The following books were chosen by children from our Children’s Book Award testing groups as their favourite books of the year 2016, so they are all highly recommended.
Have you read them all yet? If not, they might give you some ideas to extend your family reading or add to your library.
The books are listed in age category and in alphabetical order by author. As reviews from our testing groups come in, we will feature them alongside the books.
Books for Younger Children
This is the Story of Alison Hubble by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Bruce Ingman
Albert and Little Henry by Jez Alborough
Baxter’s Book by Hrefna Bragadottir
Pirates in Pyjamas by Caroline Crowe
Blue Penguin by Petr Horacek
The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick and illustrated by Sophia Blackall
The Great Dragon Bake-Off by Nicola O’Byrne
Molly Maybe and the Monster Mission by Kristina Stephenson
Gorilla Loves Vanilla by Chae Strathie
Where the Bugaboo Lives by Sean Taylor and illustrated by Neal Layton
There’s a Snake in My School by David Walliams and illustrated by Tony Ross
Books for Younger Readers
The Person Controller by David Baddiel and illustrated by Jim Field
Spynosaur by Guy Bass and illustrated by Lee Robinson
Pugly Bakes a Cake by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by Gemma Correll
Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam: The Spooky School by Tracey Corderoy and illustrated by Steven Lenton
Dave Pigeon by Swapna Haddow and illustrated by Sheena Dempsey
Louie Lets Loose by Rachel Hamilton and illustrated by Oscar Armelles
Dairy of a Wimpy Kid Old School by Jeff Kinney
The Secret Railway by Wendy Meddour and illustrated by Sam Usher
The World of Norm: May Contain Buts by Jonathan Meres
The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
The Tapper Twins Tear Up New York by Geoff Rodkey
Claude: Lights! Camera! Action! by Alex T Smith
Romans on the Rampage Jail Break! by Jeremy Strong
Katy by Jacqueline Wilson
Books for Older Readers (YA=14+)
Flawed by Cecelia Ahern (YA)
A Library of Lemons by Jo Cotterill
North Face by Matt Dickinson
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (YA)
Demon Road by Derek Landy
Gorilla Dawn by Gill Lewis
How to Look for a Lost Dog by Ann Martin
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness (YA)
The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D Schmidt (YA)
Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine (YA)
The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine and illustrated by Julia Sarda
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon (YA)