Chris Soul

2020 has been quite the year - in more ways than one. But children's books have yet again provided hope, escapism, adventure and places to go to help us understand the world around us. I have read near to 60 books this year and trying to put together a Top 20 is incredibly hard. Pretty much all the books I've read this year have been brilliant - I'm sorry, I can't help but love them! The books here, though, are the ones that have stayed with me for some reason. Sometimes it's because they've held an imaginative power but often it's because they've opened my eyes to the world a little more, whether it's seeing through the eyes of a refugee, a girl with autism or a hero in Scotia who has Down's Syndrome. What all the books possess is an abundance of hope - in friendship, courage and faith in brighter, more understanding and emphatic futures. And how we need that!

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Thanks to all the authors and publishers who have sent me copies to review. If you send them, I will rave about them! Here's to more fabulous children's books in 2021!