The book, written by Mara Bergman and illustrated by Nick Maland, tellsthe story of a little boy with a big name - Oliver DonningtonRimington-Sneep - who crosses deserts, seas and forests in search of histeddy bear.
His other adventures are Oliver Who Would Not Sleep and Oliver Who WasSmall But Mighty, all published by Hodder Children's Books.
The Baby Book Award was won by Chick, a pop-up book by Ed Vere,published by Puffin. Using bright colours, plenty of action and theoccasional sound effect when pages are manipulated, the book relates achick's first day, from hatching through to discovering the pleasures ofpecking, pooping and cheeping.
Katie Cleminson picked up the prize for Best Emerging Illustratorfollowing the success of her picture book, Box of Tricks (JonathanCape), in which a little girl conjures up a fantasy birthday party outof an empty cardboard box. Ms Cleminson studied Illustration forChildren's Publishing at the North Wales School of Art.
Each winner was presented with a cheque for 2,000 and a trophy.Judges for this year's Early Years Awards included Radio 1 broadcasterand television presenter Edith Bowman, Bookstart founder Wendy CoolingMBE, librarian Jo Dixon, award-winning illustrator Neal Layton andhealth visitor Val Woolfe.
