Children's authors slam celebrity-heavy World Book Day lineup | Books | The Guardian

Almond, who wrote the novel Island for this year's event, took to Facebook this weekend to ask "how it is that books by a clutch of celebrities could possibly be better than those by some of the wonderful children's authors at work today? ... I guess some folk might say I'm just being elitist or something if I start going on about the choices for next year, if I allow myself to think that the nation's children are being short-changed by this and that the nation's authors and illustrators are being scorned, if I wonder whether the choices show a lack of true seriousness and a narrow understanding of the importance of children's literary culture ... But what the hell. That's what I wonder, that's what I think."