All Party Writers Group (APWG) to announce winner of Educational Writers’ Award

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From The Bookseller:

Four “outstanding examples of non-fiction books” make up the shortlist for the 2014 Educational Writers’ Award.

The award, run by the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors (SoA), celebrates 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”.

The books on the shortlist are aimed at children and teenagers aged between 11 and 18.

The shortlist includes Keep Your Cool: How to Deal with Life’s Worries and Stress (Franklin Watts) by Dr Aaron Balick and illustrated by Clotilde Szymanski, which aims to help children deal with issues including bullying, family strife and exam panic.

The judges said the book has “just the right tone and masses of helpful suggestions”.

Mission: Explore FOOD (Can of Worms) by The Geography Collective, illustrated by Tom Morgan-Jones, is an “alternative cookbook” with food-related missions to complete, with the idea of turning you into an extreme explorer and guerrilla geographer. The judges said it was a “varied, imaginative, lively inter-disciplinary approach to food, both on the plate and on its way there”.

The Danger Zone: Avoid Being Sir Isaac Newton! (Book House) by Ian Graham and illustrated by David Antram puts the readers in the place of Newton. The judges said it was a “fascinating look at the man behind the theories of gravity, optics and calculus – tantrums, heresy, warts and all”.

The final book on the shortlist is The World in Infographics: Animal Kingdom (Wayland) by Jon Richards & Ed Simkins, which visualises animal life in icons, pictograms and graphics. The judges said the information was “presented through brilliant, easy-to-read infographics”.

This year’s judges are teacher Vanessa Casey; school librarian Aidan Higgins; and author Anne Rooney.

The winner of the 2014 Educational Writers’ Award will be announced at the All Party Writers Group (APWG) Winter Reception at the House of Commons on Tuesday 2nd December.

The winning author will receive a cheque for £2,000.