The Wainwright Prizes are the UK’s foremost book awards celebrating nature, conservation and environmental writing. Named in honour of writer and fellwalker Alfred Wainwright, the award was established in 2013 to shine a spotlight on nature writing and to inspire readers to connect more deeply with the natural world.

From a single prize for nature writing for adults, the award has grown in reach to comprise six distinct categories, with a dedicated Children’s Prize covering children’s fiction, non-fiction and picture books added in 2025. The shortlists for all six categories were released in early August, chosen by individual judging panels made up of authors and illustrators, booksellers, television presenters and experts from nature charities.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Alastair Giles, the Wainwright Prize director, said: ‘As the Wainwright Prize enters its second decade, the need to celebrate the best in nature and conservation writing has only grown stronger. While the challenges facing our planet have never been more urgent, we’ve also seen an inspiring surge of enthusiasm from readers. The prize aims to continue motivating people to reconnect with the environment, both physically and intellectually. With this year’s expansion to six categories, we’re especially excited to reflect the evolving landscape of environmental storytelling and champion work that engages younger generations in the care and protection of the natural world. We’re eager to see which books from our 2025 shortlist will resonate with readers and inspire action.’

There will be two winning titles for this year’s award – one for adult writing and one for children’s writing. The 2025 Wainwright Prize Book of the Year and the 2025 Children’s Wainwright Prize Book of the Year will be announced at an award ceremony on 10th September.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators!

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Fiction  

Ghostlines by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Land of the Last Wildcat by Lui Sit, illustrated by David Dean (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Ettie and the Midnight Pool by Julia Green, illustrated by Pam Smy (David Fickling Books)

Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto (Pushkin Children’s Books)

Wildlands by Brogen Murphy (Puffin Books)

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Non-Fiction

National Trust: Look What I Found by the River by Moira Butterfield, illustrated by Jesús Verona (Nosy Crow)

University of Cambridge: Think Big! Secrets of Bees by Ben Hoare, illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti (Nosy Crow)

MEGA by Jules Howard, illustrated by Gavin Scott (Nosy Crow)

Cloudspotting for Beginners by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, illustrated by William Grill (Particular Books)

Wildlife in the Balance by Dr Sharon Wismer, illustrated by Terri Po (Flying Eye Books)

Hamza’s Wild World by Hamza Yassin, illustrated by Louise Forshaw (Macmillan Children’s Books)

The Children’s Wainwright Prize for Picture Books  

Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang (Puffin Books)

The World to Come by Robert Macfarlane and Johnny Flynn, illustrated by Emily Sutton (Magic Cat Publishing)

The Wild by Yuval Zommer (Oxford University Press)

Leave the Trees, Please by Benjamin Zephaniah, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon (Magic Cat Publishing)

Frog by Isabel Thomas, illustrated by Daniel Egnéus (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

HERD by Stephen Hogtun (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

Bothered by Bugs by Emily Gravett (Two Hoots)

You can see the shortlists for the adults categories here.