By Business & Finance 
Pictured: Audrey Faldador; Seamus Hand, Managing Partner, KPMG; Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland; and Karina Howley, Head of Corporate Citizenship, KPMG at the launch of the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards.
KPMG sponsors annual awards recognising the importance of reading for children and the impact of literacy on society.
KPMG has been announced as the new title sponsor of the Children’s Books Ireland Awards 2020 with the prize money now double that of prior years. It includes a €6,000 prize for the Children’s Book of the Year and €2,000 prizes for all other categories. The awards, now in their 30th year, also include a new accolade for ‘Reading Hero’, to encourage involvement from young readers across Ireland.
The KPMG Children’s Book of the Year Awards 2020 recognises excellence in writing and illustration in Irish or English and is open to authors and illustrators who were born in Ireland, are permanently resident in Ireland or are citizens of Ireland. A panel of judges will read all of the 99 books submitted by publishers, and a shortlist of up to 10 will be announced in March 2020 in Belfast, in partnership with Young at Art and the Belfast Children’s Festival. The final awards ceremony will take place in May in partnership with the International Literature Festival Dublin.
The awards include: The Book of the Year Award, The Honour Award for Fiction, The Honour Award for Illustration, The Eilís Dillon Award (for a first children’s book), The Judges’ Special Award and The Children’s Choice Award, the winner of which is chosen by hundreds of Junior Juries composed of young readers all over the island of Ireland.
Commenting on the announcement, KPMG Managing Partner Seamus Hand said:
We’re delighted to partner with Children’s Books Ireland in supporting these awards and promoting the value of literacy. Children who read are more likely to achieve their full potential in life. There’s also huge enjoyment to be gained from reading.”
Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland, said
As we celebrate the 30th year of these awards in 2020, we are delighted to work with KPMG to get even more children and young people excited about reading, and to offer significant support to excellent Irish authors and illustrators by increasing the prize fund and raising the profile of the awards.”
Importance of Literacy
Research has shown a direct correlation between literacy and success in life. People who are literate are more likely to have better health and enjoy a longer life. In addition, their employment chances are increased, and they earn higher incomes. (OECD, Skills Outlook, 2013).
There’s also a direct link between literacy and the labour market. An Irish report by the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) 2009 found that investing in literacy leads to a positive and rapid return across the board, for participants, the companies they work for, and the exchequer.
KPMG has a long-standing association with Children’s Books Ireland, and their collaboration on the Bold Girls initiative to address the lack of positive female role models initiative in children’s literature was recently honoured at the Chambers Ireland Corporate Social Responsibility Awards, for Excellence in Community–Volunteering.
