Cast your vote for the best children’s book

MOST people fondly remember their childhood books, and now children and adults alike can cast their vote for their favourite Bisto Children’s Book of the Year winner from the past two decades.

Children’s Books Ireland — the organisers of the prestigious Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards — are inviting people to take a trip down memory lane and vote for their favourite winning title from the past 20 years in a Bisto Ballot.

The awards, now in their 21st year, are a celebration of children’s literature and illustration and are open to books written in English or Irish by authors and illustrators born or resident in Ireland and published between January 1 and December 31 each year.

The Bisto Ballot forms part of a travelling exhibition documenting the history of the awards and the previous winning titles, authors and illustrators. The exhibition will be located at The National Library until May 16, when it will then travel to a number of libraries across the country.

Director of Children’s Books Ireland Mags Walsh said that the exhibition and the Bisto Ballot has already attracted huge attention from people who remember whiling away school holidays and reading under the blankets fascinated by their favourite books.

“It is fascinating to see how children’s literature has changed over the past 21 years in terms of style, language and story lines. Today, for example, we see far more picture books than ever before and teen fiction has really come into its own.

“We’re looking forward to counting the votes and revealing Ireland’s favourite Bisto Children’s Book of the Year,” she said

The short-listed books for the 2011 Bisto awards are:

* A Bit Lost by Chris Haughton

* Dancing in the Dark by Peter Prendergast

* Mac Rí Éireann le Caitríona Hasting agus Andrew Whiton

* Prim Improper by Deirdre Sullivan

* Taking Flight by Sheena Wilkinson

* The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers

* The Lunatics Curse by FE Higgins

* The Owl and the Pussycat, illustrated by Kevin Waldron

* Tiny Little Fly illustrated by Kevin Waldron

* Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers

The 2011 winner will be announced on May 16.

* Ballot papers are available at childrensbooksireland.ie