Prizes, lists, roles, and dates crowd the calendar! Here’s a roundup of children’s book news for August into September 2025
The longlists for the 2026 UKLA Book Awards are out. Panels of past teacher judges, ex-teachers, librarians, and education consultants have selected four longlists across 3–6+, 7–10+, 11–14+, and Information Books 3–14+. Judges now have until mid-March to read, discuss with group leaders, and share titles with pupils before choosing six-book shortlists in each category.
This year’s longlists include translations, past winners, debuts, and a mix of genres. Katya Balen and Alex Latimer appear twice across two categories, and Nathanael Lessore returns to the 11–14+ longlist for a third successive year. New publisher Post Wave Children’s Books has three selections in its first year.
Winners of the 2025 Wainwright Prize have been announced at FarmED in Oxfordshire. The Wainwright Prize Book of the Year is Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton, and the Wainwright Children’s Prize Book of the Year and Picture Books winner is Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang. Children’s category winners are Wildlands by Brogen Murphy for Fiction, and University of Cambridge: Think Big: Secrets of Bees by Ben Hoare, illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti, for Non-Fiction.
Category judging chairs and panels made recommendations to an executive panel that chose the overall winners. The prize awards £2,500 to the two overall winning books, and £500 to category winners. Benjamin Zephaniah’s Leave the Trees, Please, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon, is highly commended in Picture Books.
The 2025 Klaus Flugge Prize goes to Emma Farrarons for illustrating My Hair is as Long as a River, written by Charlie Castle. The award marks its tenth year. The ceremony took place at the Art Workers’ Guild in London, with previous winners in attendance, and the winner receives a trophy and £5,000.
Alongside the chair of judges, the panel includes teacher and educational consultant Rachna Joshi, and author-illustrators Yasmeen Ismail and Bruce Ingman. Shortlisted illustrators Mikey Please and Rhian Stone are also recognised by the judges. The prize was established in 2016 in honour of publisher Klaus Flugge.
Nicola Davies is the fourth Children’s Laureate Wales. The announcement took place at Maesteg Library on 10 September, and the tenure runs to August 2027. The role focuses on poetry and access to reading and writing for children and young people across Wales.
Davies began as a biologist and presented for the BBC Natural History Unit before becoming an author. Her recent YA novels The Song That Sings Us and Skrimsli were nominated for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing, with Skrimsli winning the Children and Young People’s category of the Wales Book of the Year in 2024. Her poetry collection Choose Love was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Writing 2024 and the CLiPPA.
Siôn Tomos Owen is appointed Bardd Plant Cymru. Owen is a bilingual writer, poet, artist, and presenter from Treorchy. His first poetry collection Pethau Sy’n Digwydd was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year 2025, and his most recent children’s novel is Gerwyn Gwrthod a’r Llyfr Does Neb yn Cael ei Darllen. Literature Wales led the appointment panels for both schemes.
Matt Goodfellow becomes BookTrust’s new Writer in Residence from 1st September. The programme gives a platform for authors and illustrators to share themes with families and schools. Goodfellow won the CLiPPA with The Final Year in 2023, and its sequel The First Year was published in April 2025.
Previous writers in residence include Cressida Cowell, Sita Brahmachari, Patrick Ness, Michael Rosen, and Nick Sharratt. Goodfellow will use the residency to focus on voice and choice for young readers. BookTrust launched the Writer in Residence project in March 2009.
City Lit marks four decades of courses in writing and illustration for children with a new exhibition. The Story Starts Here: the craft of children’s book writing and illustration at City Lit opens on Tuesday 9th September 2025 at The Gallery, Keeley Street, WC2B 4BA. An opening event runs 18:30–20:00 on 16th September, with RSVP required.
The display features much-loved covers and extracts and highlights authors and illustrators taught or connected with City Lit. Featured works include Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses, Yasmeen Ismail’s Time For Bed, Fred, Tim Tilley’s Harklights, and Sophie McKenzie’s Girl, Missing. The exhibition reflects the college’s course history since 1983.
The 15 books for World Book Day 2026 are confirmed for Thursday 5th March 2026. Titles are free in exchange for a £1/€1.50 token. Children took part in selecting the list across reading stages from beginners to teens.
- Beginning: Peppa Pig: One Big Family; The Big Bang by Rose Ayling-Ellis, with Katie Blackburn and Paddy Donnelly.
- Early: Funny FACTopia! – Follow the Trail of 100 Wacky Facts by Christopher Lloyd and Kate Olesin, illustrated by Andy Smith; Pablo and Splash: The Castle Quest by Sheena Dempsey; Pia’s Pet Club: Iguana Escape by Serena Patel, illustrated by Emma McCann; Unicorn Academy: My Secret Unicorn Diary.
- Fluent: Bear Rescue by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold; Unbelievable Football: The Most Amazing World Cup Stories You Never Knew by Matt Oldfield, illustrated by Ollie Mann; Bunny vs Monkey: Total Chaos! by Jamie Smart; Skandar and the Secret Element by A. F. Steadman; Chaos at the Chocolate Factory by Sibéal Pounder, illustrated by Emily Jones.
- Independent: Against All Odds by Nathanael Lessore.
- Ireland, beginning: Rita agus an tEachtrán by Máire Zepf, illustrated by Mr Ando.
- Ireland, fluent: The Doomsday Club: Shape-Shifters by Kevin Moran.
- Wales: Un i Ti ac Un i Fi by Aneirin Karadog, illustrated by Matt Abbott.
The initiative continues to be supported by National Book Tokens, with publishers and booksellers involved. Research cited by World Book Day notes a decrease in reading enjoyment since 2005 and that many children lack books of their own. A quarter of children receiving free school meals reported their token book was their first owned book.
Specialist pop-up and novelty publisher Paper Engine Publishing will launch in 2026. The list will target ages three to seven, combining stories with paper engineering at accessible price points. Authors include Kes Gray and Geff Newland.
The team includes chief technical officer Keith Finch and commercial director Jason McKenzie, who have experience in paper engineering and related industries. Their Build Your Own brand holds licences with The Snowman, Aardman, and The Roald Dahl Story Company, including a Matilda Book Nook. Sales and publishing director Hayley Symonds leads the list and has commissioned four original books for 2026.
Australia-based Five Mile Press expands to the UK and Europe. The independent publisher focuses on early years and under-eights. Distribution will be through Gardners.
The Five Mile imprint covers picture, board, novelty, discovery, emotional intelligence, friendship, colouring, and activity books, along with gift sets. Around 100 titles publish each year. The publisher also invests in seasonal lists for Easter, summer, Halloween, and Christmas.
The Children’s Book Project launches One Million Stories for 2025–26. The campaign aims to gift one million books to children in book poverty across the school year. Hubs in London, Birmingham, and Leeds will support regional events.
Partnerships will include schools, prisons, and food banks, with settings receiving books and resources for events where children choose books to keep. Bonnier Books UK supports with regular committed donations, and second-hand books can be donated at 277 Asda stores. Businesses and publishers are invited to contribute books, funds, services, or awareness.
Julia Donaldson becomes the first author to sell more than 50 million units through British bookshops since BookScan records began. Sales now stand at 50.3 million copies. JK Rowling stands at 47.8 million units across her works.
Donaldson’s top seller is the 1999 paperback of The Gruffalo, with The Gruffalo’s Child and Room on the Broom also topping one million units. Various editions of the two Gruffalo titles account for nearly a fifth of her total, with a third title planned for autumn 2026. Donaldson is on course to extend a run of 12-month periods exceeding £10m in sales value.
Moat Brae in Dumfries, linked to JM Barrie’s inspiration for Peter Pan, enters a new phase. The building’s new owner plans up to 18 offices within the property. Public access to the gardens will remain.
A room may be set aside for items connected to Barrie, subject to feasibility. The building previously operated as a literature centre following major redevelopment but has since closed. The current plan aims to keep the site in use while maintaining its connection to children’s literature.
A 10-year-old author from Hull reaches number one on Amazon across three categories. Zach’s Reptile Alphabet: Reptile Facts and Fun Rhymes was published on 8 August and includes the child’s own drawings and facts. The project grew from an interest in reptiles at home.
Lisa Mantchev and Taeeun Yoo return with a companion to Strictly No Elephants. The Trouble with Giraffes publishes on 16th September with a first printing of 150,000. The new title revisits the Pet Club setting and focuses on inclusion.
Michael Rosen Day returns on Thursday 13th November 2025. The theme is Funny Food, with a free large-scale live and online event for schools in partnership with Read for Good, a children’s poetry competition, and free resources for settings. A Brighton Dome schools event will run in partnership with The Book Nook.
Publishers involved include Walker Books, Puffin, HarperCollins Children’s Books, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, Hachette Children’s Group, and media partner The Week Junior. Hot Food Nice! lands on 6th November, a picture book retelling of Hot Food, illustrated by Neal Layton and priced at £7.99. Dates are set, so pencils at the ready!
Time to pick books and plan for the month ahead!
