Originally Published As An Online Supplement To The Sunday Times. By Nicolette Jones
This top 100 is a personal choice of children’s and young adults’ books published over the past 10 years, based on the privilege of 21 years of reviewing them for The Sunday Times. It is the tip of an iceberg. We live in a time of great riches in children’s publishing – and 2014 is on the way to being a record-breaking year for children’s book sales. It was hard to whittle the titles down.
Published in October 2014 by The Sunday Times
There are some successful and well-received books that I have not included. There are also more new authors, and less familiar treasures, that deserve the spotlight. I omitted poetry and graphic novels – lists for the future, I hope – in order to narrow the field. Many books I love are not mentioned, and it was painful to leave them out. I am counting on readers to share their favourites and help to fill the gaps.
So, this list is not definitive and, besides, there is no absolute hierarchy of merit. It does, however, amass evidence of why this is a golden age. All the books it contains made me feel that the authors and illustrators knew what they wanted to do and did it exceptionally well. They enriched my life. They will, if we are lucky, find readers at the right moment and make them fall in love with a book. I am thrilled to have this platform to mention more than 100 names that deserve to be known by everyone who doesn’t know them already. Not everything on this list will suit every reader, but I believe there are books out there that are right for every child. I hope this selection makes it easier to find some of them.