Jessica Love has been Awarded the Klaus Flugge Prize for her debut children’s book, Julian is a Mermaid in which a young boy who loves mermaids takes part in a special mermaid parade, with the help of his nana. A joyful, positive story that adroitly questions gender stereotypes, it has been described as barrier-breaking.

Chair of the judges, Julia said: “In the fourth year of the award, we had another extremely strong shortlist but the judges were unanimous in their decision to award the prize to Jessica Love. Julian is a Mermaid reminds us that picture books can make us understand the world differently and better; that they are for everyone. It is a ground-breaking book and has the qualities that Klaus Flugge has always championed in his own publishing.”

The Klaus Flugge Prize was founded to honor publisher Klaus Flugge, a supremely influential figure in picture books. Flugge set up Andersen Press in 1976 and has discovered and nurtured many of today’s most distinguished illustrators including David McKee, Tony Ross, Satoshi Kitamura, Ruth Brown and Susan Varley.