UKLA Book Awards longlists announced

The UKLA's longlist for its 2018 book awards, announced today, highlights recently-published books that are rich in meaning, imagination and vocabulary and that are aimed at children aged three to 16 years.

The UKLA Selection Panel, chaired by Lynda Graham, whittled down the 361 publisher submissions to arrive at a set of longlists, including books in translation and more nonfiction titles than ever. Smaller publishing houses like Barrington Stoke, Otter-Barry Books, Gecko Press and Tiny Owl are also well represented. Lynda Graham said, "The quality of submissions this year was of a particularly high standard and the panel had no easy task, but we are confident that the teachers and schools involved in the judging will benefit enormously from the impact of these quality texts in their schools." These are the only awards judged by active classroom teachers and this year's judges come from Wales. The shortlists will be announced during the week beginning 26 March 2018 and the winners will be revealed at the 2018 UKLA International Conference in Cardiff. 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 funding to purchase them when they do. UKLA Book Awards Longlists: Ages 3-6 Pigeon P.I. by Meg McLaren (Andersen Press) Under the Same Sky by Britta Teckentrup (Caterpillar Books) The Night Gardener by Eric and Terry Fan (Frances Lincoln) Grandad's Secret Giant by David Litchfield (Frances Lincoln) Don't Cross the Line! by Isabel Minos Martins by Bernardo P Carvalho, Daniel Hahn (Gecko Press) My Pictures after the Storm by Eric Vielle, Daniel Hahn (Gecko Press) Odd Dog Out by Rob Biddulph (HarperCollins) Oi Dog! by Kes and Claire Gray, Jim Field (Hodder) The Darkest Dark by Chris Hadfield, The Fan Brothers (Macmillan) The Wolf Who Cried Boy by James O'Neill, Russell Ayto (Picture Corgi) Grumpy Frog by Ed Vere (Puffin) The Storm Whale in Winter by Benji Davies (Simon & Schuster) You Must Bring a Hat by Simon Philip, Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster) My Name is not Refugee by Kate Milner (The Bucket List) A Bottle of Happiness by Pippa Goodhart, Ehsan Abdollahi (Tiny Owl Publishing) Old Hat by Emily Gravett (Two Hoots) Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea by Morag Hood (Two Hoots) A Perfect Day by Lane Smith (Two Hoots) Goodnight Everyone by Chris Haughton (Walker Books) A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies, Petr Horacek (Walker Books) A Child of Books by Oliver Jeffers, Sam Winston (Walker Books) Counting with Tiny Cat by Viviane Schwarz (Walker Books) It Starts with a Seed by Laura Knowles, Jennie Webber (Words & Pictures) Ages 7-11 The White Fox by Jackie Morris (Barrington Stoke) Good Dog McTavish by Meg Rosoff, Grace Easton (Barrington Stoke) The Song From Somewhere Else by A.F.Harrold, Levi Pinfold (Bloomsbury) Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown (David Fickling Books) Fish Boy by Chloe Daykin, Richard Jones (Faber abd Faber) The Legend of Podkin One-Ear by Kieran Larwood, David Wyatt(Faber and Faber) Aubrey and the Terrible Ladybirds by Horatio Clare, Jane Matthews (Firefly Press) Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa, Jun Takabatake, Cathy Hirano (Gecko Press) What Not to do if you Turn Invisible by Ross Welford (HarperCollins) Rabbit and Bear: The Pest in the Nest by Julian Gough,Jim Field (Hodder) Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird, Lucy Eldridge (Macmillan) The Road to Ever After by Moira Young, Hannah George (Macmillan) Peter in Peril by Helen Bate (Otter-Barry Books) Me and Mister P Maria Farrer by Daniel Rieley (OUP) A Story Like the Wind by Gill Lewis, Jo Weaver (OUP) There May Be a Castle by Piers Torday (Quercus) The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson (Scholastic) The Tale of Angelino Brown by David Almond, Alex T Smith (Walker Books) Football School: Where Football Explains the World by Alex, Bellos and Ben Lyttleton, Spike Gerrell (Walker Books) The Street Beneath My Feet by Charlotte Guillian, Yuval Zommer (Words & Pictures) Ages 12-16 Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen (Andersen Press) Encounters by Jason Wallace (Andersen Press) Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner (Andersen Press) Mind The Gap by Phil Earle (Barrington Stoke) Passing for White by Tanya Landman (Barrington Stoke) We Come Apart by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury) Lydia- the Wild Girl of Pride & Prejudice by Natasha Farrant(Chicken House) The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (Chicken House) The Hypnotist by Laurence Anholt (Corgi) Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk (Corgi) Kid Got Shot by Simon Mason (David Fickling Books) Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder) Out of Heart by Irfan Master (Hot Key Books) The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (Orion) Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion) Black Light Express by Philip Reeve (OUP) Frogkisser! by Garth Nix (Piccadilly Press) Alpha: Abidjan to Gare du Nord by Bessora Barroux, Sarah Ardizzone (The Bucket List) Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne) The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas (Walker Books)