Galway author Serena Molloy is one of the six winners at this year’s KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards which were announced at a ceremony in Dublin this week in partnership with International Literature Festival Dublin.
Winners were selected by an independent panel of expert judges, including two Young Judges, and a network of Junior Juries island-wide. The judging panel read a record 158 titles from Irish-born or Ireland-based writers and illustrators, the biggest year so far in the history of the awards.
Molloy received The Eilís Dillon Award for her début children’s book – ‘Wider Than the Sea’ which follows the story of Róisin, a spirited young girl who finds solace for struggles through an unlikely friendship with a dolphin named Sunny. The book features dyslexic-friendly blank verse with illustrations by George Ermos. Molloy, who also has dyslexia, is an English teacher and both her novels to date celebrate neurodiversity, empathy and the power to change.
Speaking at the ceremony, Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland, said: “This year’s award winners showcase the outstanding quality and variety of contemporary Irish children’s literature. The fact that so many of the winners and shortlistees are débuts is remarkable – the Awards are an opportunity for us to celebrate both emerging and established creators and to connect them with their audiences.
“Through our Junior Juries programme, we have seen the joy and excitement these shortlisted books have sparked in over 12,700 young readers across Ireland. Today, in front of an audience of 600 excited readers, we’re proud to recognise the talent and hard work of these extraordinary writers and illustrators whose work will no doubt be such a formative part of so many young readers’ childhoods.”
Through the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards Junior Juries programme young people in schools, libraries and book clubs shadowed adult judges on the judging panel in reading, discussing and assessing the shortlisted books.
