A University of Sussex alumnus has won a major bookshop award.

Ross Montgomery studied BA English and Film Studies at the university before graduating in 2008.

He began writing as a teenager and developed his skills during his time at the University of Sussex.

Now, Ross’s book I Am Rebel has been chosen as Waterstones’ Children’s Book of the Year.

On his win, Ross said: “I absolutely cannot believe that I Am Rebel is a Waterstones Book of the Year - it's a dream come true.

“I'm so grateful, and so glad, that Rebel has managed to snuffle his way into so many readers' hearts and minds, especially when the stats of children reading for pleasure have never been more discouraging.

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“The fact remains that books provide children with a form of entertainment and escape that no other art form can match: a way of opening up the world and showing what's there, on a deeply personal level.

“Books are valuable precisely because of the effort they ask of the reader in the first place: the wonder, the magic, all feels earned.

“I believe passionately that the best way for us to bring children back to books is not to tell them that books are good for them, but to show them what they can do: to entertain them, to write the best stories possible, to take them on a journey and show them what makes the world magic along the way."

Ross’s book, recommended for children in later primary school years or early secondary school, is described as “a gorgeous, heart warming tale about the unbreakable bond between a dog and his boy” - a “modern classic” for “animal-loving children and adults”.

Waterstones’ books of the year are nominated by and voted on by booksellers. Previous winners include Philip Pullman, Maggie O’Farrell, Paul McCartney and Katherine Rundell.

A spokesman for the University of Sussex said: “Congratulations to Sussex alum Ross Montgomery (BA English and Film Studies 2008) whose book, 'I Am Rebel', has been named by Waterstones as children’s book of the year.”

Ross, a former primary school teacher, grew up in Berkshire and now lives in London with his wife and their cat, Fun Bobby.