2021 UKLA Awards Winners Announced

The UKLA Book Awards 2021 winners were announced live at a virtual awards ceremony yesterday, 1 July. These Awards, supported by LoveReading4Kids and LoveReading4Schools, seek to celebrate children’s books in order to encourage teachers to increase their professional and personal knowledge of recently published high quality children’s books and promote the place of books for young people in all educational settings from nursery to key stage 4.

The books selected for the award are  titles that teachers can share with pupils as part of regular classroom experience to encourage a reading for pleasure culture.

Chris Lockwood, chair of the awards, said: "The UKLA is enormously proud of the commitment and resilience shown by our teacher judges for the 2021 Book Awards and of the stunningly diverse books which they have chosen as their winners. The quality of the judges' discussions were a privilege to witness."

Look Up! by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola and published by Puffin won the 3-6+ category, and was praised for its 'ambitious, intelligent and inspiring female lead' and the way it prompts discussion among children in classrooms.

Our Expert Reviewer called it an "inspiring and inclusive space themed debut for a brilliant new author illustrator duo"

Tibble and Grandpa by Wendy Meddour and Daniel Egnéus and published Oxford University Press was highly commended.

Check Mates by Stewart Foster and published by Simon & Schuster won the 7-10+ category. Described as a 'beautifully crafted and empathetic tale', it was praised for its sensitive portrayal of ADHD and the way it 'made complex ideas accessible, challenged stereotypes and was entirely unsentimental'.

Our expert reviewer Joanne Owen called it "a heartfelt, humorous, pitch-perfect middle grade gem with mystery, mates and the odds-defying moves of a chess champ."

Owen and the Soldier by Lisa Williamson (Barrington Stoke) was highly commended.

For the first time, joint winners were awarded in the 11-14+ category:

Run, Rebel by Manjeet Mann (Penguin) and The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery (Hot Key).

Run, Rebel, a verse novel, was praised for its 'complex representation, universal themes, and visceral emotional impact', while The Last Paper Crane was celebrated for its 'sensitive and compassionate handling of history, the enriching discussion that it provoked and for the fact that it was so cleverly constructed with the use of different text formats and with  the illustration by Natsuo Seki enriching the emotional impact'.

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson and published by Andersen triumphed in the Information Books 3-14+ category, and was described as 'both beautiful and important, delivering universal messages with such powerful impact'.

Deborah Maclaren, Managing Director of LoveReading4Kids and LoveReading4Schools, long time supporters of the UKLA Awards commented:

“What another beautiful selection of winning books. Some of our absolute faves of the year; the UKLA committees and teacher judges have done a wonderful job of curating a stunning selection of quality texts and great reads to engage every age range. LoveReading4Kids and LoveReading4Schools are delighted to again partner with the UKLA to help encourage reading for pleasure and engender a lifelong love of reading in children”.

To read more about the UKLA Awards, take a look at our Awards channel, see the full longlists for 2021 and previous years.