It may be more than 50 years old but it has lost none of its magic: C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was this week voted the best children's book of all time, beating recent bestsellers such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (sixth) and The Gruffalo (tenth). The charity Booktrust polled 4,000 people to compile their top 50, which includes six books by Roald Dahl and five by Enid Blyton.

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At the tackier end of the book trade, the authors of a tribute to Anna Nicole Smith, the late model, are suing their own publisher. Anna Nicole Smith: Portrait of an Icon comes from the Corona imprint belonging to Jody “Babydol” Gibson, a former Hollywood “super madam”. But the authors Pol' Atteu and Patrik Simpson fell out with her, and are claiming damages. Atteu says: “She has no sensitivity to our departed friend. Her office address is a motel on Wilshire Boulevard.”

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The demand for most e-books is minuscule. But Oprah Winfrey can transform even this sluggish market. The talk show queen posted on her website a book called Women and Money by Suze Orman as a free digital file, and generated more than a million downloads. The experiment supports the view that the best way to sell books is to give them away: Women and Money is also at No 2 on the Amazon.com bestseller list.

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The most outstanding novel to have won the Booker Prize since its inception in 1969 will this year receive a one-off award, The Best of the Booker, in celebration of its 40th anniversary. Salman Rushdie was nominated Booker of Bookers with Midnight's Children in 1993, the 25th anniversary, but unlike then, the public will have a say in the matter on this occasion. A panel of judges chaired by Victoria Glendinning will announce a shortlist of six in May, with public voting to follow. Details on the Booker Prize website: www.themanbookerprize.com

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