... engaging, original, and life-changing... Julia Eccleshare Chair of Judges

Author Mark Haddon has won the 2003 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for his book 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' beating off strong competition from David Almond for 'The Fire-eaters'.

The other authors on the shortlist for this years prize were Kevin Brooks for 'Lucas' and Alex Shearer for 'The Speed of the Dark'.

'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' is a murder mystery story. The main protagonist of the story is Christopher Boone, a fifteen-year-old mathematical genius who has Asperger’s Syndrome and finds every day situations totally baffling.

Christopher loves lists, numbers, Sherlock Holmes and the truth but hates the colour yellow and being touched. One day he discovers his neighbour’s dog with a garden fork stuck in its body, and sets out to discover who killed the dog. His terrifying journey to uncover the truth takes him far from home and turns his whole world upside down.

Judges for the prize were authors Michael Morpurgo, Malorie Blackman and Philip Ardagh. The prize was chaired by Julia Eccleshare and was announced at an Award Party held in The Guardian Newsroom, Thursday October 2nd.

In an unprecedented move the book is published by both David Fickling books as a children's title and by Jonathan Cape as an adult title.

'The Curious Incident of the Dog in The Night Time' has also been shortlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the WHSmith People’s Choice Book Awards, and was on the longlist for the Man Booker Prize.

The Shortlist
The Fire-Eaters by David Almond (Hodder)
Lucas by Kevin Brooks (The Chicken House)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon (David Fickling Books)
The Speed of the Dark by Alex Shearer (Macmillan)