IRISH AUTHOR Eoin Colfer’s bestseller Artemis Fowl has been voted Britain’s all-time favourite Puffin book, beating classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Stig of the Dump for the accolade.
Colfer’s book was chosen by some 68 per cent of those who voted in an online poll organised by Puffin to mark the 70th anniversary of the children’s books publisher. The result came as a surprise to the Wexford author, who said he was “over the moon” at the news.
“Once you see Roald Dahl on a list, you just write yourself off immediately,” he said. Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory came in a distant second with 13 per cent of the vote. “I’m alive and I’ve a mailing list, so that was a bit of an advantage,” said Colfer, “but my mailing list isn’t that big!”
He described the award as “the most important” of all the prizes he’s won in his professional life.
Puffin had offered readers a selection of seven books, one from each decade of its existence, from which to choose a winner, to be crowned “the Puffin of Puffins”. Over 10,000 votes were cast, with Colfer’s story not only beating Dahl’s acclaimed children’s classic, but also The Family from One End Street by Eve Garnett, Charlotte’s Web by EB White, Stig of the Dump by Clive King, Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian and The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong.
The 45-year-old writer said it was a thrill for him to appear on the list with such prestigious names. “Stig of the Dump, I’ve often said, is my favourite book for 10-year-olds. I remember my mother gave it to me when I was sick one week, and I read it three times.” Colfer said that having his book published by Puffin was an honour in itself.
“In a way that gives the book a different life, because it’s forever now in the box set with Treasure Island, Stig and Wind in the Willows, and for me it gives it a history and a permanence that I never thought it would get,” he said. “It’s a pat on the shoulder that goes on for decades, rather than weeks.”
Published in 2001, Artemis Fowl was Colfer’s first story in a series about a young criminal mastermind who starts out by kidnapping a fairy to rebuild his family fortune. The Artemis Fowl books have sold some 20 million copies worldwide, with Colfer’s work published in 44 countries. Managing editor of Puffin Books Francesca Dow described Artemis Fowl as “inventive, fast, funny and written in such an engagingly fresh way. Artemis Fowl is very much a book for the 21st century.”
Its author planned to celebrate his win in his home town of Wexford last night. “I am going out for a pint with a couple of my mates, so we’ll definitely be saluting Puffin readers!”