The British Book Awards 2024 awarded

At a buzzing ceremony at Grosvenor House London for The British Book Awards 2024, G. T. Karber’s innovative murder mystery puzzle book Murdle was announced as the Overall Book of the Year. Judged by a panel including television and radio presenters Adrian Chiles and Lorraine Kelly, Karber takes the crown from 2023 winners Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter.

In a momentous year for children’s publishing, Katherine Rundell was named Author of the Year. The first novel in a new landmark fantasy series, Rundell’s Impossible Creatures (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) won the award for Children’s Fiction Book of the Year and was nominated for a further four awards across Book of the Year and Trade categories. Bloomsbury Children’s Books dominated large parts of the evening, with nine nominations in total, and wins including Children’s Publisher of the Year and Children’s Non-Fiction Book of the Year for Brilliant Black British History by Atinuke, illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi.

Jamie Smart received the Illustrator of the Year award and won the Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year for Bunny vs Monkey: Multiverse Mix-up (David Fickling), whilst in the adult-dominated Discover award, children’s publishing triumphed again with Raksha Dave’s Lessons From Our Ancestors, illustrated by Kimberlie Clinthorne-Wong, being crowned winner, and its publisher Magic Cat Publishing taking home the coveted Small Press of the Year gong. Rebecca F. Kuang wins the Fiction Book of the Year for the second year running with Yellowface.