Children's author visits Wolverhampton school
A children's author visited a school in Wolverhampton to pick up a prestigious award.
Annabel Steadman, who writes as A.F. Steadman, won the 2022 Wolverhampton Children's Book Award with her fantasy adventure Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, the first of a series of five books in a series about bloodthirsty unicorns.
Now in its fifth year and held in conjunction with Authors Aloud UK, the award celebrates children’s books published in the last year and is an opportunity for children aged nine to 13 to read a range of fiction. Both the long list and shortlist of books are chosen by young people from schools across the region.
This year, the shortlist included The Tale of Truthwater Lake by Emma Carroll, The Breakfast Club Adventures by Marcus Rashford and Spaceboy by David Walliams.
The winning author delivered a gripping presentation on the genesis of her book, before she challenged the audience to create, characterise and name their own unicorn, which may appear later in the book series. She also signed copies of the book.
Wolverhampton Grammar School's head librarian Zoe Rowley said: "This award is so special because the shortlisted titles and the winner are all voted for by young people across Wolverhampton.
"Over 130 children from eight schools enjoyed an afternoon that beautifully captured the magic of reading.
"It will have inspired so many children to read, and we hope that everyone in attendance took away a little magic and lots of memories."
