Red House Children's Book Award 2010 Winners

Judged entirely by children from shortlist to final overall winner, the votes have been counted and the winners of the Red House Children's Book Award 2010 are:
Overall Winner:
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Category Winners
Younger Readers:
Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman
Younger Children:
Bottoms Up! by Jeanne Willis & Adam Stower
Well done to our five keen readers who read and voted for their favourite among the shortlisted titles for the Older and Younger Readers categories. The books are available for loan from the Library.
For more reading ideas see the Pick of the Year for Older Readers.

Book awards news

Forty years after it was first published, Troubles, by J G Farrell, has been announced as the winner of the Lost Man Booker Prize - a one-off prize to honour the books published in 1970, but not considered for the prize when rules about publication dates changed.

The Branford Boase Award was set up to encourage new writers and is given each year to the most promising work of fiction for children by a first time novelist. The books on the shortlist for the 2010 award are:
Devil’s Kiss by Sarwat Chadda
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
Life, Interrupted by Damian Kelleher
Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
Big and Clever by Dan Tunstall
Numbers by Rachel Ward
Paradise Barn by Victor Watson

Top Reads

Following a recent survey which reported that increasing numbers of children are starting school without having been read to, The Guardian published five lists of books by age group The best children's books ever.

With the enormous number of books available it can be difficult to make a choice which is why browsing is so important. Another help to selection is recommendation which is why we recommend books to each other in Library lessons. I also issue Reading Suggestions regularly and have many lists by genre.

Online - look at the Book Choosers which are linked on the right in this blog, or visit the selections I have made at Lovereading4schools.co.uk. I have lists of recommendations for years 7, 8 and 9 which you can see here http://www.lovereading4schools.co.uk/viewschool/1870/favourite.
This is the website of a children's online independent bookstore which features only children's books. It's free to register and obviously there is no obligation to buy. The sister site http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/ can be searched by many categories, features over 5000 opening extracts, profiles authors and offers the useful Author Like for Like.

Puffin celebrates 70 years

Puffin Books are celebrating 70 years of publishing for children. To celebrate this anniversary year the publisher has set up Happy Birthday Puffin site. Both websites feature writers new and old, beloved by generations of readers, plus opportunities to read, listen or watch Puffin's latest news.