Oscar's Book Prize 2024 shortlist announced

Five books have made it to the shortlist of the Oscar's Book Prize 2024, which celebrates pre-school books. This year's selection ranges from anxious dogs, hungry dinosaurs and subverted fairy tales to a grief-stricken turtle and a tiny blue whale, with the themes including loss, hope and facing our fears - and not forgetting what to eat in prehistoric times.

The shortlisted titles:

 

Geoffrey Gets The Jitters by Nadia Shireen (Puffin)
Geoffrey's got the jitters! It started last night when he was thinking about school - a funny, wiggly feeling in his tummy that grew and grew. But when Geoffrey's tummy jitters started talking to him - that's when he knew they were out of control. Geoffrey had to do something...

Gigantic by Bob Biddulph (HarperCollins Children's Books)
Meet Gigantic, the smallest blue whale in the Atlantic. Dwarfed by the other whales, Gigantic keeps to himself, making new friends and perfecting his somersaults and flips in the bay. But one day when Gigantic's brother, Titan, gets stuck on the sand, it's down to Gigantic and his smallest sea creature friends to save the day. Can they show it's possible to be tiny and tough?

Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf by Craig Barr-Green and Francis Martin (Little Tiger)
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Certainly not Gina as she takes the narrative lead and tells the story in her own distinctive way. With fantastic illustrations from Francis Martin, and an innovative use of pictorial emoji language, this is the ideal book to empower every child to be the hero of their own story.

The Hare-Shaped Hole by John Dougherty and Thomas Docherty (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
They were utterly buddies, and best friends forever, and whenever you looked, you would find them together... until quite unexpectedly... the end came. When Hertle disappears for good, Bertle can only see a Hertle-shaped hole where his friend should be. He pleads with it, gets angry with it, but the hole still won't bring his Hertle back. It seems like hope is lost... until Gerda the kindly bear finds him.

When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth by Sean Taylor and Zehra Hicks (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
Set back in the days WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE EARTH, this is a hilarious picture-book about Smallasaurus, who enjoys a plant-based diet, and Badasaurus who likes to eat small dinosaurs who enjoy a plant-based diet.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators.  You can find out more by following @oscarsbookprize.