Congratulations to all the winning authors and illustrators of this year’s UKLA Book Awards! Celebrating exceptional children’s books that have a powerful impact both in the classroom and on individual readers, the UKLA Book Awards are the only national children’s book awards that are judged entirely by teachers.

Giving classroom practitioners the opportunity to read and discuss new, high-quality children’s books is a key aspect of the UKLA Book Awards. This year, 87 teacher judges were involved in the judging process, with a final panel of twelve being nominated to choose the winners from this year’s shortlists. The awards are also shadowed by schools and student teachers around the UK.

Hot on the heels of its Carnegie Medal win, Margaret McDonald’s debut novel Glasgow Boys (Faber & Faber) was crowned the winner of the 11-14+ category by both the official judges and shadowers alike.

Judges and shadowers were also in agreement in the 3-6+ category, both voting for Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf by Craig Barr-Green, illustrated by Francis Martin (Little Tiger) as their winner.

In the 7-10+ category, the judges voted for Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan (Andersen Press), which tells the virtually unknown history of the Muslim community’s efforts to rescue Jews in Paris during WWII. However, it was The Wrong Shoes (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK ), Tom Percival’s authentic and relatable depiction of the impact of childhood poverty that scooped the prize in the Shadowers’ Choice Awards.

Described as an ‘essential resource’, the ‘fascinating and compelling’ Brilliant Black British History by Atinuke, illustrated by Kingsley Nebechi (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) was declared the winner of the Information Books 3-14+ category by teacher judges. For shadowers, it was Slug Life by Moesha Kellaway (Rocket Bird Books) that proved to be the winning title.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Chair of Judges Chris Lockwood said, ‘When our final panel of teacher judges met in Liverpool in May, they were faced with some very difficult decisions, because of the strength of all four shortlists.  They approached the tasks with their usual professionalism and a clear passion for and deep knowledge of children’s literature, especially the impact of these wonderful books on their young readers.  We are very proud of their choices.’

The UKLA is now looking to recruit judges for next year’s awards from Glasgow and the surrounding area. If you would be interested in taking part, you can find out more here.