We couldn’t be more delighted to announce that Thomas Flintham was the overall winner of the prestigious FCBG Children’s Book Award with PRESS START! Game on Super Rabbit Boy! Published in the UK by the team at Nosy Crow.
Thomas Flintham, a lifelong fan of computer games (pictured above with his Gameboy in 1992) and his game alter ego, Super Rabbit Boy won in the Books For Younger Readers Category at a ceremony held in Birmingham. Having previously scooped the prize in 2016 with author Pamela Butchart for the Baby Aliens series, My Headteacher is A Vampire Rat this was Thomas’s first win as a solo author and illustrator.
Congratulations to Rob Biddolf who won the Younger Children's category with Gigantic and also to Matt Goodfellow and Joe Todd-Stanton for winning the Older Readers category for The Final Year.
Tom says,
"I’m now holder of the awesome silver and wood trophy for the next year. Every winning book since the award started in 1981 is etched onto the trophy, so Super Rabbit Boy is now on there alongside some amazing books including Roald Dahl’s The BFG and Matilda, and the first 2 Harry Potter books too! I’m also on there before for a book I illustrated in the Izzy series that I also work on written by Pamela Butchart.
Everyone shortlisted gets given a portfolio of work from some of the kids who voted. It’s really lovely and a real treasure. "
The Children’s Book Award is the only award solely voted for by children regularly receiving over 100,000 votes which makes it even more special, and previous winners include fantastic authors such as J.K Rowling, Quentin Blake and Micheal Morpurgo, amongst many others. This award also donates over 5,000 books to young readers and engages over 250 schools across the country.
Sarah Stuffins, Children’s Book Award Coordinator says,
‘The Children’s Book Award is back and it’s always a pleasure to see what brilliant stories have been chosen. Children are a very demanding and exacting audience – books need to hook them into a story right away, and keep them turning the pages, right to the end! And it’s a testament to these wonderful books that they’ve all not just delighted their readers but inspired them to vote.’
Thomas’s PRESS START! series has gone from strength to strength grabbing the attention and imaginations of newly immerging readers across the globe, and is soon to feature on the small screen as an animated series, read more about that HERE.
Press Start, Game on Super Rabbit Boy published in February 2023 and follows the story of Sunny, a keen gamer committed to defeating King Viking and saving a singing dog, Will he beat the robot army and save the day! Joysticks at the ready let’s find out!
The Press Start books are highly illustrated throughout with a brilliant comedic vibrancy and provide a brilliant accessible gateway reading experience to lead young readers on to chapter books. Tom is based in Cornwall where he lives with his beloved dog Ziggy, as well as being an avid doodler he also has a passion for games, gaming, comics, and collecting vintage toys which all influence his illustrative work.
You can find Thomas on Instagram, and if you have a moment, please check out his amazing online portfolio HERE.
For more information about Thomas and all of our amazing illustrators please email info@arenaillustration.com
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