Ballycastle illustrator and Coleraine author win at KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2023

Selected by an independent panel of expert judges, including a Young Judge, and a network of Junior Jurors’ nationwide, the Judge’s Special Award went to Ballycastle illustrator Paddy Donnelly (Futa Fata) and debut children’s author Fearghas Mac Lochlainn for ‘An Slipéar Gloine’, an Irish language retelling of Cinderella.

Multi-award-winning author and illustrator Paddy Donnelly now lives in Belgium. To date, he has illustrated seventeen children’s books and was previously awarded a gold medal in the IPPY Awards and the White Raven and Literary Association of Ireland Biennial Children's Book Awards for Míp.

Coleraine author Maggie O’Farrell received The Honour Award for Fiction for her book ‘The Boy Who Lost His Spark’. The long-form picture book which features a mysterious mood-affecting creature that lives within, was illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini.

Now living in Edinburgh, O’Farrell is an award-winning author for both adults and children. Her first book for children, Where Snow Angels Go published in 2020, was also illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini.

Speaking at the ceremony, Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland, said: “Our congratulations to every one of the authors, illustrators and publishers celebrating their wins. Through our KPMG Junior Juries programme, we have seen the wonder and delight that these six books have inspired in young readers across Ireland, and it is a joy to recognise and reward the artists that created them at this level.

“Ireland has always been a nation of storytellers, and every one of these winners exemplifies the sheer excellence visible in contemporary Irish children’s books. As we celebrate another year of the KPMG Children’s Book Awards, we hope that the celebrations encourage them to keep creating stories that speak as powerfully to their readers as these.”

A total prize-fund of €16,000 has been awarded to this year’s winners.

The KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards and Junior Juries programme are supported by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland National Lottery Funding.