North Lakes School was invited to participate in the Kate Greenaway Award for 2013, which is given to the best children’s illustrator. The shortlisted 8 books were very lucky to get to this final stage as thousands of books were nominated and had to be read.

Four areas had to be considered:
• Artistic style - Does the style work with the story?
• Format - Font, use of book cover, title page
• Synergy of illustration and text - How well do the text and illustrations work together?
• Visual Experience - What impact does the book have on the reader?

Y5 children read with the younger children in Y3&4. They discussed each text, considering these areas, then they met again with Deborah Holden from Penrith Library. She took their findings to the Kate Greenaway Award Panel and the children who recorded their thoughts were awarded a certificate in school by Deborah.

The 2013 winner was Black Dog by Levi Pinfold.

Our thoughts on Black Dog :

'Black Dog was my favourite as the illustrations were so detailed' - Molly Y6

'I really liked how they made the expressive big dog' - Bethany M

'The best out of all of the books. I loved the drawings' - Laura H

The other books up for nomination were: Again by Emily Gravatt, Pirates N Pistols by Chris Mould, Ernest by Catherine Rayner, Just Ducks by Nicole Davis, King Jack and the Dragon by Paul Bently and Helen Oxenbury, I Want My Hat Back by John Klassen and Oh, No ,George! by Chris Haughton. We have them all in school!!

Well done, Levi - we send you our congratulations!