PUPILS from an Accrington primary school presented their favourite author with a prize at a ceremony in London after winning a national competition.

Woodnook Primary School was one of only three schools out of nearly 2,000 who entered contest to become young judges for the Nestle Children's Book Prize.

Children from reception and year one were given three books, shortlisted by a panel of adult experts, to read, discuss and vote for.

They then completed a project based on their winning book choice, which included writing reviews, creating artwork based on the story and explaining they chose that particular book as their favourite.

Their project work on Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers was judged to be the best in their age category -- the five years and under -- and the children were invited to the Children's Book Prize ceremony at the British Library in London.

During the ceremony three of the pupils went up on stage to present the prizes to the winning authors for children aged five and under.

They also met Children's BBC presenter Michael Absalom, who was hosting the event and got signed copies of Oliver Jeffers book, which won the gold award.

The children's class teacher, Shirley Seddon, who entered them in the competition and went with them to London, said: "We had an amazing and really

memorable day. The children were fantastic.

"We were privileged to have won the competition and to have been part of such an exciting event."

Chris Meade, chief executive of Booktrust, the charity which administers the Nestl Children's Book Prize, said: "The standard of entries from schools was particularly high this year, with a great deal of thought, attention and creativity.

"It was very tough choosing the winning schools from all the entries, and we would like to thank all the schools who took part. Woodnook Primary School's entry stood out because of its sheer imagination and detail."