A decade ago, it seemed likely that children’s books would fall victim to the digital age, paperbacks being pushed aside by Kindles, picture books slipping onto iPads. A recent survey of 1,000 parents by the book charity found that 26% were outsourcing bedtime stories to Alexa or other household helpers. But the same study showed that 83% preferred “real” books, and the sustained boom in the children’s book market is proof of that. David Walliams may have once again dominated the charts (he likely has the top three best-selling children’s books of the year), but as our reviewers’ choices reveal, look deeper and abound in variety, quality, and quality. innovation.
Children’s books have never been more relevant, echoing the big themes of the day. headlines on mental health and emotions are everywhere, from sam copeland and illustrator sarah horne, the hilarious charlie turns chicken (puffin) and can you see me? by rebecca westcott (scholastic) – co-authored by libby scott, an 11-year-old girl with autism – to bryony gordon’s teen self-help guide you’ve got this (wren & rook). michael morpurgo and onjali q rauf were among those who tackled the refugee crisis in boy giant (harpercolllins) and the boy at the back of the class (orion) respectively, while let malorie blackman’s return to the world of zeros & crosses in crossfire (penguin) combined a tense thriller with themes of racism, division and media prejudice.
You are reading: Popular children’s books 2019
for a generation growing up with greta thunberg and climate strikes, saving the planet will be the top children’s book story of 2020, heralded this year by greta and the giants (frances lincoln), written by zoe tucker and illustrated by zoe persico, a planet full of plastic by neal layton (wren & rook) and earth heroes by lily dyu (meddlesome crow), illustrated by jackie lay. In a world where news cycles and social media expose children to current events like never before, these are books that reflect reality and offer young readers, parents, and teachers a place to explore.
The cultural impact of children’s books resonated far beyond bookstores this year. The RSC’s musical adaptation of David Walliams’ Boy in the Dress is a huge hit, and after a decade of Christmas Day BBC Animations, Julia Donaldson and Axel Cheffler are a true holiday tradition (this year it’s the Snail and the Whale). . Meanwhile, Jack Thorne’s long-awaited adaptation of his Philip Pullman Dark Materials debuted to rave reviews. in july, how to train your dragon author cressida cowell became the new children’s laureate and is already proving to be a formidable advocate for literacy, vigorously pursuing her “laureate letter” to improve access to books and make school libraries mandatory.
Finally, we bid farewell to two giants of children’s literature. John Burningham, who died in January, was a double Kate Greenaway Medal winner who delighted readers from the 1960s onwards with the wit, warmth and imagination of works like Borka and Mr Grumpy’s Outing. Judith Kerr’s debut The Tiger Who Came to Tea celebrated her 50th anniversary in 2018, loved by generations of readers alongside the Mog series and titles like When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit. She died in May, just a week after being named Illustrator of the Year at the British Book Awards. noble fiona
the best illustrated books, chosen by imogen carter
Whether they focus on faraway places or faraway people, dangerous dinosaurs or polluting plastic, nonfiction picture books for little ones have flourished in recent years, and this year’s crop really had the wow factor.
fausto gilberti has succeeded in bottling the wild spirit of some of the world’s greatest artists in his cheekily titled biographical series comprising (to date) paint-splattered and unrepentant jackson pollock and yves klein painted everything blue and didn’t regret it (phaidon). In each book, the Italian author and illustrator blends inky black and white with a single splash of color (blue for Yves Klein, yolk yellow for pollock), while his quirky, googly-eyed artists recall the minions of my favorite villain but with art history degrees and fancy suits.
The books may end with an example of art and a more traditional biography, but they’re not just for art-loving kids and families; they celebrate individuality and creative self-expression.
“Be proud of your crazy ideas, kids!” Gilbert seems to say, picturing Pollock splattering paint while doing somersaults or riding a bike. “When he painted,” Gilberti writes, “his heart beat like a drum and he couldn’t sit still.”
picasso said: “every child is an artist. the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”, and gilberti perfectly captures the elements of the creative lives of these adults that will really delight children. We hear how Klein dressed like a gentleman for his wedding, once launching 1,001 balloons into the sky and giving gallery guests blue drinks that “made his urine blue, too.”
watch out yayoi kusama covered everything with stitches and didn’t regret it next year.
The theme may be very different, but the pages of Sabina Radeva’s on the origin of species (puffin) also vibrate with life and feeling. Radeva trained as a molecular biologist before leaving to study illustration, and her acclaimed debut combines these two worlds. Her recounting of Darwin’s seminal study does not shy away from the complexity of her research, often quoting him directly; But her beautiful drawings, which seem to crawl in and out of the book’s spine, are so colorful and expressive that preschoolers and third graders alike should find it enriching.
Illustrated books on the climate crisis were everywhere this year, and while some struck the right tone (inspiring rather than scaring the youngest), it was oliver jeffers’ exquisite fable the fate of faust (harper collins ), sparked by a visit to the wild north antrim coast, felt like the greatest hymn to nature. Made with vivid colors and traditional lithographic printmaking techniques, it’s an essential purchase for lovers of illustrated books ages five to 85.
It was a year full of fantastic fiction. sophie dahl’s grandfather would have loved the adventurous girl at the heart of his first children’s book, madame badobedah (walker), while there was an air of the old man himself in abi elphinstone and fiona’s woodcock the snow dragon (simon & schuster). This extended picture book features a “word mutilating” seven-year-old girl named Phoebe, who longs to escape from the Griselda Bone orphanage Trunchbull style. When her snowman transforms into a snow dragon that takes her on a Christmas Eve trip, she is reminded of Raymond Briggs’ snowman.
woodcock uses blown ink to create snow-covered dreamlike images that give this sweet and uplifting tale a unique look.
Little hands who love to open letters will also enjoy two of the year’s wittiest interactive books. for fans of the bestseller the day the crayons quit, drew daywalt’s christmas of the crayons (images by oliver jeffers; harper collins) has festive crayons mail they’ve blown up the nest (okay, stationery closet), while emma yarlett’s (walker) vibrant beast feast presents rsvps to a ghastly monster party. Like so many of this year’s best books, it will have kids giggling with delight long after their Christmas dinner.
the best chapter books, chosen by kitty empire
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children’s fiction abounds in special powers and alternate worlds. He mumbles an incantation, then, to magically remove the top layer of the best-selling children’s books this time of year: The Walliams, The Wimpy Kids and the Idiots Diaries, The Christmasaurus and David Baddiel. will reveal quite a different terrain. This is a land less formulaic and more diverse than the best-seller lists, replete with dazzling inventiveness, expert storytellers, and resonant series.
You can’t really describe Katherine Rundell as a rising star anymore, so fixed is she in the child-lit firmament. Rundell flexed his historical thriller muscle in Good Thieves (Bloomsbury), which pitted a young British woman and an unlikely alliance of cunning youngsters and circus performers against New York gangsters and corrupt politicians: Justice it was served with relish. .
newcomer sophie anderson seamlessly transitioned from her previous hit, the house on chicken feet, to another book inspired by russian folktales, the girl who talks bear (usborne), and remained at the forefront. of the spirit of the times for icy books with themes of russia. who you really are and where you belong are perennial themes that he explores well.
Two more masters of children’s fiction with equally fine-tuned moral compasses remained surefire reads. frank cottrell-boyce’s latest was robot on the run (macmillan), a wacky adventure starring a boy and a raving bot. Ross Welford’s The Dog That Saved the World (HarperCollins), meanwhile, featured canine plague, time travel, and refreshing originality.
Rock-solid
eoin colfer, whose long-awaited return, the fowl twins (harpercollins), found artemis fowl’s little brothers leaving their own exciting trail of destruction (they narrowly avoid sinking Amsterdam). In this universe of armored fairies and inquisitorial nuns, technology and magic are one and the same, but you’re never more than a few paragraphs away from a laugh.
the doyen of british children’s fiction, jacqueline wilson never disappoints. we are the beaker girls (doubleday) was the second installment in the new life of adult tracy beaker and her daughter, jess, a story about new beginnings and unexpected challenges.
If those names are familiar, they deserve to be. A continuing success this year was Onjali Q Raúf’s Child at the End of the Class (Hachette) of 2018, which won the Waterstones Children’s Book Award. Raúf’s follow-up was The Star Outside My Window (Hachette), who tackled the aftermath of domestic violence with brilliant innocence.
however, authors with bme backgrounds shouldn’t have to write solely about society’s failings, so three cheers for bad little man and the killer aunts invasion (puffin), by comedians humza arshad and henry white and illustrated by aleksei bitskoff, and the vivid subcontinental adventure that was asha and the spirit bird (chicken house), jasbinder bilan’s magical realism debut.
However, one book really stayed with me long after I finished it. Newcomer Darren Simpson’s debut, Scavengers (Usborne), seems set in a different world with its own language and customs. But the reader realizes, along with Simpson’s protagonist, a young man named Dumpster, that the interior, the only home he knows, is not what it seems. Things aren’t quite as he’s been told by Babagoo, his stern but affectionate protector, a cantankerous soul given to swear words like “Browns on fire!” discovering where the pups come from throws a young dump for a loop. Parents, however, will smile at a “woofler” named Orwell and a “mowler” named Atwood.
simpson cleverly avoids emphasizing any points, but this heartwarming coming-of-age story questions love and loyalty, our disposable society, and what exactly walls keep out and in. That’s a lot to pack into what is, at heart, a tough story to stop doing stunts among teenagers.
the best books of poetry, chosen by kate kellaway
in poems to fall in love(macmillan), former children’s laureate chris riddell cuts loose: cupids cavort with hearts, roses and embracing couples. Her drawings seem to be carried quickly across the pages as if carried by a spring breeze. but the delight and surprise is that the poems themselves are not as light as cotton candy. This is a wonderfully well-chosen feel-good anthology in which even the feel-bad poems feel good. the emilys (brontë and dickinson), auden, keats and yeats rub shoulders with, and sometimes shed tears alongside, unknown contemporary writers and poems.
I was especially moved and surprised by thoughts on novelist Neil Gaiman’s wedding: All I Know About Love, with his ideas about not knowing; affected by jan dean tomorrow’s besieged pain when you won’t wake up; and enchanted by grace nichols like a flame, a poem of flaming passion. this little book is essential, with poems that make you feel more alive. as wendy cope concludes in orange:
I did all the jobs on my list and enjoyed them and had some free time. love you. I’m glad I exist.
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three nature collections deserve a warm mention: poems from a green and blue planet (hodder) is a generous anthology, insightfully edited by sabrina mahfouz with a magpie eye for sparkling new gems and ancient. I was thrilled to see William Blake’s eternity included. It’s the most exquisite poem Blake has ever written (although I’m not sure how the message about letting go relates to the future of our planet).
moon spell! (otter-barry) is a sweet bit of a book (newer than complete) with a compilation of accessible and slightly crazy tunes. Celia Warren’s Poor Phoebe! he empathizes with a “stepped” moon that “still shines in the poets’ lines,” and the book confirms this as the poets marvel from a distance or are amiably familiar.
a year of poems on nature by joseph coelho (open-eyed editions) is a seductive poetic calendar, meticulously written, sophisticated and innovative. the best anthologies work wonderfully precisely because they are not strictly for children. many of the poems were written for adults, but have been considered understandable enough to be read by children. it is this flattering, uncondescending adult approach that cultivates, from the start, a real feeling for poetry.
shakespeare for every day of the year(macmillan) is a more questionable idea (do we want shakespeare in sound bites?) but it is persuasively achieved in this daily dose of soliloquies, sonnets and fragments. of plays. the book is beautifully edited by allie esiri (like its predecessors, a poem for every night of the year and a poem for every day of the year) and what sets it apart are its fascinating and erudite prefaces (professor michael dobson should take a bow ). a lucky dip for all ages and some nice holiday fun.
The riddell family rules the poetic roost this year. The “Tasty” Poems at Midnight Parties (Bloomsbury Education) have been chosen by AF Harrold and illustrated by Chris Riddell’s daughter Katy, a talented chip off the old block. This delicious anthology, a menu of poetic snacks, is illustrated with gentle, seductive humor. Christopher Reid’s Rabbit is a perfect example of the book’s charm. she maintains: “people who say that the rabbit has no song are wrong”. what the rabbits celebrate is: “the ballad of salad”. riddell’s rabbit has a priceless expression on the bottom right of the page, caught in the act, a lettuce leaf dangling from his mouth, helplessly engaged in chomping.
the best books for young adults, chosen by fiona noble
the hate you give made angie thomas one of the biggest names in young adult fiction. His second novel, On the Come Up (Walker), is set in the same universe, charting Bri’s career as a 16-year-old aspiring rapper. Thomas tackles harsh subjects, including prejudice, poverty, and racism, but she’s such a smart, funny, and insightful writer that she doesn’t make sense of being heavy-handed. Her relationships, both family and otherwise, feel authentic and full of humanity.
frances hardinge is among the most original writers working today and deeplight (macmillan) is one of her best books yet. here his dazzling imagination has conjured up myriad archipelagos, a strange world of underwater gods, lush mythology, and Lovecraftian submersibles. Two very human children, orphans turned scavengers, make a dangerous discovery that drives an exciting and unpredictable plot. she is a writer who defies easy categorization; this will appeal to older children and beyond.
william sutcliffe provides much-needed comic relief in the gifted, the talented and me (bloomsbury), a deft adrian mole-tinged satire on modern family life. Happily, the average Sam moves to Hampstead with his new rich family and finds himself completely out of place at the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented. more fun books for teens is high on my wish list for 2020.
Here are three standout and very different debuts to watch out for. murder mysteries were the big ticket of the year in young adult fiction. Set in the English town of Little Kilton, Holly Jackson’s Guide to Murder (Electric Monkey) follows a sixth-year student studying a notorious local crime for a school project. perhaps not as slick as its American counterparts, but the snappy title, addictive plot, and small-town secrets made it the best-selling debut of the year.
liz hyder’s bear mouth (pushkin) is bold and ambitious, written in an unusual phonetic dialect in the first person. The book takes place in the dark claustrophobia of the Boca de Oso mine, where workers are intimidated by hard work and religious indoctrination. In this nightmarish world, naive protagonist Newt is disturbed by a newcomer’s talk of “Revolushun”. hyder is a writer of considerable potential.
another notable new voice is akwaeke emezi, already acclaimed for her (the personal pronoun emezi prefers to use) freshwater adult novel. pet(faber) is set in the american city of lucille, in a world almost like ours. here, the revolution has been and gone and with it a purge of evil and corruption. Or so it seems, until the day a creature with horns and claws emerges from a painting and tells 15-year-old Jam that she is there to hunt a monster. a nuanced and timely book about the monsters that live in plain sight.
finally, a winter classic to savor on the darkest days of the year. Susan Cooper’s famous Puffin Darkness Rises, first published in the 1970s, has been reissued with a new introduction by Robert Macfarlane. On a dead winter’s day, Will wakes up in an ancient winter landscape and learns that he is one of the “old ones”, tasked with holding back the darkness at the potent moment of the winter solstice.
In his introduction, Macfarlane recalls first reading the book as a teenager in the 1980s, terrified of the nuclear apocalypse. Today’s fears, he writes, may be different, but “the darkness is always rising and the job of the best stories is to contain it.”
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