Bestselling shortlist of 10 for Blue Peter’s Vote for the ‘Best Children’s Book of the Last 10 Years’

Blue Peter will today (programme starts 5.45pm, CBBC),commence its search to find the best children’s book of the last decade, withthe launch of an online vote in which its young viewers will be able to choosefrom a shortlist of 10 iconic titles.

From a young James Bond to a reluctant teenagesuperspy, an infamous boy wizard and an underage First World War soldier,miniature action heroes abound in the list which features the bestsellingchildren’s fiction books published in the last 10 years, with only one book perauthor included.

The 10 books competing for the accolade (in titleorder) are:

·       Alex Rider Mission 3: Skeleton Key byAnthony Horowitz (Walker Books, 2002)

·       Candyfloss byJacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (Random House Children’s Books,2006)

·       Diary of a Wimpy Kid by JeffKinney (Puffin, 2008)

·       Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix byJ K Rowling (Bloomsbury, 2003)

·       Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend byFrancesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross (Orion Children’s Books, 2006)

·       Mr Stink by DavidWalliams, illustrated by Quentin Blake (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2009)

·       Private Peaceful by MichaelMorpurgo (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2003)

·       The Series of Unfortunate Events: Austere Academy byLemony Snicket (Egmont Books, 2002)

·       Theodore Boone by JohnGrisham (Hodder & Stoughton, 2010)

·       Young Bond: SilverFin ─ A James Bond Adventure byCharlie Higson (Puffin, 2005)

 Five of the books included have inspired feature films(Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Harry Potter, Horrid Henry, The Seriesof Unfortunate Events and due this year Private Peaceful); seven arepart of a series (Alex Rider, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, HarryPotter, Horrid Henry, The Series of Unfortunate Events, Theodore Booneand Young Bond); and two deal with social issues such as homelessness, debtand divorce with sensitivity and humour (Candyfloss and Mr Stink).

The list also boasts a litany of high-profile authorswith three former Children’s Laureates (Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Morpurgo andQuentin Blake who illustrates Mr Stink), bestselling adult US crimeauthor John Grisham, comedian David Walliams, and Britain’s richest author J KRowling all up for the Award.

The shortlist for the vote is made up of the 10bestselling (by volume) fiction books of the last 10 years for 5─11year olds with a first publication date between January 2002 and December 2011.Only the top-selling book per individual, named author is included. (Source:Nielsen BookScan TCM Top 5000 Children’s Fiction (Y2) from 200101 to 201152filtered by CMBC Interest Level 5─11 years.)

Tim Levell, Editor of Blue Peter and Chair of Judges for the Blue PeterBook Awards 2012 comments:

 ‘Childrencare as much about books as adults do ─ ifnot more so. We wanted to capture that by creating a vote to find outwhich book from the last ten years they love the most. This is a fantasticlist: every single book on the shortlist is a corker. Normally I'm all forplayground harmony, but if on this occasion there is the odd playgroundargument about which book is better, then bring it on!’

After the announcement of the list on Blue Peter, the shortlist will befeatured on Blue Peter’s website bbc.co.uk/bluepeterfor three weeks, during which time children under the age of 16 can log on with their BBC iD and vote for theirfavourite. The vote will close at 4pm on Thursday 23 February.

Thewinning book will be announced on Blue Peter on 1 March (5.45pm, CBBC),alongside the winner of the annual Blue Peter Book of the Year Award on aspecial show dedicated to books to tie-in with World Book Day. Blue Peter willinvite the winning author to collect a ‘Best Children’s Book of the Last 10Years’ trophy on the show.