January and February have brought a steady run of children’s book and reading updates, with shortlists, initiatives, schools and libraries all front and centre.
CLPE has opened CLiPPA 2026, with Nicola Davies as Chair of Judges and the 2025 winner Colette Hiller on the panel. Judges also include Jake Hope, Lisa Mead and Anjali Patel.
CLPE said it received a record number of submissions, with twenty three publishers entering one or more books. The shortlist is due on 15 April, with CLiPPA Shadowing opening in May and the ceremony set for 9 July at the National Theatre.
Barnes Children’s Literature Festival has launched the London Schools Literature Festival 2026, described as the largest free primary schools programme in the UK. It offers over 20,000 free places for state maintained pupils across 32 events at 11 venues from 21 May to 26 June.
Barnes listed Joseph Coelho, Katherine Rundell and Onjali Q. Raúf, with Patrice Lawrence, Hannah Gold, Sharna Jackson, M. G. Leonard and Christopher Edge also on the lineup. It said over 30 per cent of attending children are eligible for Pupil Premium, and 20 per cent do not own a book of their own.
The National Year of Reading has logged activity in schools and early years settings. Her Majesty The Queen opened a new library at Christ Church CE Primary School in Camden through Libraries For Primaries, co founded by the National Literacy Trust and Penguin Books, with 500 new books, comics and audiobooks.
National Year of Reading organisers said the first Go All In Together schools and early years activity reached more than 400,000 pupils through virtual live workshops on storytelling using sound, lyrics and rhythm. They also reported 162,000 young children watched the linked early years videos. The figures were published as part of the programme’s early participation update for schools and settings. Next up for the National Year of Reading is World Book Day on Thursday 5 March, with The Great Big Footy and Booky Quiz 2026 included. Have a look at our World Book Day costume ideas, and our free 10-round 100-question KS2 children’s book quiz that’s ideal for in-school events.
Northern Ireland’s programme held a round table at Stormont on 2 February, with Paul Givan opening proceedings and Shirley Anne McMillan and Jan Carson announced as Go All In ambassadors.
Kenilworth School hosted the KMAT Great Debate at regional level in October 2025, bringing together 24 secondary schools across Coventry and Warwickshire. KMAT has since announced a partnership with the University of Warwick for the KMAT Great Debate Showcase 2026, which will be hosted in the Oculus Building and will involve Key Stage 3 pupils from schools across seven counties.
Bookshop.org UK has promoted Read It Forward 2026 in February, naming Ben Miller, Joseph Coelho and Gill Sims as ambassadors. The platform said it now has more than 650 bookshops, and set out a February donation split involving BookTrust, Scottish Book Trust, bookshops and affiliates. Visit School Reading List’s Bookshop UK page!
The Carnegies announced their 2026 longlists on 10 February, with 37 titles selected from 20 publishers across writing and illustration. Longlisted writing winners include Anne Fine, Patrick Ness, Jason Reynolds, Katya Balen and Tia Fisher, with prior shortlist appearances noted for Kwame Alexander, Brian Conaghan and Blessing Musariri.
Writing longlist titles listed include On the Wall by Anne Fine, Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness, Ghostlines by Katya Balen, Not Going to Plan by Tia Fisher and Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds, Birdie by J. P. Rose and Traumaland by Josh Silver.
Illustration longlist entries include Fia and the Last Snow Deer, written by Eilish Fisher and illustrated by Dermot Flynn, and the title also appears on the writing longlist. Other named pairings include Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin Colfer and Steve McCarthy, and Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat.
BBC One has aired a four part adaptation of Lord of the Flies, adapted by Jack Thorne and directed by Marc Munden, with Lox Pratt playing Jack. William Golding’s novel has been on the UK curriculum for more than 60 years, so the series is likely to be of interest to KS4 teachers and GCSE students who study the text and want a screen version to support classroom discussion. It is available on BBC iPlayer.
The School Library Association has announced the shortlist for the 2026 Information Book Award, with DK joining as sponsor. Voting runs until May 2026, with winners due to be announced in the summer.
The shortlist includes A Billion Ways to Be by Chitra Soundar, Frog: A Story of Life on Earth by Isabel Thomas, Recycling Day: What Happens to the Things We Throw Away by Polly Faber, and Where Did She Go? by Cariad Lloyd. It also includes About Time by Rebecca Struthers and Alom Shaha, and Owning It: Our Disabled Childhoods in Our Own Words, edited by Jen Campbell, James Catchpole and Lucy Catchpole.
ALCS and the Society of Authors have announced the shortlist for the 2025 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award. Shortlisted titles include Hamza’s Wild World by Hamza Yassin, illustrated by Louise Forshaw, and How To Make A Human by Clive Gifford, illustrated by Vanja Kragulj.
The list also includes How To Spaghettify Your Dog by Hiba Noor Khan, illustrated by Harry Woodgate, Quantum! by Christopher Edge, illustrated by Paul Daviz, This Book Will Make You an Artist by Ruth Millington, illustrated by Ellen Surrey, and Wonderfully Wired Brains by Louise Gooding, illustrated by Ruth Burrows.
EmpathyLab has launched its 2026 Read for Empathy collection, a list of 65 books for ages 3 to 16 selected by a panel of teachers, librarians and academics. It also reported a three year Reading Feelings project with the University of Sussex, described as the first study of its kind in UK primary schools.
EmpathyLab has named nine ambassadors for its tenth anniversary, including Jo Cotterill, A. M. Dassu, Sue Cheung, Bali Rai and Jion Sheibani. Empathy Day Festival is scheduled for 4 to 11 June.
The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition is open to anyone under 19, with a closing date of 29 May 2026. The brief is inspired by Margaret McDonald and Glasgow Boys. Have a look at our writing competitions for children page for more details.
The Branford Boase Award has announced its 2026 longlist, with 24 debut novels selected from a record 67 submissions. Named longlisted titles include Odd Girl Out by Tasneem Abdur Rashid, The Doughnut Club by Kristina Rahim, and The Misadventures of Mina Mahmood by Farhana Islam, illustrated by Simran Diamond Singh.
The Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction has been paused for 2026 while organisers seek additional funding and support, including for a part time administrator role. The award will continue highlighting titles through its social media accounts.
Puffin has launched Puffin Press, a new list for voice-led middle-grade fiction for readers aged 9 to 12, with Natalie Doherty named as publisher. The first 2026 title is The Night I Borrowed Time by Iqbal Hussain, followed by Spindlewood by Freddie Kolsch and The Seventeenth Quest by Elisabeth Kamakawiwoole.
Poetry By Heart has launched a new anthology for Reception and KS1 on 20 January 2026. It includes poems by Christina Rossetti, Robert Louis Stevenson, and contemporary poets including John Agard, Siana Bangura and Joseph Coelho.
Oxford University Press has named peace as the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year for 2025, based on research with almost 5,000 children aged 6 to 14 across the UK. OUP also reported six seven as the slang word of the year.
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler have revealed Gruffalo Granny, scheduled for release on 10 September 2026 by Macmillan Children’s Books. Macmillan said it will project an illustration from the book in London and Glasgow on 6 February.
ALCS and the National Literacy Trust have announced the shortlist for the 2026 Ruth Rendell Award, and noted that Tom Percival is the current holder. The shortlisted authors are Rob Biddulph, Maisie Chan, Maz Evans, Nicola Garrard, Laura Henry Allain MBE, Nathanael Lessore, MC Grammar and Piers Torday, with the winner due to be announced in London on 26 February 2026.
World Book Day on 5 March is the next fixed point in the calendar, with more prize shortlists and school programmes due soon after. Teachers and parents will not be short of new titles to talk about.
