Junior Design Awards 2022 / 26 September 2022

Best Designed/Illustrated Book for Children | Junior Design Awards 2022

We are very serious when it comes to design and illustration of children's books - so these were the stand out stars from the Junior Design Awards 2022

Who:Black Artists Shaping the World by Sharma Jackson (Thames & Hudson)

What:A book that celebrates the diversity of work being produced today by Black artists from around the globe, introducing young readers to twenty-six contemporary artists from Africa and of African origins.

Why:

This is beautifully designed book that showcases some seriously inspiring artists in a fresh and original way. Our panel was super impressed with the innovative layouts, bright colours and bold textured cover.

A unanimous and resounding Gold.

Glorious collection put together beautifully in a library of inspiring lives and a wealth of information about them as well as a breadth of different characters.

Mimi Dickson, Artist, @mimidicksonpaintings

A really inspiring book with a cool graphic feel that celebrates a breadth of talented black artists, while making the life and work of black artists more accessible to kids of all ethnicities.

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor of JUNIOR

Who:Nature’s Treasures (DK)

What:An illustrated nature encyclopaedia for young readers to explore over 100 intriguing items from the natural world and the stories behind them.

Why:

Our panel agreed that this book would be a treasured tome on any bookcase, be that at home or school.

The stunning embossed cover with metallic accents draws readers in, while incredible photography of weird and wonderful creatures, clear illustrations and clever graphics keeps the excitement high inside.

The perfect gift for any budding David Attenboroughs out there. Beautifully designed and presented.

Bonita Turner, Editor of JUNIOR

One of those books that will transport you with its beautiful design and have you gasping out loud at the weird and wonderful facts.

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor, JUNIOR

Who:Once Upon a Breath… In a Magical Forest (Flip & Flow)

What:An illustrated flip book that encourages mindfulness through breath, meditation and reflection as children create 1000 different positive affirmation sequences.

Why:

Devised by two very passionate, breath coaches, these books have been carefully conceived and designed to help children enjoy a moment of calm, connect with their breath and take time to reflect in what can be a very hectic world.

Our judges could see the huge benefits that these books would bring to children, sewing the seeds for mindfulness and self-care in future years. The tactile design, the magical feel of the gold embossed linen boxes and the uplifting illustrations on the flip books were much lauded.

I love the way this set makes breath and mindfulness feel magical – which it is! A wonderful ritual to start or finish the day!

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor, JUNIOR

Brilliant! Nailed the idea and so glad to see this on the shelves.

Mimi Dickson, Artist @mimidicksonpaintings

It’s beautiful, it is empowering, it’s everything I want it to be.

Sergei Urban, Content Creator & Author, @thedadlab

Who:The Body Book, Hannah Alice (Nosy Crow)

What:A board book that shows children how each system inside the body works, with five die-cut pages and amazing see-through acetate.

Why:

This book caused quite a stir amongst the JDA panel, who loved the clear graphic illustrations and exciting acetate panels which bring the concept of all the complex activity going on under our skin to life.

Over all a fun, friendly and engaging book about our endlessly fascinating bodies.

Absolutely obsessed with this. Brilliant, necessary, engaging, educational, wonderful! What a fab book to have on the shelf. We all need to understand ourselves and how our bodies are built and function and this makes for a fun way of understanding how, with fantastic illustrations and a great design.

Mimi Dickson, artist, @mimidicksonpaintings

Another beautiful addition to our collection of tools for play & learning.

Sergei Urban, content creator and Author, @thedadlab

I love the retro feel of this book and know my children would spend hours reading through the facts and marvelling over all the veins and vessels. On my list!

Eleonore Crompton, Deputy Editor, JUNIOR