this year’s award and to have the opportunity to get fully immersed in the latest illustrated fiction that’s available for early readers. Drawing up a longlist from an impressive array of books was quite a challenge, and it’s going to be some task whittling those ten great reads down to just five!’

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