Reynolds, a poet and author who is currently the US national ambassador for young people’s literature, was chosen ahead of shortlisted authors including former winner Elizabeth Acevedo to take the prize.
Look Both Ways is a collection of 10 interlinked stories about children walking home from school.
But this time around it has been really incredible to know that that book has resonated in the UK, mainly because I think it validates the idea that it’s just a human story,” he said.
That actually, kids don’t have the barriers that so many of us have, and that they are really just looking for good stories, and that they can find themselves in so many different ways, and so many different people,” said the author.
I believe in Knights Of, I believe in the work that they’re doing, I have believed in them from the moment I met them.
Smith, who lives in Nova Scotia but wrote and illustrated Small in the City while living in Toronto, said it was hard to fully comprehend his win, as he has been working from home “wearing my old slippers” since last spring.
“It is during this time that these stories we share are more important than ever … Like a friend keeping in touch, stories offer the necessary sentiment: You are not alone.