Jarvis has won The Alligator’s Mouth Award 2026 with his book Bear and Bird: The Secret and Other Stories published by Walker Books. Margaret Wallace-Jones and Tony West, co-owners of the Alligator’s Mouth Bookshop presented the Bear and Bird team with the Alligator’s Mouth Award trophy during a special ceremony on Thursday 18th June.

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On his win, Jarvis said: "I want to send a big thank you to everyone at the Alligator’s Mouth Award, I can’t believe Bear and Bird won! I love all the shortlisted books. I remember being at the Award Party two years ago when the first Bear and Bird book was shortlisted. I want to thank The Alligator’s Mouth Award for being a champion of this series from the beginning, it really means a lot to have that support."

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Co-owners of the Alligator’s Mouth Bookshop Margaret Wallace-Jones and Tony West commented: "It was a wonderful Alligator’s Award shortlist this year, and Bear and Bird: The Secret and Other Stories is a worthy winner. This is a funny, clever and gentle addition to Jarvis's popular series, reminiscent of the work of Arnold Lobel, and it will become a firm favourite with families who let these humble woodland creatures into their hearts. The Secret is a handbook for childhood; full of friendship, squabbles, hide-and-seek, lists of favourites and unfavourites, storytelling and jokes. Read it and then insist that your supermarket stock stinky sock muffins."

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Tony and Margaret were joined as judges this year by Alex Latimer, who won the 2025 award with Gordon the Meanest Goose on Earth (Oxford Children’s, Oxford University Press), Teacher & Bookstagrammer Alex Puddick, Children’s Author Tọlá Okogwu, Author and Illustrator Thiago de Moraes, and Children’s Author Rashmi Sirdeshpande.

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Alex Puddick added: "Bear and Bird perfectly captures the joy and importance of friendship. Through humour, warmth and beautifully illustrated stories, Jarvis creates characters that children can instantly connect with. The book celebrates kindness, acceptance and the understanding that our differences are what make friendships special. It is a truly deserving winner of this year's Alligator's Mouth Award!"

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Tọlá Okogwu said: "This year's shortlist was incredible. I loved Bear and Bird: The Secret and Other Stories and each time I read it there was something new to discover. With beautiful writing and illustrations, humour galore and a surprise at every corner. It's a book that sparks joy!"

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Thiago de Moraes commented: "Bear and Bird is a wonderful book in so many different ways. Witty, warm and beautifully illustrated, it's also immensely approachable and, most important of all, brilliant fun."

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Coram Beanstalk returned as a partner to run the Longlist competition, giving three schools the opportunity to win a full set of the longlisted books. The winners of the competition were Maulden Lower School, Kings Hill Primary School and Grange Primary School. Books wholesaler Gardners returned this year as an official partner of the award and are offering up to 50% discount on both longlisted and shortlisted titles until the end of July.