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Last
night was a double success for Philip Pullman, his novel,
The
Amber Spyglass, won the Whitbread Children's Book
of the Year prize and was also judged the "overwhelming"
choice among four other books shortlisted for the main Whitbread
Book of the Year prize and a total prize of £30,000.
Mr Pullman's book was 'in
a league of its own' and 'head and shoulders'
above its rivals. 
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Jon
Snow
Chairman of the judging panel
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The
judges choose the overall Whitbread winner each year from
a shortlist made up of best novel, best first novel, best
poetry collection, best biography and best children's book.
Chairman
of the judging panel Jon Snow said Pullman's
book was 'in a league of its own' and 'head and
shoulders' above its rivals. He continued that
'It's a remarkable moment when a children's book has
swept the board.'
The
Channel 4 newsreader said his fellow judges, including actress
Saffron Burrows, Esther Freud, Tobias Hill, heptathlete
Denise Lewis and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar, had been 'held
spellbound by the enormity of (Pullman's) vision and the
intimacy of his observation'.
Collecting
his prize at the Whitbread Brewery in London Philip Pullman
said that he was 'absolutely thrilled to win this award
because it shows what I have always believed - that children's
books belong with the rest in the general field, in the
general market place for books and in the general conversation
about books.'
The
Book is the third in a trilogy entitled His
Dark Materials.
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Philip
Pullman Wins The 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year Prize
