The reception class at Tarporley CE Primary School are celebrating the end of a phenomenal year which culminated in them winning two national book awards.

Up! Up! Up! is a picture book created by the four and five year olds in Tarporley and it has now been chosen from 1,500 entries nationwide in the 2015 ReadingZone WBD Picture Book Competition.

A picture book created by the four and five year olds of Tarporley CE Primary School which resulted in them winning two national book awards as part of the 2015 Reading Zone WBD Picture Book Competition

The first category they won was the Picture Book Competition Young Creators Award and then their creation was chosen as the overall winner.

A ReadingZone spokesperson said, “We are very pleased to award the overall prize for the ReadingZone WBD Picture Book Competition to the reception class at Tarporley Primary School for their stunning picture book, Up! Up! Up! which has also won our Young Creators Award.”

Judge David Melling said, “Thank you to everyone for providing me with such a wonderfully creative and varied selection of picture books for me to judge. The standard has been extremely high in all three categories and you should all be very proud with what you have achieved.

“If that wasn’t enough of a challenge I was then asked to choose an overall winner. So I took a deep breath and laid the category winners out in front of me, and actually, it wasn’t as difficult as I feared. For me, one book has stood out and shone just that little bit brighter from the very beginning. It is full of exuberance, energy and joy, as well has being informative. And for me, this is why I have chosen Up! Up! Up! as the overall winner. Congratulations!”

Headteacher at Tarporley CE Primary, Mrs Forrester, is mightily impressed with the class and their teaching staff.

She said: “The children have created a wonderfully informative picture book that is a delight to read. This project was very much led by our fantastic reception class teaching assistant, Mrs Palmer, who also had to submit a photobook of the children completing the work. This took a lot of time and dedication. To win the competition beating 1,500 other entries is just superb.”

Tarporley Primary School will win a free author visit as part of their prize, as well as 50 printed copies of their winning picture book and a set of ten picture books for their library.