Children's book 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time' by Mark Haddon has won the Whitbread Novel Award.
The judges said "We can think of few readers who could take no pleasure from this wonderful novel."
Haddon's book is written from the perspective of a 15-year-old autistic teenager who turns detective in an attempt to find the killer of his neighbour's dog.
Haddon, who has written 18 books for children, wins £5,000 and will go on to compete for the £25,000 Whitbread Book of the Year Award.
Booker Prize winner, DBC Pierre, won the First Novel Award for 'Vernon God Little' and DJ Taylor's 'Orwell: The Life' took the Biography Award.
'The Fire-Eaters' by David Almond was the winner in the Children's Book category while Don Paterson's collection 'Landing Light' won the Poetry Award.
The overall winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year award will be announced on 27 January.
