THE CILIP KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL SHORTLIST 2003
(presented in 2004)
JUDGES’ COMMENTS

ANTHONY BROWNE THE SHAPE GAME
Doubleday, £10.99 (hb) (Age range: 7+)
ISBN: 0385601360

An illustrator looks back on the day that changed his life forever: the day his family (with a great deal of reluctance) visited an art gallery. One by one, each family member is energised by a different picture in the gallery and transported into the imaginative and colourful world of art. Inspired by the period Browne spent working with children at Tate Britain, this is a hugely inventive book, expertly drawn and full of telling detail that repays endless “viewings” and does many different things for many different readers.

ALEXIS DEACON BEEGU
Hutchinson, £10.99 (hb) (Age range: 3+)
ISBN: 0091768292

Beegu, a small, luminous creature from outer space pays an unexpected visit to Planet Earth when her spaceship crashes. Missing her mother, she goes in search of friends, but the big Earth creatures don’t seem very welcoming. The small ones however are more promising…A deceptively simple picture book that is beautifully economical with space, detail and colour, but is emotionally completely engaging. A perfect read-aloud book ­ buoyant, touching and excellently produced.

DEBI GLIORI ALWAYS AND FOREVER
(Text - Alan Durant)
Doubleday, £10.99 (hb) (Age range: 3+)
ISBN: 038560503X

When Fox dies, his friends, Hare, Otter and Mole think they will never get over their great sadness. Throughout the winter they are inconsolable and a great silence falls on their home. But when spring comes, Squirrel comes to call and a time of healing begins. A beautiful, tender story of loss and consolation, in which a clever use of colour and contrast moves the reader through the seasons to beautifully convey its hopeful message.

MINI GREY THE PEA AND THE PRINCESS
Red Fox, £5.99 (pb) (Age range: 6+)
ISBN: 0099432331

A brilliant retelling of the traditional fairy tale, from the point of view of the pea! A variety of highly original styles and perspectives are used throughout to great effect, right through to the delightful endpapers. Each page overflows with verdant growth and gorgeous colour, giving a striking twist to a well-loved tale. It is a book to return to again and again.

SHIRLEY HUGHES ELLA’S BIG CHANCE
The Bodley Head, £10.99 (hb) (Age range: 6+)
ISBN: 0370327659

Another inventive retelling of a traditional fairy tale: here Cinderella is transported into the 1920s, where we find talented dressmaker Ella, slaving over her sewing machine, whilst her stepsisters parade the latest fashions in her father’s dress shop. Full of vibrant illustrations that leap from every page, Hughes’ use of colour and brilliant expressions of body language enhance the text to give a graceful and balanced composition that is a perfect marriage of words and pictures.

DAVE McKEAN THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS
(Text - Neil Gaiman)
Bloomsbury, £12.99 (hb) (Age range: 9+)
ISBN: 0747569533

Lucy hears noises coming from the inside the walls of her house. She’s sure it’s wolves but her family doesn’t believe her. Until the night the wolves come out of the walls…A scary, strange but highly imaginative picture book for older children in which the text and illustrations on each page are completely integrated to highly unsettling effect! An extraordinary book which combines the bold and modern with fairytale fantasy.

BEE WILLEY BOB ROBBER AND DANCING JANE
(Text - Andrew Matthews)
Jonathan Cape, £10.99 (hb) (Age range: 7+)
ISBN: 0224064657

Bob Robber only comes out under cover of darkness and has something of the night about him. He spies on Dancing Jane, and envies her light feet and happy dancing. But what will happen when he steals her shadow? This is a beautifully balanced composition throughout, with a luminescent quality to its illustrations, and a great sense of texture in its use of pastels. A little-known legend, outstandingly supported by its highly distinctive illustrations.

CHRIS WORMELL TWO FROGS
Red Fox, £5.99 (pb) (Age range: 5+)
ISBN: 0099438623

Two frogs sit on a lily pad in the centre of a pond and worry about the dangers that lurk all around them. Brilliantly witty, with a wonderfully expressive frog double-act, the illustrator has created great variety of perspective and detail, which coupled with the surreal humour of the text makes this a book to look at again and again. The deceptively simple story builds into a cumulative, humorous tale, with a satisfying punchline.