Here is the round-up of books that appear on the Book Week 2017 Short List for the Picture Book of the Year category.

Please note: quite a few of these books are new to me so I have taken the summaries from other sources until I can get hold of the books.

One Photo
Author: Ross Watkins
Illustrator: Liz Mielli

This moving picture book about family, the failings of memory and the strength of love. Told in stunning prose, with poignant artwork, this book is a celebration of what we hold dearest.






Mechanica
Author & Illustrator: Lance Balchin

At the end of the 23rd Century, Earth can no longer support wildlife. The warnings have been ignored.As many Earth species begin to disappear, a new form of life emerges as clever human designers create robotic creatures in a nostalgic link to the past. Collectors and sanctuariesacross the globe collect and display these Mechanica for the general public's enjoyment. But something goes terribly wrong. 


Home in the Rain
Author & Illustrator: Bob Graham

Francie and her mum, who is expecting a baby girl, are driving home from Grandma's in the heavy rain. When they're still far from home, they stop for a picnic. And as the car steams up, Francie presses her little finger on the window, spelling out "Daddy" and "Mummy" and leaving one space free, ready and waiting for the name of her soon-to-be sister.




My Brother
Author: Oliver Huxley
Illustrator: Dee Huxley and Tiffany Huxley

When a gentle creature sets out to search for a lost brother, we are taken on an ethereal journey across land and sea to strange, beautiful and faraway places.






The Patchwork Bike
Author: Maxine Beneba Clarke
Illustrator: Van T. Rudd

When you live in a village at the edge of the No-Go Desert, you need to make your own fun. That's when you and your brothers get inventive and build a bike from scratch, using everyday items like an old milk pot (maybe mum is still using it, maybe not) and a used flour sack. You can even make a numberplate from bark, if you want. The end result is a spectacular bike, perfect for going bumpity-bump over sandhills, past your fed-up mum and right through your mud-for-walls home. 


Out
Author: Angela May George
Illustrator: Owen Swan

'I'm called an asylum seeker, but that's not my name.' A little girl and her mother have fled their homeland, making the long and treacherous journey by boat to seek asylum. Timely, powerful and moving, Out celebrates the triumph of the human spirit in the darkest times, and the many paths people take to build a new life.