I am utterly blown away to discover that Twitch has won the Sainsbury’s Children’s Fiction Book Award 2021! This is a special award because the prize is about encouraging families to read together.
I am so proud of this book. I hope children who read it will be encouraged to adventure outside and enjoy the wonder of the beautiful birds out there and be kind to one another. This book is about friendship and nature, two of the most important things in our lives.
I want to thank Paddy Donnelly for the wonderful cover, my publishers Walker Books for everything they’ve done for the book, and for me, and of course Sainsbury’s and Booktrust who run the prize. They said, “Twitch by M G Leonard is the kind of book that makes you want to grab your binoculars and go on wild adventures of your own, so we're so pleased it's just won the prize for Best Fiction at the Sainsburys Children’s Book Awards!” You can read all about it here.
I was at the Kestle Barton literary festival when I was told that Twitch had won. I was on my lunch break, and fellow author Nicola Skinner captured the moment I heard the news. Here is my stunned and emotional face!
