Children’s and Young Adult Books Rule

Nella celebrates the recognition that authors of children's and young adult literature are receiving - standing tall with writers of other genres and adult literature.

As someone who has to defend my reading preferences constantly, I have been rather chuffed to see some recent announcements. 

Booktopia top ten list of Australia's Favourite Authors (voted)
 - four of the top ten are writers for young people and three others have written YA books.

Coralie Bickford-Smith’s The Fox and the Star (Penguin), an illustrated fable about a fox and his friend, is the 2015 Waterstones Book of the Year. 

In January, Frances Hardinge’s The Lie Tree won the Costa Book of the Year. Watch a snapshot of the ceremony.

Just last week Tamsin Janu ‘s Figgy in the World (Scholastic) was announced as the winner of the 2016 Adelaide FestivalAwards for Literature.  (breakingnews the sequel is out in May).

As CS Lewis said, 'A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest”.  So instead of rolling your eyes at me (and those like me) ask us what we’re reading – you can bet it’ll be profound/innovative and enjoyable.

Nella Pickup
Tamar ValleyWriters Festival schools coordinator, Reader

Editor's note: Having just spent a summer reading children's and YA literature I couldn't agree more. I am on the final pages of Ink and Bone by Rachel and Caine - one of the most original, engaging and enthralling possible future scenarios I have had the pleasure to encounter. It's Book 1 in The Great Library series, and I have to wait until July for the release of Paper and Fire!A series centred around the great library of Alexandria (that survived!) has to appeal to the library lover hidden within. :-)