Favourites from 2011

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Yes, another year has come and gone, and a new one has begun. Welcome 2012!
Before jumping into the wonderful journey that is children's and YA books (and yes, I do mean BOOKS... contrary to a rumour that many are circulating, the printed word is NOT dead), I wanted to share with you a brief list of some of my very favourites from the vast number of exciting books published for young people in 2011. In no particular order:
Picture Books:
- AGAIN! by Emily Gravett
- The Cat and the Fiddle: a treasury of nursery rhymes by Jackie Morris
- The Lonely Beast by Chris Judge
- Wanted: the Perfect Pet by Fiona Roberton
- Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng and Yuyi Morales (illustrations)
Novels for various ages:
- the 'Adventure Island' mystery series (books so far) by Helen Moss
- One Dog and His Boy by Eva Ibbotson
- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
- The Haunting of Charity Delafield by Ian Beck
- The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon
- The Windvale Sprites by Mackenzie Crook
- The Butterfly Heart by Paula Leyden
- Spirit of the Titanic by Nicola Pierce
- Twilight Robbery by Frances Hardinge
- Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent by Alan Early
- Double Shadow by Sally Gardner
and... what I still believe to be a perfect book after about 10 reads:
- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd and Jim Kay (illustrations)
I hope you've had the chance to enjoy a few of these (if not all) in the past year. If not, get cracking because 2012 looks like it's going to be another fantastic year in children's literature.

By the way, I wanted to give a big shout for my favourite children's books publisher of 2011. They are the brave and wonderful people at Little Island; publishing (just as it says on their logo) 'great books for kids and teens' right here in Dublin...... with more coming up on the horizon. Fabulous!

Comments

  1. Maeve Friel January 3, 2012 at 1:23 AM

    I have read only two of these - AGAIN and A Boy and His Dog - how is one supposed to keep up? My favourite read this year was not a new book but an old classic - A Mouse and His Child - which I looked out following Russell Hoban's death a few weeks ago - it is outstanding.
    Keep the recommendations coming...

    ReplyDelete

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