Just Plain Stinky Philip Ardagh wins the Roald Dahl Funny Prize Michael Rosen today announces the splendiferous winners of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2009 at a lunchtime ceremony at the Unicorn Theatre.

For children aged six and under, the winning book was Mr Pusskins Best in Show by Sam Lloyd (Orchard Books)

· For children aged seven to fourteen, the winning book was Grubtown Tales: Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky by Philip Ardagh, illustrated by Jim Paillot (Faber and Faber)

Mr Pusskins Best In Show is the story of a grumpy but loveable cat who just has to get his paws on a trophy for the Best-Looking Pet at the beauty show. Sam Lloyd is a Brighton based author and illustrator whose first book Mr Pusskins was a New York Times Children’s Bestseller.

Philip Ardagh, who is known as Beardy Ardagh on account of his impressive facial hair, won with his Grubtown Tales: Stinking Rich and Just Plain Stinky, illustrated by Jim Palliot.

The story of a town of oddballs plotting to rid Grubtown of the disgusting Manual Org, whose breath smells of ‘two-thirds of a pickled raw herring, a pickled onion, eleven gherkins and one jar of sandwich spread (one month past its sell-by date)’ delighted the judges.

The book saw off stiff competition from other authors in the category including Anne Fine and David Walliams whose book The Boy in the Dress is illustrated by long-term Roald Dahl collaborator Quentin Blake.

Philip Ardagh has written over seventy books for children and collaborated with Sir Paul McCartney in 2005 on his children’s book, but has never been awarded a major literary prize.

The judging panel comprised Michael Rosen, the comedian Bill Bailey, last year’s winner author Andy Stanton, author Louise Rennison and author and illustrator Mini Grey.

Commenting on the winner’s books, Michael Rosen said:

‘Welcome to Grubtown and a cast of characters crazy enough to wake Spike Milligan from his home on the Ning Nang Nong. Here we have Manual Org who is so repulsive and smelly, Philip Ardagh has to take a several page break for a bath. There's Farflung Heaps, Constable Gelatine, Acrid Scorn, Mango Claptrap and many more. Noddy and Toytown, it isn't.

‘Mr Pusskins is a cat who could turn into a catastrophe but instead, he's a champ. Even though he heads for the toilet instead of the cat-show, and even though he doesn't realise he's wizzing through an obstacle race, he ends up being the winner. If only life was as easy. This is a ridiculously funny book, full of marvellously mischievous cartooning.’

The winners were presented with a cheque for £2,500 and a bottle of wine from Roald Dahl’s personal wine cellar.