UKLA Book Awards 2019 longlists announced

The longlists for the UKLA Book Awards 2019 are announced today, including books in translation, poetry, verse novels and nonfiction titles for children aged three to 16 years. Teachers will decide the shortlists and winning books from each category.

The shortlists will be announced in April 2019 and the winners on July 12th 2019. The awards can be followed at: @The_UKLA (#UKLA19 #teachersbookawards). This year's teacher judges come from the Midlands region around Sheffield since the 2019 UKLA International Conference, at which the winners are announced, will be held at Sheffield Hallam University. There are 10 groups of judges covering the three age categories. They will read the longlisted books, discuss them with their group leaders, and share them with pupils. All groups will then meet together to choose their shortlist of six books in each category. UKLA says it values the opportunity to give classroom practitioners the opportunity to read new children's books following research carried out by members of UKLA (Cremin et al 2008) showing the links between teachers' knowledge of children's books and the likelihood of pupils becoming successful readers. Of particular note for UKLA in this year's longlisting has been the success of small publishing houses like Sweet Apple Publishing, Laurence King, Pushkin Press, Barrington Stoke, Otter-Barry Books, Gecko Press and Tiny Owl. LONGLIST 3-6 years Do Not Lick this Book by Idan Ben-Barak, illus Julian Frost (Allen and Unwin) Luna Loves Library Day by Joseph Coelho, illus Fiona Lumbers (Andersen Press) After the Fall by Dan Santat (Andersen Press) The New Neighbours by Sarah McIntyre (David Fickling Books) The Old Man by Sarah V, illus Claude Dubois, trans Daniel Hahn (Gecko Press) Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins) The Lost Wolf by Mini Grey (Jonathan Cape) Bob's Blue Period by Marion Deuchars (Laurence King) Stardust by Jeanne Willis, illus Briony May Smith (Nosy Crow) This Zoo is Not for You by Ross Collins (Nosy Crow) The Squirrels Who Squabbled by Rachel Bright, illus Jim Field (Orchard Books) The Big Book of the Blue by Yuval Zommer (Thames and Hudson) The Drum by Ken Wilson-Max, illus Catell Ronca (Tiny Owl Publishing) I Am Bat by Morag Hood (Two Hoots) The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse by Mac Barnett, illus Jon Klassen (Walker) Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke, illus Angela Brooksbank (Walker) We Travel So Far by Laura Knowles, illus Chris Madden (Words and Pictures) LONGLIST 7-11 years The Chinese Emperor's New Clothes by Ying Chang Compestine, illus David Roberts (Abrams Books for Young Readers) The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, illus Hannah Horn (Bloomsbury) The Children of Castle Rock by Natasha Farrant (Faber) Running on Empty by S. E. Durrant, illus Rob Biddulph (Nosy Crow) Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend, illus Beatriz Castro (Orion) Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Orion) Riding a Donkey Backwards by Sean Taylor and Khayaal Theatre, illus Shirin Adl (Otter-Barry Books) Overheard in a Tower Block by Joseph Coelho, illus Kate Milner (Otter-Barry Books) Sky Dancer by Gill Lewis (Oxford University Press) The Wild Robot by Peter Brown (Piccadilly Press) Boy 87 by Ele Fountain (Pushkin Press) The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius, illus Peter Graves (Pushkin Press) All the Things That Could Go Wrong by Stewart Foster (Simon and Schuster) The Muslims by Zanib Mian (Sweet Apple Books) Kick by Mitch Johnson (Usborne Publishing) The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson, illus lisa Paganelli (Usborne Publishing) Three Cheers for Women! by Marcia Williams (Walker) LONGLIST 12-16 years Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls (Andersen Press) Rook by Anthony McGowan (Barrington Stoke) Moonrise by Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury) We See Everything by William Sutcliffe (Bloomsbury) Thornhill by Pam Smy (David Fickling Books) Mike by Andrew Norris (David Fickling Books) The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (Egmont Electric Monkey) Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, illus Chris Priestly (Faber) The Colour of the Sun by David Almond (Hodder) A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan Children's Books) La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman (Penguin Random House/ David Fickling Books) Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais (Pushkin Press) After the Fire by Will Hill (Usborne Publishing) White Rabbit, Red Wolf by Tom Pollock (Walker) Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley Holland, illus Jeffrey Alan Love (Walker Studio) Mary's Monster by Lita Judge (Wren and Rook)