There's only one thing wrong with winning the Guardian children's fiction prize, as Frank Cottrell Boyce joked at last week's awards ceremony – you can't win it twice.

"That's it!" said the author of The Unforgotten Coat as he picked up his award, flanked by the team who helped him to produce it - his two photographers Clare Heney and Carl Hunter, Jane Davis from the charity that encouraged him to write the book and Sue Kendall, the former teacher of the Mongolian refugee this story is based on.  He joked that it took all of them and that therefore they had a huge advantage!

One of the judges, Cressida Cowell, author of the How To Train Your Dragon series, introduced us to all the wonderful books on both the long- and shortlists.  I absolutely loved her enthusiasm as she told us about all the books, declaring they were so good she wished she had written them all herself.  "I always think that's a good sign of master storytelling!"

I spoke to her later on and she told me that there was lots of pacing around involved in making the decision, because it was "really, really hard to pick the winner".   Another judge, Tony Bradman, said that to pick a winner they had to "look at each book and ask yourself is it a good example of that kind of book."  Tony added that The Unforgotten Coat was "superb, different, original, exactly the right kind of book for today".

Now about the longlisted books: they are all so amazing and so, so different that I'd have no idea where to start!  Maybe some of the young critics can help me out.  

Lucy Kennedy, 10, reviewed A Greyhound of a Girl, telling me that while it is a ghost story, it's "more calming than scary".  

Eight-year-old Thomas Skeet reviewed  Eva Ibbotson's The Abominables and loved it, adding that while he hasn't read The Unforgotten Coat, he's looking forward to doing so.  Eva died before being longlisted for the prize, but her son Piers Ibbotson was there to represent his mother. He said he hopes everyone carries on loving her books - which I personally will: I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of The Abominables as she's one of my favourite authors ever.  

Dead End in Norvelt was reviewed by Beth McMillan, 13, who says that she loved the comedy element and how different the story was: "a breath of fresh air".  

And finally we come to The Unforgotten Coat. I met Rishi Siddani, 12, who won with a review of the book, and whose quote was actually used to prolong the suspense in the revelation of the winner! "This book has a slight pinch of comedy, a teaspoon of mystery and a whole flagon of brilliance", he wrote.  I don't know about you guys, but I think that's the best and most fitting way to describe the book: with a quote from one of the winning young critics.
 
And while we're on the subject, I simply must tell you more about the wonderful young critics. One by one, the winners came on to the stage to receive a goody bag of books and a certificate.  After the awards, I spoke to some of them.

Orli Vogt-Vincent, whose winning review was of Aidan Chambers' Soonchild,  told me that friends at her school book club were ecstatic that she had won and had been invited to the party - they all read the shortlisted books together.  

Lucy Kennedy added that she thinks the young critics competition is a "really good chance for children to say what they think about books".  

Beth McMillan told me she hadn't expected to win when she entered the competition but that it was "one of the best nights" of her life, especially as she had unexpectedly met one of her favourite authors, Francesca Simon.

And the young critics weren't the only ones gushing. I too met some of my favourite authors.  

Firstly there was Cressida Cowell - I've loved her books since How To Train Your Dragon came out, and my brothers all love her too: they have almost all of her books on audio CDs.  

Then there was Francesca Simon, who judged the prize a few years ago, who wrote the Horrid Henry books.  Again, both I and my brothers love her – so it was amazing to hear that one of her greatest pleasures is to "be enthusiastic about my readers".  

And finally Jenny Valentine, whose book Finding Violet Park won in 2007, and who is one of my favourite contemporary writers.  I'm an aspiring author and when Jenny found out I have a trilogy living in my head she told me to come to her for writing advice.  

I found a new idol in Frank Cottrell Boyce. Who could fail a winner who cut into the special celebration cake, with a cry of: "Die cake!" 

But the final word goes to Carl Hunter, who worked with Clare Heney on the illustrations for The Unforgotten Coat. We were talking about how the book had originally been written for the Readers Organisation, a charity whose aim is to promote reading and the joy of books, taking them into places like prisons and hospitals.

"Stories spark debates", said Carl, which is important because "silence can be an enemy".