Northern Light, the book by Philip Pullman was declared the finest book for children from the past 70 years. It was declared the winner of the Carnegie medal. The trilogy written by Pullman sold 15 million copies world over. The Carnegie medal had also won him a £192,000 prize money. Pullman, regarding the honor said that

‘without any question the most important honor I have ever received, and the one I treasure the most.’

The book was published some 12 years ago. Milton, Blake and Tom Paine have an influence over Philip writing style. Northern light is a story which revolves around a girl and a boy, basically describing their struggle. The book also won Pullman awards like Guardian children’s fiction prize. Pullman, however, considered the book, ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’ by Philippa Pearce, who was the runner up deserved the award more.

The Carnegie medal, which is decided by voting won Pullman 40% votes for his book. Tom’s book won16% votes while David Almond’s Skellig came third with 8%. People were given a choice of ten books that were selected by children’s book experts. The book experts have been appointed by the librarians’ association CILIP.
The day also marked the 50th anniversary of the Kate Greenaway illustrators medal, the award was won by Mini Grey for ‘The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon’.

Source: Guardian

Image Credit: Trashotron
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