2017’s been a busy year for favourite children’s author Philip Ardagh, not only has he penned several new children’s stories, including two books with the National Trust (The Secret Diary of Jane Pinny and The Secret Diary of John Drawbridge), he’s also written a sumptuous introduction to Tove Jansson’s Moomins, The World of Moominvalley. If all that weren’t enough, he’s been taking his famous white beard on tour to Lapland, stepping in as Father Christmas’s lookalike during the festive season. So we’re particularly grateful that the elves have given him some time off from feeding the reindeer to select his pick of the best books of 2017 for us.