one of the country's youngest published authors has joined Alexander McCall Smith on a shortlist for the Scottish Children's Book Awards.
Attack of the Giant Robot Chickens by 20-year-old Alex McCall features in the age eight to 11 category alongside McCall Smith's Precious And The Mystery Of The Missing Lion and Pyrate's Boy by EB Colin.
The shortlists for the annual prizes, which are split into three age categories, feature nine books by a range of authors.
All Primary One pupils in Scotland are to receive free copies of the three shortlisted picture books as part of Book Week Scotland.
In the age three to seven category the nominated books are Princess Penelope And The Runaway Kitten by Alison Murray; Robot Rumpus by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Ross Collins; and Lost For Words by Natalie Russell. For readers aged 12 to 16, the shortlisted books are Dark Spell by Gill Arbuthnott; The Wall by William Sutcliffe; and Mosi's War by Cathy MacPhail.
The awards are run by the Scottish Book Trust and voted for entirely by children, with a total prize fund of £12,000. Shortlisted authors and illustrators receive £500 per book, and the three winning books receive £3,000 each.
The three winning books will be announced at an award ceremony next March.
More than 38,000 children voted last year.
Over the next five months, children will read the books in their age category and vote for a favourite.
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