Winners of the HarperCollins Reading for Pleasure Awards 2025 announced

The winners of The HarperCollins Reading for Pleasure Awards 2025 have been announced. The awards recognise and celebrate teachers and educators who put reading for pleasure at the heart of their practice in creative and innovative ways, to inspire children to read.

The awards are run in association with the Open University and the UK Literacy Association (UKLA). This year, author and illustrator Rob Biddulph joined the judging panel as the guest judge.

The winners were awarded across six categories, with each category receiving £250 worth of HarperCollins books and 20 copies of Help Your Child Love Reading by Alison David. Ahead of the National Year of Reading in 2026, the publisher commented; "It feels particularly pertinent to celebrate and honour those who are already doing incredible work in encouraging a reading for pleasure culture in schools and community settings." Many of the categories also include a 'highly commended' recipient to commend their hugely impactful work.

Early Career Teacher

Winner: Audrey Littleboy from the Notre Dame Academy in Liverpool

Highly Commended: Johanna Burke, student teacher

Experienced Teacher

Winner: Rachel Saunders from Miriam Lord Primary School in Manningham, Bradford

Highly Commended: Lauren Usher from St Bede's Catholic Primary School, Tyne and Wear

School Reading Champion

Winner: Samuel Smith from St Mary's Catholic School, Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire

Highly Commended: Hayley Lang from Rivendell Flying High Academy Primary School, Nottingham

Whole School

Winner: Willow Primary School, Bessacarr, Doncaster (with the entry submitted by Nichola Rossall)

Community Reading

Winner: Clare McGreevy from Rochdale Virtual School, Rochdale Council

Highly Commended: October Jones from Roehampton Children's Library in Wandsworth, London and Cathie Holden from The Bookery Community Bookshop in Crediton, Devon

Author's Choice

Winner: Maisie Wyatt from The Sir Donald Bailey Academy, Newark, Nottinghamshire

"Ambition and strategy"

A range and breadth of ideas to engage children and their communities in reading for pleasure have emerged through the judging process. The judges pointed to "a clear demonstration of ambition and strategy" in all the entries, from creating comfortable spaces to read in their school settings, connecting reading to hobbies such as football or streaming films, and then encouraging and giving children choice about what they read, which is proven to boost children's enjoyment of reading.

This year's winners have also engaged school staff and parents in reading for pleasure, so that children have positive reading role models. And finally, on Maisie Wyatt, the Author's Choice, Rob Biddulph said "I was particularly delighted to give Maisie Wyatt at The Sir Donald Bailey Academy the Author's Choice award for her brilliant Bookflix idea, which cleverly links books to films and encourages children to explore stories in imaginative, hands-on ways. It's a perfect example of meeting young readers where they already are and showing them that reading can be just as thrilling and fun as the other media they love."

Rob Biddulph said "an absolute honour" to recognise schools, teachers and educators "who go above and beyond to inspire a lifelong love of reading in children".  He added, "As an author, I know how transformative stories can be, and it was truly inspiring to see the creativity, passion, and commitment that educators are bringing to the task of nurturing the next generation of readers.

Alison David, consumer insight director at HarperCollins Children's Books and Farshore, said that this year's entries were impressive, highlighting inspiring work in schools and communities. "Children who participate in reading-for-pleasure initiatives like these are fortunate: they have the opportunity to discover their favourite books and genres and develop their reading identities, ultimately benefiting in numerous ways, because children who read for pleasure thrive in life."

Teresa Cremin, Professor of Literacy in Education at The Open University, also highlighted the "reading networks and communities" the judges had observed, in which everyone is involved in supporting and sustaining young readers.

The winners were announced at the Open University Reading for Pleasure Conference on Saturday 18 October in Milton Keynes.