2025 UKLA Book Awards longlists announced

The longlists for the UKLA Book Awards, which covers books for ages 3-14+ years, have been announced and, say the judges, exemplify the award criteria's aim of 'encouraging teachers' knowledge of high-quality children's books, that can reflect all identities and promote diversity.'

The lists are chosen by panels composed of experienced past teacher judges, ex-teachers, librarians, and consultants. A total of 470 books were submitted across the four categories of these awards. 

Some 40 publishing houses are represented in the longlists, and alongside the larger publishing groups are independent publishers Rocket Bird Books, The Neem Tree Press, Alanna Max and Greystone and a range of successful small imprints including Lantana, Guppy Books, Scallywag Press, Troika, Cicada and Knights Of. 

The longlists will now be read by teams of teacher judges and their group leaders in Liverpool and the North-West, and shared with their classes.  This year there are 87 judges covering the four categories and they have until mid-March to read the longlisted books, discuss them with their group leaders, and share them with pupils. All the groups will then meet to select the shortlist, with six books in each category.

60 schools will be involved in the judging process.  Headteachers welcomed the opportunity to receive new books for their schools and for their teachers to widen their knowledge of recent children's titles and in some cases have teachers across the whole school involved. 

For UKLA, giving classroom practitioners the opportunity to read a selection of new children's books is as important as finding an overall winner. Research carried out by members of UKLA (Cremin et al 2008) clearly demonstrated the links between teachers' knowledge of children's books and the likelihood of pupils becoming successful readers.  Despite this evidence, teachers are seldom given time to read new books or the funding to purchase them when they do.  This research directly inspired the creation of the UKLA Book Awards, which were awarded for the first time in 2008.

Longlist 3-6+

I Want a Dog by Jon Agee (Scallywag Press)
Gigantic by Rob Biddulph (HarperCollins)
Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf by Craig Barr-Green, illus Francis Martin (Little Tiger Press)
Doris by Lo Cole (Rocket Bird Books)
The Magic Callaloo by Trish Cooke, illus Sophie Bass (Walker Books)
Beneath Written by Cori Doerrfeld (Scallywag Press)
There's A Tiger on The Train by Mariesa Dulak, illus Rebecca Cobb (Faber)
Grey by Laura Dockrill, illus Lauren Child (Walker Books)
The Golden Hare by Paddy Donnelly (The O'Brien Press)
Champ by Payam Ebrahimi, illustrated by Reza Dalvand and translated by Caroline Croskery (Aldana Libros)
Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang (Pushkin Press)
Let's Go! haw êkwa! by Julie Flett (Greystone Books)
Mr Mornington's Favourite Things by Karen George (Welbeck)
Stop! That's Not My Story by Smriti Halls, illus Erika Meza (Simon & Schuster)
I Love Books by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Frances Lincoln)
Lulu's Nana Visits by Anna McQuinn, illus Rosalind Beardshaw (Alanna Max)
Poetry is Not for Me! by Joshua Seigal, illus Rebecca Burgess (Collins)
Geoffrey Gets the Jitters by Nadia Shireen (Puffin)
Listening to the Quiet by Cassie Silva, illus Frances Ives (Lantana)
Salat in Secret by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illus Hatem Aly (Andersen Press)
The Elephant and the Sea by Ed Vere (Puffin)
The Starling's Song by Octavie Wolters, illus Michele Hutchinson (Pushkin Press)

Longlist 7-10+

Puppet by David Almond, illus Lizzy Stewart (Walker Books)
Little House by Katya Balen, illus Richard Johnson (Barrington Stoke)
The Wonder Brothers by Frank Cottell-Boyce, illus Steven Lenton (Macmillan)
Mis Mary-Kate Martin's Guide to Monsters: The Wrath of the Woolington Worm by Karen Foxlee, illus Freda Chiu (Pushkin Press)
The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow, illus Joe Todd-Stanton (Otter-Barry Books)
Stitch by Pádraig Kenny (Walker Books)
Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler (Simon & Schuster)
Safiyah's War by Hiba Noor Khan (Andersen Press)
And I Climbed And I Climbed by Stephen Lightbown, illus Shih-Yu Lin (Troika Books)
On Poetry Street by Brian Moses, illus Mark Elvins (Scallywag Press)
The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
The Boy Who Made Monsters by Jenny Pearson, illus Katie Kear (Usborne)
Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell, illus Tomislav Tomić (Bloomsbury)
The Letter with the Golden Stamp by Onjali Q Raúf (Orion)
The Clockwork Conspiracy by Sam Sedgman (Bloomsbury)
Murray and Bun: Murray the Viking by Adam Stower (HarperCollins)
Pizza Pete and the Perilous Potions by Carrie Sellon, illus Sarah Horne (Guppy Books)
Greenwild: The World Behind the Door by Pari Thomson, illus Elisa Paganelli (Macmillan)
Norah's Ark by Victoria Williamson (Neem Tree Press)
Quiet Storm. Written by Kimberly Whittam (Usborne)

Longlist 11- 14+

This Book Won't Burn by Samira Ahmed (Atom)
Bird Boy by Catherine Bruton (Nosy Crow)
You Could Be So Pretty by Holly Bourne (Usborne)
I Am Wolf by Alastair Chisholm (Nosy Crow)
Sing If You Can't Dance by Alexia Casale (Faber)
Where The Heart Should Be by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
Eddy, Eddy by Kate De Goldi (Old Barn Books)
Electric Life by Rachel Delahaye (Troika)
Finding Phoebe by Gavin Extence (Andersen Press)
Northern Soul by Phil Earle (Barrington Stoke)
The Things We Leave Behind by Clare Furniss (Simon & Schuster)
Noah Frye Gets Crushed by Maggie Horne (Firefly Press)
The Boy Next Door by Jenny Ireland (Penguin)
If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster)
The Grimmelings by Rachael King (Guppy Books)
King of Nothing by Nathaneal Lessore (Hot Key Books)
Little Bang by Kelly McCaughrain (Walker Books)
Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald (Faber)
Keedie by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of)
Louder Than Hunger by John Schu (Walker Books)

Longlist Information Books 3-14+

Stand Up and Speak Out Against Racism by Yassmin Abdel-Magied, illus by Aleesha Nandhra (Walker Books)
Brilliant Black British History by Atinuke, illus by Kingsley Nebechi (Bloomsbury)
Lads by Alan Bisset (Wren & Rook)
Wildlife Crossings by Catherine Barr and illustrated by Christiane Engel (Otter-Barry Books)
Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairy Tales by Catherine Cawthorne, illus Sara Ogilvie (Bloomsbury)
Wild languages of Mother Nature by Gabby Dawnay, illus by Margaux Samson- Abadie (Wide Eyed Editions)
Tasty Tales by Anna Lena Feunekes (UCLan)
Against The Odds by Alastair Humphreys, illus Pola Mai (Templar)
Story of Now by Shelina Janmohamed, illus Laura Greenan (Welbeck)
Slug Life by Moesha Kellaway (Rocket Bird Books)
Measuring Me by Nicola Kent (Little Tiger Press)
Explodapedia: Rewild by Ben Martynoga, illus Moose Allain (David Fickling Books)
This Book Will Make You An Artist by Ruth Millington, illus Ellen Surrey (Nosy Crow)
Homebody by Theo Parish (Macmillan)
Stolen History by Sathnam Sanghera, illus Jen Khatun (Puffin)
Welcome to the Arts: Dance by Sir Alistair Spalding, illus Jason Raish (Big Picture Press )
Wilding by Isabella Tree, illus Angela Harding (Macmillan)
Rise Up and Sing by Andrea Warner, illus Louise Reimer (Greystone)
Mission Arctic by Katherine Weiss-Tuider, illus Christiane Schneider (Greystone)
Stones and Bones by Rob Wilshaw, illus Sophie Williams (Cicada)

@The_UKLA #UKLA25 #teachersbookawards

2024 Winners
3-6+
The Hare-Shaped Hole by John Dougherty, illus Thomas Docherty (Frances Lincoln)
7-10+
Wildsmith: Into the Dark Forest written by Liz Flanagan, illus Joe Todd-Stanton (UCLan)
11-14+
Crossing The Line by Tia Fisher ( Hot Key Books)
Information Books 3-14+
The Boy Who Didn't Want to Die by Peter Lantos (Scholastic)

2023 Winners
3-6+
Flooded by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Frances Lincoln)
7-10+
The Light in Everything by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury)
11-14+
The Crossing by Manjeet Mann (Penguin)
Information Books 3-14+
Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs by Jeffrey Boakye, illus Ngadi Smart (Faber)
Highly Commended
Here and Queer by Rowan Ellis, illus Jacky Sheridan (Frances Lincoln)