Now in its ninth year, the award was set up by James Ashton and Viveka Alvestrand to celebrate magical stories for children in memory of their son Oscar, who was three-and-a-half when he died from a heart condition in December 2012
Ben, who’s also released his own children’s books, said of landing the judging role: “The guys at Oscar’s Book Prize reached out to me and I read about the background about this lovely little boy who passed away way too early, who loved books.
“And I mean, I don’t think I’d be unique in saying that touched me on a level. But I guess I am unique in that I have a close relationship with a lot of kids from a lot of different backgrounds across the country.
“And I have a background in writing for the for the age group, so it was kind of a no brainer.”
Ben is one of the judges on this year’s Oscar’s Book Prize – an annual prize, supported by Amazon UK, to find the best children’s book for under-fives. For more information, please visit www.oscarsbookprize.co.uk.
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