Rob Biddulph 's picture book Blown Away has won Waterstones Children 's Book Prize . It took him almost five years to find a publisher , but last night Rob Biddulph 's persistence paid off when his first children 's book won a major award . Blown Away , the magazine art director 's enchanting tale about a sky-faring penguin , won the £5,000 Waterstones Children 's Book Prize . It is only the second time a picture book has triumphed during the award 's 11-year history . Mr Biddulph , who works for The Observer , said last night : ' I 'm totally surprised at winning . It took me a while to get this book published . ' Melissa Cox , chairman of the judging panel , said the author had ' a beautiful fresh style all his own ' . She said : 'The test of a good picture book is not how good it is on first reading , but how enjoyable it is on its fiftieth . 'It 's a beautiful fresh style that is all his own and his style of storytelling is very reminiscent of classic picture book writers like Allan Ahlberg . 'It 's very unusual for a brand new illustrator to write their own text , which marked it out , and even more unusual is for them to do rhyming text . ' Mr Biddulph began as an author by making up stories for his three children and illustrating them . Blown Away was named the overall winner beating two other titles which had triumphed in their categories – Half Bad by Sally Green , the best teenage book , and Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens , the best title for younger readers . Waterstones Managing director James Daunt said : 'This year we have another wonderfully inspiring Prize that is testament to the extraordinary vibrancy and creativity in children 's publishing . ' Penguins also captured the public imagination in the build-up to Christmas last year when the computer-generated Monty starred in the John Lewis ad campaign , with spin-off cuddly toys selling out . Sally Green ( pictured ) was crowned winner of the best book for teenagers with her debut Half Bad .
sir ##occo 's picture book has won Waterstones Children 's Book award . Blown Away is an enchanting children 's tale about a sky - blue penguin . It is second time a picture book has triumphed in award 's literary history .