When JK Rowling generously bowed Harry Potter out of contention for this year's Nestles Smarties Book Prize which he had won for three year's running, she left the field wide open. This year's shortlist, drawn up by a panel of adults from which children will choose the gold medal winners, represents the breadth and quality of current children's books. The judges said: "A first class field of contenders that bodes well for the future of children's books. The final shortlist is varied and offers something for every child to read." The shortlist is as follows:
5 Years and under:
A brief collection of simple, if gawky lullabies, Husherbye (Cape, £9.99) shows John Burningham's exceptional ability to blur reality and fantasy. It is both reassuring and teasingly provocative, encouraging even very young children to question the world around them.
Super-heroes Mum and Dad, fly effortlessly across the big pages in Bob Graham's Max (Walker, £9.99), while their son remains firmly grounded. Bold illustrations capture the agonies of a child failing to live up to parental expectations, and the bliss when he is finally airborne.
Satoshi Kitamura's delight in the wilder flights of imagination is much in evidence in Me and My Cat? (Andersen, £9.99). After a midnight visit from an old lady in pointed hat, it's hard to tell which is Nicholas and which is his cat. Excellent visual jokes juxtapose well with a straightforward text.
6-8 Years:
Award-winning Lauren Child skates effortlessly across visual and textual boundaries to create dazzlingly original Beware of the Storybook Wolves (Hodder Children's Books, £9.99). When Herb accidentally lets the wolves out of his story book, he has to work like crazy to keep them happy. Forget safe bedtime stories; books can be dangerous!
Tony Mitton's accessible poems tell three separate stories in The Red and White Spotted Handkerchief (Scholastic, £9.99). Having nothing to lose Jack, in the title story, sets off with all his belongs tied up in a handkerchief. Kept going by his wits and his kindness, his magical adventures are neatly encapsulated.
Lizzie's stubbornness with a new step-family is perfectly captured by Jacqueline Wilson in Lizzie Zipmouth (Corgi, £3.99). Lizzie refuses to speak until she finds something that is so important she must break her vow of silence.
9-11 Years:
Snapshots of life in the Middle Ages are made earthily realistic in Kevin Crossley-Holland's Arthur: The Seeing Stone (Orion, £10.99). Woven in to the picture is a contemporary Arthur who dreams of Arthurian myths and his possible role in them.
Two shots fired from a car change life forever for Sade and Femi in Beverley Naidoo's The Other Side of Truth (Puffin, £4.99). For their safety they must flee Nigeria for Britain. This child view of refugees and asylum seekers is a valuable antidote to scaremongering.
William Nicholson wittily parodies current preoccupation with testing in The Wind Singer Mammoth, (£12.99). Kestrel Hath's quest to discover the evil power controlling the walled city of Aramanth, where exams are everything, is high quality adventure.
The prizewinners will be announced on November 29, 2000.
