Pick of the Year 2016 Top Fifty

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)