Whose History? Challenging historical narratives through writing for children and young people. What stories do we tell children about the past? From whose point of view are these stories told? Whose lives are considered to be important and are retrievable from the records? What are historical facts and who gets to interpret them? This year’s […]
The winners of the 2025 Jericho Prize for new Black-British writers of children’s picture books have been announced. Sebrina O’Connor is named the winner of Best Picture Book Script (ages 3–7) and Ronke Owoeye as the winner of Best Baby and Toddler Script (ages 1–3). Both writers receive £1250 cash from partners Hachette Children’s Group […]
Community organisation Comics Youth has launched the UK’s first Youth Comics Laureate. The role builds upon the existing UK Comics Laureate, currently held by Bobby Joseph and supported by the Lakes International Comics Festival (LICAF). Comics have always been a powerful storytelling tool, allowing creators to explore themes of mental health, identity, and social justice […]
The Inclusive Books for Children Awards are open for submissions. Now in their third year, the awards celebrate outstanding new children’s literature for readers up to age nine in three categories, rewarding children’s authors and illustrators with a shared prize fund of £30K. In a new development, IBC is also launching Children’s Choice Awards for […]
The shortlists for The Wainwright Prize, a celebration of nature and conservation writing, have been announced. Following the prizes recent expansion, The Children’s Wainwright Prize now includes the Prize for Fiction, the Prize for Non-Fiction and the Prize for Picture Books. The Wainwright Prize showcases writing that reflects its namesake Alfred Wainwright’s values of celebrating […]
The longlists for the 2025 Diverse Book Awards have been announced. The Diverse Book Awards highlight the best inclusive books and champion authors and illustrators whose work ‘represents the richness and complexity of real lives and real communities’. This year there were over 250 submissions across four categories—Picture Books, Children’s, YA and Adult Fiction. All […]
The shortlists for The Lollies, have been announced. Celebrating the funniest children’s books, The Lollies Award shortlists are chosen by an expert judging panel led by Michael Rosen and the winners are voted for by children. With the National Year of Reading on the horizon, funny books have consistently topped the list of books that […]
The Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction has announced its 2025 shortlist, on behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers. The six shortlisted titles ‘boldly interrupt the children’s literature landscape’, say the organisers, reflecting back on queer histories and commenting on urgent social justice issues in the present. The […]
The School Library Association has announced the Honours lists for its annual Secondary School Librarian of the Year Award, the Peter Usborne Primary School Library of the Year Award, and the Enterprise Award. The School Librarian of the Year Award was originally proposed by the late author and educator Aidan Chambers, during his tenure as […]
Margaret McDonald and her editors Alice Swan and Ama Badu are winners of the 2025 Branford Boase Award for outstanding debut novel for young people with Glasgow Boys, a moving, beautifully written coming-of-age novel exploring the power of identity, community and masculinity. This brings to three the number of awards Glasgow Boys has received (it […]
Poetry By Heart, the national poetry speaking competition, held its Grand Finale at Shakespeare’s Globe, London on 7 July and crowned four young people National Champions. The competition invites young people to choose a poem, learn it by heart and perform it aloud. Set up in 2012 by then Poet Laureate, Sir Andrew Motion, Poetry […]
Children’s reading is to become a “shared national mission” said Jonathan Douglas, CEO of the National Literacy Trust at the launch of a new National Year of Reading starting in January 2026. The Department for Education and National Literacy Trust are joining forces on the campaign which is intended to bring together parents, schools, libraries, […]
Congratulations – again – to Margaret McDonald whose debut novel, Glasgow Boys has been names as the 11-14+ category winner of the UKLA Book Awards, just over one week after winning the Carnegie Medal for Writing. McDonald also won the Shadowing schools’ and student teachers’ vote. The judges praised her book for its ‘beautifully balanced […]
The winner of the UK’s only national award for published poetry for children, the CLiPPA (CLPE Children’s Poetry Award) was announced this afternoon at a typically boissterous ceremony at the National Theatre on London’s Southbank, attended by hundreds of children. This year’s CLiPPA is awarded to Colette Hiller for her collection Colossal Words for Kids […]
The winners of the UK’s longest-running book awards for children and young people, The Carnegie Medals, were announced on Thursday 19 June in front of an audience of over 600 young people at a live-streamed ceremony at the Cambridge Theatre, London. 2024 Carnegie Medal for Writing winner, and former Waterstones Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho hosted […]
Inclusive Books for Children (IBC) is enlarging its national book-gifting scheme, offering 60 boxes of 100 inclusive children’s books to state primary schools and community libraries across the UK in 2025. The scheme, originally piloted in 2024 with 12 boxes, was expanded mid-year to 34 after an overwhelming response from schools citing lack of funds […]
The School Library Association (SLA) has announced the shortlists for the Information Book Award (IBA). The shortlisted books cover a diverse range of themes, from exploring different cultures to managing emotions, how the world works to how others experience it. The 2025 IBA shortlist shows the endless possibilities for engagement with information books, spanning everything […]
The latest National Literacy Trust research into children’s reading habits is out, with its Chief Executive Jonathan Douglas describing the data as ‘stark’ and claiming that, ‘We are witnessing the lowest levels of reading enjoyment and daily reading in a generation – a critical challenge for literacy, wellbeing, and life chances.’ In the sort of […]
Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.
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