Charlie Higson joins judging committee for Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

Eight writers have been longlisted for this year's Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.

David Almond for Clay (Hodder); Patrick Cave for Blown Away (Simon & Schuster); Frank Cottrell Boyce for Framed (Macmillan); Siobhan Dowd for A Swift Pure Cry (David Fickling); Frances Hardinge for Fly By Night (Macmillan); Jill Murphy for The Worst Witch Saves The Day (Puffin); Philip Reeve for A Darkling Plain (Scholastic) and Tim Wynne-Jones for The Survival Game (Usborne).

Julia Eccleshare, Guardian Children's Books Editor and Chair of the judges said "Every year the books selected for the Guardian Children's Fiction prize longlist provide an insight into the range and quality of what is on offer for children and 2006 is no exception"

The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize was founded in 1967 and has a tradition of uncovering new voices in children's fiction. Past winners include Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, Ted Hughes, Nina Bawden, Jacqueline Wilson and Mark Haddon.

The prize is unique in that it is judged by fellow writers. This year's panel includes Charlie Higson, creator of the Young Bond books, Francesca Simon, author of the Horrid Henry books and Kate Thompson, last year's winner.

The shortlist will be announced in September and the winner will be revealed on Saturday 30 September.

This year the Guardian is also inviting young readers to take part in a competition to share their views of the nominated books. Anyone under 16 can enter by writing a 200-word review of one of the longlisted books. The ten winning reviews will be selected by Claire Armitstead, Literary Editor and Julia Eccleshare. Prizes include National Book Tokens and sets of the longlisted books. A selection of the winning entries will be printed in Education Guardian on Tuesday 3 October, during Children's Book Week. The deadline for entries is Friday 14 July 2006.

For further information visit guardian.co.uk/books/childrensfictionprize 2006

Discuss this news here...