This year’s selection of children’s books features stories with universal themes, cute dogs and reindeer, superb illustrations, and iconic Irish settings, says Emmet Arrigan

Adapted from the novel by Irvine Welsh, Filth (18s) opens with the murder of a Japanese student in Edinburgh in the run-up to Christmas.

Producer Charles Steel revealed he had been waiting since 2007 for then 12-year-old Irish actress Saoirse Ronan to grow up to give her the starring role in an adaptation of Meg Rosoff’s novel How I Live Now.

Things We Didn’t See Coming