Diverse Book Awards 2025 Longlist Announced and Readers’ Choice Award Opens
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 books on the longlist were published in 2024 by authors and illustrators based in the UK and Ireland.
The longlisted books are:
The Diverse Book Awards 2025 Picture Books Longlist
A Fairy Called Fred by Robert Tregoning & Stef Murphy (Bloomsbury Children’s)
Aqua Boy by Ken Wilson-Max (Otter-Barry Books)
Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield & Hoang Giang (Puffin)
Grandma’s Locs by Karen Arthur & Camilla Ru (Tate)
Mama Car by Lucy Catchpole & Karen George (Faber)
Me and my Hair by Kimberley Kinloch & Jessica Gibson (Usborne)
My Name is a Gift by Zeshan Akhter & Åsa Gilland (Templar)
Olu’s Teacher by Jamel C. Campbell & Lydia Mba (Walker Books)
Pearl and her Bunch by Momoko Abe (Orchard)
Priya Mistry and the Paw Prints Puzzle by Babita Sharma & Ali Pye (Orchard)
Strong Like Me by Kelechi Okafor & Michaela Dias-Hayes (Puffin)
The Boy Who Loves to Lick the Wind by Fiona Carswell & Yu Rong (Otter-Barry Books)
The Language of Flowers by Shyala Smith & Aaron Asis (Lantana)
Until You Find the Sun by Maryam Hassan & Anna Wilson (Hodder Children’s Books)
The Diverse Book Awards 2025 Children’s Fiction Longlist
Alyssa and the Spell Garden by Alexandra Sheppard (Faber)
Birdie by J.P. Rose (Andersen Press)
Bobby Bains Plays a Binder by Bali Rai & Daniel Duncan (Barrington Stoke)
Bringing Back Kay-Kay by Dev Kothari (Walker Books)
Mayowa and the Sea of Words by Chibundu Onuzo (Bloomsbury Children’s)
The Boy Who Fell from the Sky by Benjamin Dean (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
The Cheat Book (Vol. 1) by RAMZEE (Hodder Children’s Books)
The Fights That Make Us by Sarah Hagger-Holt (Usborne)
The Nine Night Mystery by Sharna Jackson (Puffin)
The Super Sunny Murder Club written & edited by Serena Patel and Robin Stevens, by Abiola Bello, Maisie Chan, Benjamin Dean, Nizrana Farook, Roopa Farooki, Sharna Jackson, Patrice Lawrence, Elle McNicoll, E.L. Norry, Annabelle Sami, Dominique Valente, and illustrated by Harry Woodgate (Farshore)
The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster Children’s)
Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief by Claire Linney (Self-published)
We Are Family: Six Kids and a Super-Dad! by Oliver Sykes & Ian Morris (Otter-Barry Books)
When I Feel Red by Lily Bailey (Orion Children’s)
The Diverse Book Awards 2025 Ya Fiction Longlist
Damien Ike and the Fallen House of Draven by Dee Benson & David Arlo (Hot Key Books)
Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekhá A. Afzal (Rock the Boat)
Desi Girl Speaking by A.S. Hussain (Hot Key Books)
I Never Shall Fall in Love by Hari Conner (Simon & Schuster)
If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster)
King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Hot Key Books)
Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher (Bloomsbury Children’s)
Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll (First Ink)
The Big Ask by Simon James Green (Barrington Stoke)
The Boy Next Door by Jenny Ireland (Penguin Random House Children’s)
The Thread That Connects Us by Ayaan Mohamud (Usborne)
The Love Interest by Helen Comerford (Bloomsbury Children’s)
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Usborne)
Wild East by Ashley Hickson-Lovence (Penguin Random House Children’s)
Readers are now invited to vote for their winner from the longlist in the Readers’ Choice Award, a chance for readers across the UK and Ireland the chance to vote for their favourite book in each category.
Voting closes: 1 September 2025
Shortlist revealed: 8 September 2025
Winners announced: 9 October 2025 at Waterstones Piccadilly, London
Abiola Bello, co-founder of The DBAs says, ‘Every year, the standard gets higher—and 2025 is no exception. The sheer talent and passion poured into these stories is awe-inspiring. It’s a joy and a privilege to help these diverse and inclusive books reach the readers who need them most. Thank you to every author, illustrator, agent and publisher who continues to back this mission.’
The Diverse Book Awards are sponsored by Akan Books, Peters, Madeleine Milburn Agency, Sparx Reader and Renaissance.
