The spread of nominations was dispersed across the entire shortlist this year, with each book being favoured by at least one group. However, the fight for top place was as close as ever, with only one vote separating first and second place.

Without further a-do, here is the final Top-5 rundown:

Winner - Her Mother’s Face by Roddy Doyle

2nd - Airman by Eoin Colfer

3rd (tied between) - Creature of the Night by Kate Thompson        

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

4th – The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers

5th – Highway Robbery by Kate Thompson

A huge THANK YOU to all of the groups who took part this year and returned their nominations to CBI. Fitting in so much reading in such a short space of time is not easy, but we hope that you found it an enjoyable and rewarding process. Congratulations also to Roddy Doyle, for coming out top amongst some very fierce competition!

Here are some of the comments we received from different groups about some of this year’s most popular books:

From the shadowing leader at Celbridge Library:

After an intense discussion, and a round of voting we have decided to nominate Her Mother's Face by Roddy Doyle as our choice. It averaged at a score of 9.1/10 and the children particularly like the illustrations, "the way her mother appeared to her when she was little and then she finally saw her face in the mirror" and especially the message to "put a feather in your knickers, Granda”

From the shadowing leader in St Fiachra's SNS, Dublin 5:

The book my fifth class have decided should win the Bisto is Her Mother's Face. They really enjoyed the realistic theme running through this book. It was simple and easy to read and the illustrations were very vivid and portrayed the story brilliantly. There is so much detail hidden in the illustrations and double-spread pages are used to great effect to convey the message of the story. It was a most enjoyable read!

From a young shadower in Drumcondra Library:

“Airman has everything: a good opening, an excellent plot, descriptions beyond belief and a very credible ending. Colfer has worked his genius again!"

From the shadowing leader in St Mary's Secondary School, Mallow:

Our choice was not a difficult one, 12 students took part and all voted for Bog Child. They said "brilliant", "couldn't put it down". What I found amazing was that none of the students knew about the Troubles and yet this did not hamper their reading.

From young shadowers at St Anne’s NS, Shankhill:

“Our winner is Creature of the Night! Congratulations!! It’s about a boy who is getting into trouble in Dublin so he and his Mum and little brother move up to Clare where strange things are happening.”
“A really interesting, captivating book. One of the best I have read.”
“The characters were exciting and got better and better going through the book”

Whether a young reader or a group leader, it is always great to hear your thoughts on the selected books, as well as the scheme as a whole. If you haven’t yet submitted feedback, please send us an email briefly outlining your experience of the process and any idea for how things could be improved next year.