TWO local authors have been shortlisted for Scotland's biggest children's book award.

Gruffalo creator Julia Donaldson, based in Bearsden, near Glasgow, and first-time children's novelist Daniela Sacerdoti, based in Barrhead, have been nominated in the Scottish Children's Book Awards 2013.

Italian-born Ms Sacerdoti, a former teacher at Govanhill Primary, is shortlisted in the Younger Readers (ages 8-11) category for her debut junior book Really Weird Removals.com.4.

Ex-children's laureate Ms Donaldson is in contention for the Bookbug Readers (ages 3-7) Category for her picture book The Paper Dolls, which is illustrated by Rebecca Cobb.

Ms Donaldson won the award in 2010 with her picture book What the Ladybird Heard. In 2012, her book Jack and the Flum Flum Tree was a finalist in the same category.

She said: said: "These awards get so many children reading, and the award ceremony is always a really entertaining occasion."

The awards will be voted for entirely by children over the next seven months. Almost 32,000 voted last year.

The winners will be announced next March.

Every primary one child in Scotland will also receive a free copy of the three books in the running for the Bookbug Category during Book Week Scotland later this year. The other entries are:

Bookbug: What's The Time, Mr Wolf? by Debi Gliori; Jumblebum by Chae Strathie.

Younger Readers: Black Tide by Caroline Clough; The Accidental Time Traveller by Janis Mackay;

Older Readers (12-16): The Seeing by Diana Hendry; The Book Of Doom by Barry Hutchison; Ferryman by Claire McFall.

maureen.ellis@ eveningtimes.co.uk