I never described him as being particularly athletic, but Golbo the Spider has won a bronze medal! Actually, what happened is that my book Golbo The Spider’s Amazing Vacuum Cleaner won the bronze medal in the The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. The best thing about these awards is that children, together with their parents and teachers, actually do the judging. That means that you get a true reader’s perspective for your book. I’m not aware of many other book competitions out there that have a similar format.

Another great outcome from entering this competition is that you actually receive the feedback. I was flattered by the comments the book received (thank you judges!) and it gives me a lot of confidence to continue writing some of the other ideas I have lined up. Hopefully, they will also be well-received by readers.

Here is the specific feedback the book received:
‘A very sweet story with a lovely cover.’ Parent

‘I liked the drawings and the fun story. The spider was very cute.’ Girl, aged 7

‘Excellent pacing and lots of fun for kids. My class enjoyed it very much.’ Teacher

‘I liked the way this author puts in the odd difficult word for the children to learn. Not too many but just a few. It worked well.’ Teacher