The shortlists for this year’s UKLA Book Awards have been announced. The only national children’s book awards to be judged entirely by teachers, the awards celebrate children’s books that have a powerful impact both in the classroom and on individual readers.

While recent research (Cremin et al 2008) highlights the link between teachers’ own knowledge of children’s books and the likelihood of pupils reading for pleasure, teachers are seldom given time to develop their book knowledge. An important aspect of the UKLA Book Awards, therefore, is the opportunity they provide for practitioners to read and discuss high quality children’s books. Over the last few months, 87 teacher judges from the Liverpool area have been reading and discussing this year’s long-listed titles, whittling them down to six books for each of the four award categories:

• Fiction and Poetry for 3-6+ year-olds
• Fiction and Poetry for 7-10+ year-olds
• Fiction and Poetry for 11-14+ year-olds
• Information Books for 3-14+ year-olds

Commenting on this year’s judging, Awards Chair Chris Lockwood said: ‘From the moment the Book Awards team met our 2025 teacher judges and their group leaders in Liverpool last September, we knew that we were in for a treat. They were a reflective, informed and enthusiastic group, serious about the responsibility of choosing just six books from each of the four wonderful longlists. At the shortlisting meeting, it was a joy to hear teachers reflecting on the advice we had received from Dr. Darren Chetty and Nikki Gamble on “how to be a good judge”, and they certainly were. The Book Awards Team have  received a very warm welcome by everyone involved with children’s literature in Liverpool – the schools, the universities and other professionals involved in promoting the importance of Reading for Pleasure.’

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators!

Fiction and Poetry for 3-6+ year-olds

Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf  by Craig Barr-Green, illustrated by Francis Martin (Little Tiger)

There’s a Tiger on the Train by Mariesa Dulak, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb (Faber & Faber)

Mr Mornington’s Favourite Things by Karen George (Welbeck Children’s Books)

Geoffrey Gets the Jitters by Nadia Shireen (Puffin)

Listening to the Quiet by Cassie Silva, illustrated by Frances Ives (Lantana Publishing)

Salat in Scret by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Hatem Aly (Andersen Press)

Fiction and Poetry for 7-10 year-olds                                            

The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (Otter-Barry Books)

Stitch by Pádraig Kenny (Walker Books)

Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)

Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan (Andersen Press)

And I Climbed, And I Climbed by Stephen Lightbown, illustrated by Shih-Yu Lin (Troika Books)

The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)

Fiction and Poetry for 11-14+ year-olds                                          

The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)

The Boy Next Door by Jenny Ireland (Penguin)

If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)

King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Hot Key Books)

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald (Faber & Faber)

Keedie by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of)

Information Books for 3-14+ year-olds                                              

Brilliant Black British History by Atinuke, illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairy Tales by Catherine Cawthorne, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie  (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Wild Languages of Mother Nature by Gabby Dawnay, illustrated by Margaux Samson-Abadie ((Wide Eyed Editions)

Slug Life by Moesha Kellaway (Rocket Bird Books)

Homebody by Theo Parish (Macmillan)

Stones and Bones: Fossils and the Stories They Tell by Rob Wilshaw, illustrated by Sophie Williams (Cicada)

The four category winners will be announced at the UKLA International Conference taking place at John Moores University, Liverpool on 27th June.