2020 Klaus Flugge Prize Longlist announced

The longlist for the 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize has been announced this week. Now in its fifth year, the Klaus Flugge Prize is awarded to the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. It honours Klaus Flugge, founder of publisher Andersen Press and a supremely influential figure in picture books.

Previous Klaus Flugge Prize winners include Kate Milner for My Name is Not Refugee and Jessica Love in 2019 for the ground-breaking Julian is a Mermaid. The longlist for this year’s award features an extraordinarily diverse range of subjects: fantasy and dreamscape alongside real-world adventure; narrative non-fiction and lyrical depictions of the natural world; comic escapades and stories that allow children to explore and understand their feelings and emotions.

The judges for the 2020 prize are award-winning illustrator Mini Grey; Meera Ghanshamdas, bookseller at Moon Lane Ink; children’s book consultant Jake Hope; Pam Smy of Anglia Ruskin University; and 2019 Klaus Flugge Prize winner Jessica Love. The panel will be chaired by Julia Eccleshare, director of the children’s programme of the Hay Festival.

Julia Eccleshare said: “The Klaus Flugge Prize was established to put the most talented new picture book illustrators in the spotlight and to celebrate the way they reflect the world, and stimulate children’s imagination and understanding. We are very excited to announce this year’s longlist which fully reflects the wealth of talent and variety in the world of picture book illustration.”

The 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize longlist in full:
Look Up, Dapo Adeola, written by Nathan Bryan, editor Joe Marriott, designer KerenGreenfield (Puffin)
The Mist Monster, Kirsti Beautyman, editor Alison Green, designer Zoë Tucker (Alison Green Books)
Keith Among the Pigeons, Katie Brosnan, editor Sue Baker, designer Annie Kubler (Child’s Play)
Caspian Finds a Friend, Merrilees Brown, written by Jacqueline Veissid, editor Victoria Rock, designer Sara Gillingham (Chronicle Books)
Otto Blotter, Bird Spotter Graham Carter, editor Libby Hamilton, designer Rebecca Garrill (Andersen Press)
When Sadness Comes to Call, Eva Eland, editor Libby Hamilton, designer Rebecca Garrill (Andersen Press)
The Girl with Two Dads, Mel Elliott, editor Emma Dods, designer Abi Luffman (Egmont)
My Hair, Allen Fatimaharan, written by Hannah Lee, editor Alice Swan, designer Emma Eldridge (Faber & Faber)
The Star in the Forest, Helen Kellock, editor Anna Ridley, designer Aaron Hayden (Thames & Hudson)
Where is Your Sister?, Puck Koper, editor Suzanne Carnell, designer Jo Spooner (Two Hoots)

The Mole and the Hole, Brayden Kowalczuk, editor Katie Cotton, designer Zoë Tucker (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
Incredible Jobs You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of, Natalie Labarre, editor Victoria England, designer Holly Phillips (Nosy Crow)
On the Origin of Species, Sabina Radeva, editor Anna Barnes Robinson, designer Keren Greenfield (Puffin)
I Saw a Bee, Rob Ramsden, editor Janice Thomson, designer Goldy Broad (Scallywag Press)

One Fox: A Counting Thriller Book, Kate Read, editor Suzanne Carnell, designer Jo Spooner (Two Hoots)
Collecting Cats, Lorna Scobie, editors Sophie Cashell & Linas Alsenas, designer Strawberrie Donnelly (Scholastic)

The shortlist will be announced on 19 May 2020 by Mini Grey at a special public event at Foyles Charing Cross Road and the winner will be revealed on 16 September 2020.