Shortlist for 2025 ALCS Educational Writers Award announced
The Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors (SoA) have announced the shortlist for the 2025 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing and intended to inspire creativity, encourage students to read widely and build up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.
The shortlisted books for ages 5-11 encourage young readers to explore a wide array of topics, including the animal kingdom; the inner workings of the human body; practical physics; the quantum building blocks of our universe; art history, practice, and theory; and challenging neurodiversity stereotypes.
This year’s judges are primary school headteacher Paul Massey, school librarian and BfK reviewer Tanja Jennings, and award-winning illustrator and animator Allen Fatimaharan.
Tanja Jennings says, ‘It was a joyful experience being part of the judging panel for the ALCS Educational Writers Award for 2025. Our shortlist zings with creativity, knowledge, colour and energy.’
‘With titles celebrating what it means to be a human encouraging young readers to be creative, to enquire, to explore, to interact, to wonder about the miracles of the human body, to uncover the secrets of the natural world, to reflect upon the building blocks of the universe and ultimately to express themselves, the books facilitate sharing and learning. Complex topics are presented in lively ways bringing about awareness of the infinite possibilities of being.’
The Shortlist
Hamza’s Wild World by Hamza Yassin illustrated by Louise Forshaw, Macmillan Children’s Books
How To Make A Human by Clive Gifford, illustrated by Vanja Kragulj, Weldon Owen Children’s Books
How To Spaghettify Your Dog by Hiba Noor Khan illustrated by Harry Woodgate, Bloomsbury
Quantum! The Strange Science of the Smallest Stuff in the Universe by Christopher Edge, illustrated by Paul Daviz, Walker Books
This Book Will Make You an Artist by Ruth Millington, illustrated by Ellen Surrey, Nosy Crow
Wonderfully Wired Brains by Louise Gooding, illustrated by Ruth Burrows, DK Children’s
The winners of the 2025 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award will be announced at a ceremony at Goldsmiths’ Centre in London on 26 February 2026, with the winning author and designer/illustrator sharing a £2000 prize.
