"MOON" SHINES - 2011 Educational Writers’ Award Winner Announced

LONDON, December 6, 2011 -

- The winner of the 2011 Educational Writers’ Award is Moon: Apollo 11 and Beyond…The Ultimate Guide to Our Nearest Neighbour by Stewart Ross.

The Award was announced this afternoon by the Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) and The Society of Authors at the All Party Writers Group (APWG) Winter Reception at the House of Commons. Winner Stewart Ross was presented with a cheque for £2000.

The 2011 Award focused on books for 5-11 year olds, published in 2009 and 2010. Moon beat off strong competition from the other three books on the shortlist. They were Nick Baker’s Bug Zoo by Nick Baker (Dorling Kindersley); Gorilla Journal by Carolyn Franklin (Salariya Book Company) and Mission: Explore by The Geography Collective (Can of Worms Press)

Moon: Apollo 11 and Beyond…The Ultimate Guide to Our Nearest Neighbour, published by Oxford University Press is a richly illustrated reference book for children of 8+, crammed to bursting with information on everything from Moon Gods and Hey Diddle Diddle, to that One Small Step and Lunar Dating. Employing fun facts, quotes, rhymes and space trivia throughout, it delves into every conceivable aspect of the history, culture and science of the moon, and our eternal obsession with its haunting presence in our night sky.

This year’s judges - children’s writer Nicola Davies; teacher Chris Freudenberg and librarian Fiona Kirk - were unanimous in their support for the winning title, describing it as:

A fascinating mix of science, history, literature and religion, with a strong and engaging authorial voice, that will appeal to a wide audience. The illustrations perfectly complement the text. We liked the variety of visual material and the way it was presented with understated, elegant design, and no shouting graphics or overloaded spreads.

The Educational Writers’ Award was established in 2008 by ALCS and The Society of Authors “to celebrate educational writing that inspires creativity and encourages students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.”

Editor’s Notes

About the Judges

Nicola Davies’ writing is strongly connected with the natural  world and she writes for a variety of age groups:  eight non -fiction picture books in an award winning series of books called Walker Nature Stories, non-fiction for the 8-12 age group and six novels, including ‘Home’, a science-fiction novel for older children and teenagers, and a book of short stories.

Teacher Chris Freudenberg has worked in primary schools in London for 15 years. He has recently introduced foreign language teaching into Selborne School, Perivale and has promoted literacy through a programme of Talk for Writing and small group tuition, drawing on the children’s own interests.

Fiona Kirk is a librarian in a Tower Hamlets primary school, working part of the week at Jack Petchey Academy in Hackney. She also reviews for Letterbox library.

The Society of Authors

The Society of Authors has been serving the interests of professional writers for more than a century. Today it has more than 9,000 members (from novelists to doctors, textbook writers to ghost writers, broadcasters to academics, illustrators to translators) writing in all areas of the profession. Services include the confidential, individual vetting of contracts, and help with professional disputes. In addition, the Society holds meetings and seminars, publishes a quarterly journal, The Author, and maintains a database of members’ specialisations. It administers a wide range of prizes, as well as the Authors’ Foundation, which is one of the very few bodies making grants to help with work in progress for established writers. For further information, contact info@societyofauthors.org or see www.societyofauthors.org

The Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS)

ALCS collects fees on behalf of the whole spectrum of UK writers: novelists, film & TV script writers; literary prize winners; poets; freelance journalists; translators and adaptors, as well as thousands of professional and academic writers who include nurses, lawyers, teachers, scientists and college lecturers. All writers are eligible to join ALCS: further details on membership can be found at www.alcs.co.uk 

ALCS collects fees that are difficult, time-consuming or legally impossible for writers and their representatives to claim on an individual basis: money that is nonetheless due to them. Fees collected are distributed to writers twice a year in February and August. Since its inception, ALCS has distributed over £250 million to the nation’s writers. For further information, contact alcs@alcs.co.uk or see www.alcs.co.uk

The All Party Parliamentary Writers Group (APWG)

The APWG is a forum for Parliamentarians in Westminster to consider and discuss matters of importance to writers. As a focal point for authors’ interests, with its links to UK writer organisations, APWG is well placed to draw attention to the current issues facing writers amongst an audience of decision-makers in Westminster and beyond. The chairman is John Whittingdale MP.

For further information please contact: Caroline Sanderson: +44(0)1453-759889/+44(0)7958-558196/ carosande at aol.com; Alison Baxter, ALCS: +44(0)20-7264-5700/ alison.baxter at alcs.co.uk; Paula Johnson, Society of Authors: +44(0)20-7373-6642/ pjohnson at societyofauthors.org