Purple Class and the Half-Eaten Sweater

Tara Books, the independent publisher from Chennai, south India, has won the 2010 Bologna Ragazzi Award for the handmade children's title, Do!

The award, which will be presented at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in March, is designed to acknowledge publishing houses from the Arab countries, Latin America, Asia and Africa that show great innovative talent.

The School Library Association (SLA) this month launches a new Primary School Library Charter arguing that investment in school libraries must start early, and quoting the UK Convention on the Rights of the Child to make its case.  Articles 13 of the Convention (‘freedom to see, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers’) and 17 (‘encourage the . . . dissemination of children’s books’) imply effective library provision, the SLA states.

Frances Lincoln have announced their acquisition of Barn Owl Books.

Ann Jungman, a popular author, started Barn Owl Books in 1999, carefully selecting out–of-print titles remembered as good reads by teachers, parents and grandparents alike, bringing the books back into print for a new generation of readers. She has been doing this, almost single-handed, ever since. Frances Lincoln have been Barn Owl’s distributors from the start.

Winner:

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES

by Jeff Kinney, Puffin

The award is aimed at children aged 9 to 12 and the winning title is chosen by children in the borough. The award is now in its third year, with the selection and judging process running from March through to December.