More Top Lists

Here's another "best of the books" list, this time from Canada. The great thing about Canadian lists is that you can see the best of all English-language titles, as they publish a variety of books from the U.S., Australia, the U.K., and, of course, Canada.

"Sounds Like Canada" included a story on the best children's books of the year on December 11, this year focusing on Young Adult fiction. "Phyllis Simon, Michele Landsberg, and Ken Setterington join [host] Shelagh to tell her what's great for this year." Here's what they chose:

Phyllis Simon's picks:
Ziggy and the Plugfish, Jonathan Harlen
Alone on a Wide Wide Sea, Michael Morpurgo
The Talent Thief, Alex Williams
Gatty's Tale, Kevin Crossley-Holland
The Story of Salt, Mark Kurlansky

Michele Landsberg's picks
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
The Thief, The King of Attolia, The Queen of Attolia, Megan Whalen Turner
Kids Cook 1-2-3, Rozanne Gold
Clementine, Sara Pennypacker

Ken Setterington's picks
A Very Fine Line, Julie Johnston
Skinnybones and the Wrinkle Queen, Glen Huser
Hello, Groin, Beth Goobie
The Little Black Book for Girlz, by youth for youth
I Found a Deadbird: The Kids' Guide to the Cycle of Life and Death, Jan Thornhill

Here's a link to the program log. Thanks to Kathleen for the link!

Richard and Judy's Picture Book picks

Richard and Judy, Britain's answer to Oprah in terms of booksales, have selected their top five picture books of the season.

The number one book is Calm Down Boris!, by Stella Gurney and illustrated by Sam Lloyd. The shortlist consisted of Calm Down Boris! and the following four titles:

• Augustus and His Smile, by Catherine Rayner


• Incredible Book-Eating Boy, by Oliver Jeffers


• Scaredy Squirrel, by Melanie Watt


• That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown, by Cressida Cowell, illustrated by Neal Layton

Seven authors and illustrators must be very happy at the moment. This is the list to be on in terms of book sales.