WINNING the country’s biggest picture book prize has special significance for Glasgow author and illustrator Ross Collins this year.
“My first event in a year will be on World Book Day, at my son’s school, to celebrate winning the Bookbug Prize,” he smiles.
“That’s a wee ray of sunshine.”
Ross’s six-year-old son Ridley is one of 62,000 pupils across Scotland who received his dad’s book, This is a Dog, in the Bookbug P1 Family bag alongside works by Morag Hood and Zoe Ingram.
Children voted for their favourite and Ross was announced as the winner today.
Ross's latest awardwinning book, This is a Dog, published by Nosy Crow. Pic: Nosy Crow
“It’s always a very special one to win because it’s decided by the children who are reading the books, which is lovely,” says Ross, who lives in the west end with his partner Jacqui, Ridley and dog Hugo.
“To get books into children’s lives, especially this year when they have been stuck at home and everything has been so difficult, is a real achievement.
“Books have provided a great way to entertain, educate and comfort children this last year, and a welcome break from screens. This is an amazing initiative.”
This is a Dog is about a dog sabotaging the kind of animal book parents read to babies and very young children, by photobombing the other animals and making it all about him.
“Until you are a parent, you never have to read books like these,” he explains. “They are excellent books, of course, kids enjoy them and they are educational and a real rite of passage.
One of Ross's illustrations from Alice in Wonderland, a special 150th anniversary edition written by Jeanne Willis and published by Macmillan. Pic: Macmillan
“But reading them again and again as an adult can feel like your brain is bleeding out of your ear, and it was while I was reading one of them to Ridley for the millionth time that I thought – I wonder if anyone has ever mucked about with this?”
Thanks to easing of some restrictions, Ross will be able to attend an event in his son’s school but the rest of his World Book Day activities will be online or pre-recorded.
“It will be fun, but not the same as going into a school and seeing the kids and teachers dressed up,” he says. “I can’t wait to get back to doing that. It’s funny, but it’s one of the things I didn’t realise quite how much I enjoyed, and the importance of it in my life, until it was taken away from me.
“And nothing beats standing up in front of kids, making them laugh.”
Glasgow School of Art graduate Ross won the Macmillan Prize for his first picture book. Since then he has illustrated and written more than 100 books for children. His storybook The Elephantom was adapted into a critically acclaimed play by the National Theatre.
Viccy Adams, Literature Officer, Creative Scotland said: “Given the uncertainty and turbulence of the past year, it is more important than ever to lift up the voices of children and their families and to celebrate the joys and benefits of reading for pleasure. Congratulations to Ross.”
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