Here are a selection of some of the wonderful books for older children which have won prizes in 2016. You will find a range here of novels, some funny, some exciting; poetry and information books. You might like to look at others which have been shortlisted for these awards as well. We have added a few books for even older readers which teens and adults might enjoy.
For prizewinners for 0-7 see here
For our top ten picturebooks for 0-7 see here
Badly Drawn Beth Knife and Packer
Orchard Books
Age 6-9 years
Beth draws and tells of her life as she sees it in this funny diary-comic-storybook. It’s an illustrated account of embarrassing and hilarious events, encounters and escapades.
More information
Winner of the Laugh-Out-Loud Book Award (Lollies)
Buy here
The Epic Book of Epicness Adam Frost
Bloomsbury
Age 7-11 years
An amazing book of fascinating facts, from blood red waterfalls to the extraordinary things an elephant can do with its trunk. There’s a rich store of interesting information to pore over, revisit to share with friends. Containing full-colour illustrations throughout.
Winner Blue Peter Book Award: Best Book with Facts category
Buy here
Greenling Levi Pinfold
Templar Publishing
Age 7-11 years
The power of nature is unleashed when Mr Barleycorn picks a green baby growing in his field and takes it home, setting off a chain of unexpected events. Carrots sprout from the television, and more vegetables creep out of nooks and crannies all over the house. A wary Mrs Barleycorn insists the Greenling has to go. Set in Australia, this thought provoking, hauntingly surreal and intricately illustrated eco fable shows how nature draws a community together… or does it?
Winner: English Association Fiction Picturebook Award 7-11 years
Buy here
The Imaginary AF Harrold and Emily Gravett
Bloomsbury
The Imaginary is a moving, humorous yet dark tale of friendship between Amanda and her imaginary best friend Rudger. Accessible and challenging, it draws the reader in with an engaging written style and intriguingly beautiful illustrations.
Readers will identify with these vividly drawn characters and the dilemmas they wrestle with in a memorable story that both questions and celebrates the power of the imagination.
Winner: UKLA Book Award Fiction 7-11 years
My Brother is a Superhero David Solomons
Nosy Crow
7-9 years
Unlike his brother, Luke is mad about comics but when an alien descends on their treehouse, he is otherwise engaged. Instead, the alien bestows Superhero powers on Zack to save the universe. Poor Luke can’t believe his bad luck. However, he overcome the unfairness and ready to come the rescue when Zack is kidnapped and the world is in imminent danger. Also available as an app.
Winner The Waterstones Children’s Book Prize: Best Younger Fiction Prize (and overall winner)
Winner Children’s Book of the Year, BBI Awards
My Head Teacher is a Vampire Rat Pamela Burchart
Nosy Crow
Age 7-9 years
Izzy and friends have wild imaginings about their scary new headteacher who has banned garlic bread for lunch and draws his office blinds during the day. What’s more, there’s an infestation of rats in their classroom. It all leads to the conclusion that he must be a Vampire Rat and must be dispatched. A laugh-out-loud caper.
Pugs of the Frozen North Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre
Oxford University Press
Age 7-11 years
Shen and Sika meet in the frozen north on the first day of True Winter. Sika needs dogs to pull her sledge and help her win the race to the Snowfather’s Palace at the top of the world. Shen, a cabin boy, abandoned by his crewmates when their ship becomes stuck fast in the ice, has 66 pugs he has rescued. They soon team up, but will the small dogs be strong enough to pull Sika’s sledge?
A fantastical snowy adventure story about wishes, kindness, loneliness and loss, beautifully told with humour, detail, and poignant moments through a brilliant combination of words and pictures.
See our activity page here
The Nowhere Emporium Ross Mackenzie
Floris Books
Age 7-11 years
Bullied by other boys in the children’s home where he lives, Daniel escapes and finds refuge in the wonderful world of the Nowhere Emporium, a shop of delights run by Mr Silver, a magician. When injured in a car accident the next day, Daniel wakes up in the Emporium, a place constructed from imaginations with powers of time travel and transformation. One of Mr Silver’s enemies sets out to destroy the shop and only Daniel can save it.
See here
Winner Blue Peter Book award Older fiction
Winner Scottish Children’s Book award younger readers
The Sleeper and the Spindle Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
Bloomsbury
Age 8-11 years
This spellbinding and sumptuously illustrated modern fairytale is inspired by the two stories: Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. A brave queen sets off determined to rescue a princess who lies enchanted in the sleeping kingdom. Casting off her fine wedding clothes, she climbs into protective armour accompanied by her faithful team of dwarves to save the young woman with unexpected results.
Hear author Neil Gaiman and illustrator Chris Riddell talk about the story
The Wonder Garden Jenny Broom, illustrated by Kristjana S Williams
Wide Eyed Editions
Age 7-11 years
A fascinating and beautiful information book to develop a sense of wonder and deep interest in the natural world. Children can travel with their eyes into five amazing habitats including the Amazon Rainforest, Chihuahuan Desert, Great Barrier Reef, Black Forest and Himalayan Mountains. A dazzlingly detailed, vividly colourful and informative exploration.
Winner the English Association 4-11 Picture Book Award: Non-Fiction 7-11
AND one more!
Gorilla Dawn Gill Lewis
Oxford University Press
Age 9-11 years
A compelling story about the impact of war and trade on the lives of the young and the wild creatures, set in the forests of conflict-torn Congo. Imara is a village girl swept up by a band of rebel soldiers who believe her to be a Spirit Child whose magical powers can protect them from harm. Frightened, she becomes withdrawn until, one day, a baby gorilla is brought to the camp to be sold to the highest bidder. Her determination to free the gorilla from captivity, and with help from Bobo, enables her to find the strength to make a decision that changes their lives. A moving, tragic and extraordinary story told in retrospect, once Imara is safe, it shows the importance valuing and caring for the natural world.
For even older readers…
Apple and Rain
Sarah Crossnan
Bloomsbury
Age 11+
Apple is desperate to be reunited with her mother who she hasn’t seen for a long time. She is convinced her life will be fine when they’re together again. But when her mother reappears, Apple’s life is turned upside down and she realises wishing isn’t enough. Apple tries to sort out the confusion in her life by writing it down in poems which we can read to understand the turmoil she experiences and the choices she has to make.
See here for trailer
And also for even older readers…
The Lie Tree Francis Hardinge, Chris Riddell (illus)
Macmillan
Age 12+ years (and adults!)
A dark, atmospheric mystery set in the exciting and rapidly changing Victorian world of science, religion and women’s lives. The extraordinary and strange Lie Tree becomes a compelling central element in Faith’s life of harsh reality where she struggles to discover the truth behind her father’s murder, through the only route available to her in her island community: spreading lies.
Winner of the UKLA 11-16 Fiction Award 2016
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