Monday sees the announcement of the winner of the 21st Children's Book of the Year Award. ANNA CAREYassesses the shortlist
FANTASY, TRAGEDY, humour, little owls falling out of trees: there’s something for everyone in this year’s Bisto Children’s Book of the Year shortlist, which celebrates the best in Irish children’s literature.
The Bisto awards, open to writers and illustrators born or resident in Ireland, will be presented on Monday at the National Library. The 10 shortlisted titles will compete for six awards, including the Eilís Dillon Award for debut authors or illustrators, the Children’s Choice Award and, of course, the coveted Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Award, the winner of which will receive €10,000, from a total prize fund of €19,000.
With past winners across the categories including John Boyne, Siobhán Parkinson, Roddy Doyle, Eoin Colfer and Kate Thompson, these gongs have been highlighting the importance of Irish children’s books for more than two decades. It is heartening to see that, despite the bleak economic climate, Children’s Books Ireland and Bisto are still committed to supporting children’s authors and illustrators with a respected annual prize that stands proudly beside such established honours as the US’s Newbery Medal and Britain’s Carnegie and Kate Greenaway awards.
Sheena Wilkinson's gripping Taking Flight(Little Island, €9.99) is the story of two very different Belfast teenagers. The troubled Declan lives with his depressive, alchoholic mother in a rundown housing estate; his cousin Vicky lives just a few kilometres away in an affluent suburb. When Declan's mother is hospitalised he goes to stay with his cousin and, to his surprise, bonds with her horse, Flight. Told by each cousin in turn, it's a powerful and convincing debut novel.
There are more family problems in FE Higgins's The Lunatic's Curse(Macmillan, £9.99), the fourth book in the Tales from the Sinister City series. It's a gleefully macabre tale of madness, elaborate inventions, lunatic asylums and cannibalism that, like many of the children's gothic novels that have appeared in recent years, all feels a bit forced.
Dancing in the Dark,by PR Prendergast (O'Brien Press, €7.99), is the story of Jessie, whose rugby-star brother, James, has been killed in an accident. While her shell-shocked parents struggle to cope, Jessie is comforted by the fact that she can still see and talk to her dead brother, who encourages her to defy the bullies who are trying to push her out of her school's dance team. Though the plot feels slightly contrived at times, this is still a sensitive, poignant look at grief as well as a readable story with a sympathetic heroine.
Bereavement is also a central theme in Deirdre Sullivan's Prim Improper (Little Island, €7.99), the best children's-fiction debut I've read in a long time. Its narrator, Primrose, is facing big changes: she's starting secondary school and has moved in with her annoying dad after the death of her mother. But despite the potentially grim subject matter, Prim Improperis a very funny book, featuring moustachioed babies, a charismatic pet rat and a hugely appealing narrator. Few authors can write hilarious books about serious subjects without awkward shifts in tone, but Sullivan pulls it off brilliantly.
This year's shortlist also includes some fantastic picture books that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. A Bit Lost,by Chris Haughton (Walker Books, £11.99), is an utterly delightful book about a lost owl. When Little Owl tumbles out of his nest the forest animals help him to find his mummy again, but they make a few mistakes along the way. There's a hint of 1970s wallpaper about Haughton's appealing artwork, and the repetitive language should delight small children.
The sole title as Gaeilge on the shortlist is the beautifully designed Mac Rí Éireann, by Caitríona Hastings and Andrew Whitson (An tSnáthaid Mhór, €14.99). The hyperdetailed pencil artwork isn't to my taste, but, combined with the exciting story of a king's son who is cast out from his kingdom, it should win over many reluctant Irish readers.
The illustrator Kevin Waldron is represented twice on the shortlist. Tiny Little Fly(Walker Books, £11.99), his collaboration with the former British children's laureate Michael Rosen, is the story of a fly that effortlessly eludes all the giant jungle animals. Rosen's lively text, a joy to read aloud, is perfectly matched by Waldron's bold artwork, which brings the wild beasts to vivid life.
Waldron depicts some very different animals in a new edition of Edward Lear's poem The Owl and the Pussycat(Simon and Schuster, £5.99), which extends the story of the unusual couple with a new verse by Angela McAllister. Waldron's funny, bright pictures – the owl and the pussycat's departure from a city port is particularly charming – are a perfect match for Lear's timeless tale.
The Belfast author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers also has two books on the shortlist. And rightly so, because his deceptively complex stories are both a joy to look at and a pleasure to read. The Heart and the Bottle(HarperCollins, £6.99), in which a girl seals her heart in a bottle after a bereavement only to discover that she can no longer feel strongly about anything, is a poignant account of loss and hope reborn.
Up and Down(Harper Collins, £6.99) is the sequel to Jeffers's hugely popular Lost and Found. A nameless small boy and his penguin pal spend all their time together until one day the penguin is gripped by the urge to fly. Without saying a word to the boy the flightless fowl runs away to join the circus, leaving his friend heartbroken. But the boy is still there to catch the penguin when he falls.
Jeffers’s artwork, with its warm orange colours and simple but expressive figures, is always a joy, but the story’s real charm lies in the touching relationship between penguin and boy.
THE HIGH QUALITYof the shortlist (with the possible exception of The Lunatic's Curse) is a testament not just to Irish creative talent but to indigenous publishers, such as Little Island and O'Brien Press, that have been encouraging and promoting Irish children's literature for years, nurturing many writers who have moved on to international fame.
It's hard to predict an overall winner, especially when picture books are competing with text-based stories. However, although both of Oliver Jeffers's books are outstanding, the writer who stands out as an obvious potential Bisto book-of-the-year winner is Deirdre Sullivan for Prim Improper, an impressively assured and hilarious debut novel. It is one of the most entertaining books, Irish or international, that I've read this year.
Anna Carey is a journalist and author. Her debut novel for young adults,
The Real Rebecca
, was published this spring
