Children’s reading enjoyment has risen for the first time in five years, but the 2026 figures leave schools with widening gaps by gender and disadvantage. The National Literacy Trust surveyed 125,375 children and young people aged five to 18 between January and March, during the first three months of the National Year of Reading. Among eight to 18-year-olds, 36.1% said they enjoy reading in their free time, up from 32.7% in 2025, while 20.3% said they read daily, up from 18.7%.
The improvement remains fragile. Reading enjoyment and daily reading are still well below 2016 levels, while the disadvantage gap in reading enjoyment has more than doubled from two percentage points to 5.2 percentage points. Among children aged five to eight, boys’ reading enjoyment fell from 58.8% to 56.3%, while girls’ enjoyment rose from 66.4% to 67.1%.
The report links reading enjoyment with regular reading, vocabulary, relaxation and understanding other people’s views. In high-priority areas where the National Literacy Trust works most intensively, the reading skills of 11-year-olds rose from 66% to 73% between 2023 and 2025, three times faster than the national comparison. In participating schools, children least engaged with reading at the start reported gains in reading confidence, enjoyment and frequency.
Inclusive Books for Children is expanding its IBC Book Box scheme in 2026, with 100 boxes of 100 inclusive books available to state primary schools across the UK. The 10,000 gifted books, worth about £800 per box, are selected by specialists and reviewed by experts with relevant lived experience. Applications opened at 9am on 17 June and close on 16 July, with the scheme open to state primary schools in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The expansion follows strong demand for the scheme, which provided 46 boxes in total in 2024, reached 60 boxes in 2025 and is now being scaled up to 100 boxes for 2026. IBC says the project responds to continuing gaps in access to inclusive books. Its 2025 Excluded Voices report found that 161 of 2,721 UK books published in 2024 for ages one to nine – 5.9% – had marginalised neurodivergent, disabled or minoritised ethnic main characters. For many schools, 100 well-chosen books are not a nice extra. They are the difference between intent and shelf space.
BookTrust has named its 2026 Bookstart Toddler and Bookstart Pre-schooler selections, which will be distributed from September through health visiting teams, family hubs, nurseries and other partners. The toddler packs will include Croc’s Cooking Day by Nicola Kent and Toddler Talk: Let’s Go, illustrated by Carolina Buzio and written in consultation with Priya Desai. The pre-schooler packs will include My Little World: Animals, illustrated by Lizzie Doyle, and Rescue Crew by Suzy Senior and Mike Byrne.
The packs reach more than 400,000 children, including one-third of one to four-year-olds living in low-income families. BookTrust received almost 500 submissions for the 2026 programme. Each pack contains two books, plus activities and resources to support shared reading at home.
Publishers have welcomed government plans to ban social media for under-16s, while arguing that children need stronger offline opportunities alongside new restrictions. The proposals are expected to go to Parliament before Christmas, with protections planned for spring 2027. The ban is expected to cover Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, while WhatsApp and Signal are not expected to be included.
The government also plans restrictions on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children. Wider protections could apply to gaming sites, with default restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds. Further details on possible overnight curfews and breaks in infinite scrolling for under-18s are due in July.
Teenagers remain divided about acceptable AI use in schoolwork, according to new Oxford University Press research. In a survey of 3,100 UK teenagers aged 13 to 18, 44% said using AI to complete all homework counts as cheating, while almost one in five said asking an AI tool for homework tips also counts as cheating. Only 15% said they had received enough guidance.
The qualitative work adds a useful correction to the panic. When pupils were offered a generative AI tool for a written exercise, 72% of those with access chose not to use it. Only 24% of surveyed teenagers regularly seek out AI tools, while 77% would like teachers to use AI in lessons and 73% named teacher skills that AI cannot replace.
OUP has updated its AI information resources for teachers and is trialling Plan Assist, an AI planning tool on Kerboodle. It is designed to create lesson plans, glossaries, flashcards and other materials based on Oxford content. The trial will begin with AQA GCSE Sciences and AQA GCSE French.
Children have chosen Sheena Dempsey’s Pablo and Splash: Roman Holiday as the overall winner of the 2026 Children’s Book Award. The Federation of Children’s Book Groups also named Gozzle by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie as the winner for younger children, and My Name is Samim by Fidan Meikle as the older readers’ winner. The awards were presented in Birmingham on 13 June, with young readers presenting the trophies.
Fidan Meikle has also won the 2026 Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize for My Name is Samim. The novel follows thirteen-year-old Samim as he flees Afghanistan and makes a dangerous journey to safety. The shortlist also included Augmented by Kenechi Udogu, How to Catch an Idea by Forest Xiao, Roar by Manjeet Mann, Supa Nova by Chanté Timothy and The Shell Keepers by Truly Johnston.
The wider 2026 Jhalak Prizes also recognised Diana Evans, who won the Prose Prize for I Want to Talk to You, and Maggie Harris, who won the Poetry Prize for I Sing to the Greenhearts. Judges for the children’s and YA prize were Sita Brahmachari, Lanisha Butterfield and Christine Pillainayagam. Meikle’s follow-up, My Name Is Zayn, is due in August.
The shortlists for the 2026 The Week Junior Book Awards span animals and nature, audiobooks, breakthrough books, factual publishing, graphic novels, hobbies, older fiction, picture books, poetry, STEM, wellbeing, younger fiction and cover design. Graphic novels and audiobooks saw a significant increase in entries. Voting for the Children’s Choice and Cover of the Year awards runs until 4 September.
Shortlisted titles include Our Islands by Yuval Zommer, The Great Pollination Investigation by Deborah Hocking, MEGA: The Most Enormous Animals Ever by Jules Howard and Gavin Scott, and A Tree is a Time Machine by Rob and Tom Sears. In audio, the list includes The Amazing Ann Jelly by Daniel Fuller, Choose Your Own Evolution by Jules Howard, Champions of the Galaxy by Tọlá Okogwu, Gloam by Jack Mackay and Errol’s Garden Audio Musical by Gillian Hibbs, Caroline Wigmore and Jen Green.
The breakthrough shortlist includes A Box Full of Murders by Janice Hallett, Wolf Siren by Beth O’Brien, Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree by Janeen Hayat and How to Roller-Skate with One Leg by Ella Dove and Jennifer Jamieson. Factual titles include Henri Matisse A Pop-Up Book by Susie Hodge and Teresa Bellon, Hide-and-Seek History: The Vikings by Harriet Evans and Chaaya Prabhat, and Owning It, edited by James Catchpole, Lucy Catchpole and Jen Campbell, with illustration by Sophie Kamlish.
The graphic novel category includes When the Sky Falls: Graphic Novel by Phil Earle and Fred Fordham, Dadbot by Jack Noel, Supa Nova by Chanté Timothy, Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business by Jamie Smart, Donut Squad: Take Over the World by Neill Cameron and Boss of the Underworld: Shirley vs the Green Menace by Tor Freeman. Older fiction includes The Lone Husky by Hannah Gold and Levi Pinfold, The First Year by Matt Goodfellow and Joe Todd-Stanton, My Soul, A Shining Tree by Jamila Gavin, Jed Greenleaf by Kieran Larwood and The Boy With Big Decisions by Helen Rutter.
Picture book contenders include Don’t Trust Fish! by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat, The Forever Bear by Lu Fraser and Pippa Curnick, Baxter’s View by Kerri Cunningham, There’s A Shark In My Pants! by Michelle Harrison and David Tazzyman, The Best Jollof Rice Ever! by Onyinye Iwu and Tiger, Don’t Worry! by Daishu Ma. Poetry titles include The Waters and the Wild by Eilish Fisher and David Rooney, This is Not a Small Voice by Traci N. Todd and Jade Orlando, BOING! A Bouncy Book of Bugs by James Carter and Neal Layton, The Poetry World of John Agard by John Agard and Shirley Hottier, and The Brightest Star by Meg Grehan and Nene Lonergan.
STEM selections include The History of We by Nikkolas Smith, See Inside AI by Alex Frith and Victoria Williams with Beatrix Hatcher, What If… You Didn’t Make Snot? by Emma Young and Super Freak, The Wizard’s Guide to Magical Experiments by AJ Wood and Jo Rioux, and Bridges by Magda Garguláková and Jakub Bachorík. Younger fiction includes Squirrel and Duck: Mission Improbable by Tom Percival, Grumpfort by Jamie Hammond, Pia’s Pet Club: Puppy Problem by Serena Patel and Emma McCann, The Other Father Christmas by Serena Holly and Shahab Shamshiraz, The Misadventures of Mina Mahmood: School Trip! by Farhana Islam and Simran Diamond Singh, and Ivy and Bearlock Holmes by Kristyna Litten.
The HarperCollins Reading for Pleasure Awards returned for a ninth year, in association with The Open University and UK Literacy Association. Categories cover early career teachers, experienced teachers, whole schools, school reading champions and community reading. Winners receive £250 worth of books and 20 copies of Alison David’s Help Your Child Love Reading, with results due at the Open University Conference in Milton Keynes on 17 October.
Hull’s Big Malarkey Festival is back for its ninth year, with East Park hosting the main weekend on 20 and 21 June. This year’s theme is It’s a Mystery, with puzzles, disguises and local mystery trails alongside authors, artists, dancers, musicians and theatre companies. The festival also includes the James Reckitt Reading Conference, school activities, the James Reckitt Hull Children’s Book Awards and a Hook-a-Book stall with free books.
A new Highland children’s book will be sent free to every primary school and library in the region. Angus the Bear’s First Day at School, created by Inspiring Young Voices with writer Jen Hadfield and illustrator Katie Wilson, explores autism and hidden disabilities through the story of a teddy bear starting school. Schools are expected to use it for classroom discussions, assemblies and activities on inclusion and acceptance.
Hugh Bonneville has discussed his debut children’s book, Rory Sparkes and the Elephant in the Room, at the Charleston Festival in Lewes. The story follows a schoolboy dreamer whose life changes when the circus arrives. Bonneville said the idea drew on childhood memories of circus children coming to school in south-east London.
Hope Forever, Yui’s Beginning by Margaret Araba Coleman, known as Maggie, has been published as a debut chapter book for pre-teens and teenagers. The novel follows Yui, a Japanese expatriate in Ukraine, as war forces her to evacuate with her mother and sisters while her father stays behind. Coleman completed the book after her first year of secondary school and saw it accepted for publication before her death in July 2025.
Messy Press, a new independent children’s publisher created by Adam Thompson and Erica Harrison, launches in the UK and Europe in June after being named Children’s Publisher of the Year for Oceania at the Bologna Book Fair. Its list will cover illustrated non-fiction, gift and activity books for ages 0 to 12. Abrams and Chronicle Books will handle UK and European sales and distribution.
Templar is marking 20 years of Dugald Steer’s Wizardology with an anniversary hardback on 25 June. The new edition includes moving illustrations, a fairy flag scrap, a phoenix feather, divination cards and a gemstone. The wider Ology series, which includes Dragonology, has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide.
The first Children’s Books North Network Prize shortlist has been announced for aspiring picture-book illustrators based in the North of England. Anna Billington, Kate Muldowney, Lauren Hubbert, Lauren Sharples, Matilda Robertson and Satomi Yamamiya are shortlisted after responding to Corrinne Averiss’s text Fabulous Frank. All shortlisted illustrators will receive mentorship from Carly Gledhill, Holly Sterling, Jarvis, Maisie Paradise Shearring, Neil Clark and Penny Neville-Lee, with the winner announced at Seven Stories on 1 July.
Floris Books has announced the 2026 Kelpies Prize for Writing and Illustration shortlists. MJ Burns, Jenni Fuchs, Christine Irvine, Louisa MacDougal and Hannah Watson are shortlisted for writing, while Flora Luckman, Aneta Lukianska, Anna Mac, Susan Mitchell and Jenni Sheward are shortlisted for illustration. Winners will receive nine months of mentoring, £500 and consideration for a publishing deal when the prizes are announced at the Grassmarket Centre in Edinburgh on 18 September.
With reading enjoyment still below 2016 levels, the month’s strongest children’s book news came from work that puts books directly into children’s hands: 10,000 inclusive titles for primary schools, 400,000 Bookstart packs for young families, free Highland school copies of Angus the Bear’s First Day at School, and a Hull festival sending children home with books as well as a timetable.
