Children's Books Of The Year: Robert Dunbar,commentator on children's books and reading, picks his top 30 titles of the past 12 months - in random order
Apache
By Tanya Landman (Walker, £6.99)
This challenging novel presents the often tragic story of a remarkable woman - Siki - as she and her tribe struggle for freedom and independence. (Age range: 14)
A World of Our Own
Various authors (Kids' Own, €10)
Children from Coolock, Dublin, display their poetry, prose and artwork in a vibrant celebration of youthful imaginations. (Age: eight)
Blood Red Snow White
Marcus Sedgwick (Orion, £9.99)
The Russian revolution as imagined through the eyes of children's writer Arthur Ransome is reconstructed in a brilliantly original novel. (Age: 14)
Blue Like Friday
By Siobhán Parkinson (Puffin, £4.99)
Hal, a boy with a highly idiosyncratic view of the world, copes with a father's death and a mother's new partner: a stylish, witty novel (Age: 12)
Finding Violet Park
By Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins, £10.99)
Sixteen-year-old Lucas confronts the mystery surrounding an abandoned urn of ashes and adds to his understanding of self and family. (Age: 14)
Great Joy
By Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
(Walker, £10.99)
A little girl's compassion for a poor organ-grinder is the starting point for a touching Christmas story of sharing and generosity. (Age: six)
Here Lies Arthur
By Philip Reeve (Scholastic, £12.99)
Arthurian legend is given sparkling reinvention in a novel which convincingly suggests its relevance to the 21st century. (Age: 12)
Iggy Peck, Architect
By Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
(Abrams, £7.95)
A clever rhyming text combines with stunning artwork in a picture book celebrating childhood aspirations. (Age: four)
Monkey and Me
By Emily Gravett (Macmillan, £9.99)
A little girl and her toy monkey visit the zoo in a simply told, but totally diverting, story. (Age: four)
My Dad's a Birdman
By David Almond, illustrated Polly Dunbar (Walker,
£8.99)
This delightful fable of a father keen to enter the "Great Human Bird Competition" is both poignant and light-hearted. (Age: eight)
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat
By Chris Riddell (Macmillan, £8.99)
In Riddell's witty words and drawings Big City dognappings are investigated by the ever-resourceful Ottoline. (Age: eight)
Pippi Longstocking
By Astrid Lindgren, illustrated Lauren Child
(Oxford, £14.99)
The 9-year-old heroine's delightful individuality lives once again in Child's exuberant, mischievous pictures. (Age: eight)
Rainbow's End
By Joan O'Neill (Hodder, £5.99)
Teenage Irish emigrant Ellie learns that chasing the American dream will have its disappointments - and its rewards. (Age: 14)
Red, Cherry Red
By Jackie Kay, illustrated by Rob Ryan (Bloomsbury,
£6.99)
Places and personalities are the dominant themes of this excellent and wide-ranging collection of poems. (Age: 12)
Skulduggery Pleasant
By Derek Landy (HarperCollins, £6.99)
Sharp-talking 12-year-old Stephanie entertainingly joins forces with skeletal detective in a magical, mystery Dublin romp. (Age: 10)
Tamburlaine's Elephants
By Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne, £10.99)
14th-century India provides the background for a thought-provoking story of friendship developing in the middle of apparent enmity. (Age: 12)
Thanks for Telling Me, Emily
By Deirdre Madden (Orchard, £9.99)
Helping out in her aunt's pet shop, a little girl discovers the weird ways of animals and humans alike. (Age: eight)
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
By MT Anderson (Walker, £7.99)
This genuinely "astonishing" novel, set in pre-Independence America, focuses on the complexities of slavery and its historical and contemporary repercussions. (Age: 16)
The Boyhood of Burglar Bill
By Allan Ahlberg (Puffin, £8.99)
The author's childhood in the 1950s is brought to life in a telling mixture of humour and poignancy. (Age: eight)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
By Brian Selznick (Scholastic, £12.99)
Text and illustration, both drawing on cinematic techniques, detail an orphan's search for his missing uncle: a strikingly original mode of storytelling. (Age: 10)
The Last of the High Kings
By Kate Thompson (The Bodley Head, £12.99)
Imaginary and realistic worlds effortlessly coalesce in this Connemara story of 11-year-old "intractable" Jenny and her search for friendship and understanding. (Age: 12)
The London Eye Mystery
By Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling, £8.99)
Brother and sister Ted and Kat, in a novel of extraordinarily clever plotting by Dowd, who died in August, address the mystery of a disappearing cousin. (Age: 10)
The Museum Book
By Jan Mark, illustrated by Richard Holland (Walker,
£12.99)
Elegance in style and illustration highlights a clever, original guide to museums and their purposes. (Age: 10)
The Silver Notebook
By Enda Wyley (O'Brien, €7.95)
A boy's love of words and his ambitions to be a writer are skilfully blended with his search for a missing father. (Age: 10)
The Squirrel Wife
By Philippa Pearce, illustrated by Wayne Anderson
(Walker, £10.99)
Handsome presentation and delicate artwork enhance this reissue of Pearce's charmingly narrated fairy tale. (Age: six)
The Story of Ireland
By Brendan O'Brien, illustrated by The Cartoon
Studio (O'Brien, €19.95)
Some 9,000 years of Irish history are colourfully and humorously delineated in an ambitiously conceived and successfully executed "story". (All ages)
Tunnels
By Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams (Chicken
House, £6.99)
Fourteen-year-old Will and his friend Chester disinter some murky secrets lying at "the very heart of the Earth". (Age: 12)
Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror
By Chris Priestley, illustrated David Roberts (Bloomsbury,
£9.99)
Deliciously spooky stories are narrated by an enigmatic uncle to a distant nephew. (Age: 12)
What I Was
By Meg Rosoff (Penguin, £10.99)
A centenarian narrator recalls the summer when he was 16 and his meeting with the beautiful Finn: this exquisitely written novel, complete with amazing twist, is the "teenage" book of the year. (Age: 15)
Wilderness
By Roddy Doyle (Scholastic, £12.99)
Doyle's story - the most impressive Irish children's novel of the year - combines elements of high boyish adventure with sharp insights into family life. (Age:12)