From a young James Bond to a reluctant teenage superspy, an infamous boy wizard and an underage First World War soldier, miniature action heroes abound in the shortlist which features the bestselling children’s fiction books published in the last ten years, with only one book per author included.The ten books competing for the accolade (in title order) are:
- Alex Rider Mission 3: Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz (Walker Books, 2002)
- Candyfloss by Jacqueline Wilson, illustrated by Nick Sharratt (Random House Children’s Books, 2006)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Puffin, 2008)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling (Bloomsbury, 2003)
- Horrid Henry and the Football Fiend by Francesca Simon, illustrated by Tony Ross (Orion Children’s Books, 2006)
- Mr Stink by David Walliams, illustrated by Quentin Blake (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2009)
- Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo (HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2003)
- The Series of Unfortunate Events: Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket (Egmont Books, 2002)
- Theodore Boone by John Grisham (Hodder & Stoughton, 2010)
- Young Bond: SilverFin ? A James Bond Adventure by Charlie Higson (Puffin, 2005)
The shortlist for the vote is made up of the ten bestselling (by volume) fiction books of the last ten years for five to 11 year olds with a first publication date between January 2002 and December 2011. Only the top-selling book per individual, named author is included.The shortlist will feature on Blue Peter’s website for three weeks, during which time children under the age of 16 can log on with their BBC iD and vote for their favourite. The vote will close at 4pm on Thursday 23 February.
The winning 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 a special show dedicated to books to tie-in with World Book Day. Blue Peter will invite the winning author to collect a ‘Best Children’s Book of the Last Ten Years’ trophy on the show.
