Reading List Children’s 12


Here is a stunning fact: in each of the past four years, the British children’s books sector has notched up a record year in sales. Think of that: in the long, storied (pun intended) history of kids’ literature in the UK, more people are buying children’s books than ever before. We are in a golden age. The shortlists for the two kids’ books of


Top reads for children


the year categories (Fiction and Illustrated & Non-Fiction) show a sheer breadth of talent, led by David Walliams (see pages 20–21), the UK’s bestselling author, with his chart-topping The Ice Monster, illustrated by Tony Ross. If Walliams is tops in sales terms, Jacqueline Wilson may be the country’s most beloved


Wilson


writer. Her My Mum Tracy Beaker updates her most famous heroine, who is now all grown up and seen through the eyes of her daughter, Jess. Wilson’s long-time illustrator Nick Sharratt is along for the ride with his instantly recognisable artwork. David Baddiel joins Walliams as another


celeb-turned-children’s author. Head Boy, his fifth kids’ book, finds Ryan, the naughtiest boy at Bracken Wood School, swapping bodies with the strict headteacher Mr Carter—just as school inspectors are arriving. Can Ryan mend his ways and save the school? There is new blood, too, with two début


authors, both of whose books tap into folklore and myth. Tomi Adeyemi’s Blood and Bone is a fresh take on ancient African tales: think “Game of Thrones” for young adults, set in


22


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