The UKLA Book Awards are the only UK children’s book awards judged entirely by teachers. As Shirley Young, one of the 87 teacher judges involved in this initial judging of these unique awards put it, the “amazing” process really made her reflect “on the place of reading in the curriculum and what a huge difference the right book can make.” The right book is defined by the criteria as being from a “wide and inclusive range” of publishers and will “recognise a broad range of perspectives, experiences and voices”. This range and quality is certainly demonstrated in all the four shortlists the teacher judges selected in a day of impassioned debate. In lists which are devoid of any commercial influence, it is notable that once again it is small, independent publishers such as Andersen Press, Flying Eye, Firefly, Faber, Troika and Scribble who dominate the lists with Flying Eye doing particularly well with three of their titles shortlisted across two categories.

For UKLA, giving classroom practitioners the opportunity to read high quality new children’s books is as important as finding an overall winner. Research carried out by members of UKLA (Cremin et al 2008) clearly demonstrated the links between teachers’ knowledge of children’s books and the likelihood of pupils becoming successful readers. Despite this evidence, teachers are seldom given time to read new books or funding to purchase them when they do. As Chris Lockwood, Awards Chair said, “Despite the challenges schools have been facing this year, it was a delight to see the energy, skill, knowledge and enthusiasm our teacher judges and their book group leaders brought to the task of finding their six favourite books from such wonderful and diverse longlists.”

In the 3-6+ age category we have a former Children’s Laureate and a Costa winning author, best known for their teenage fiction, succeeding with their picturebooks too! Manjeet Mann makes the first of two appearances this year with the lyrical, empowering Small's Big Dream, about the importance of dreaming big and discovering that when you do, anything can happen. Malorie Blackman teams up with Dapo Adeola in We're Going to Find a Monster. Full of funny, relatable characters, this is a contemporary celebration of creativity, fantasy and family. They are joined by Joe Todd Stanton – also currently shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration for The Comet where the luminous, beautiful illustrations evoke a small child’s distress about the bewildering experience of moving house. Both Flooded, a striking debut from Mariajo Ilustrajo and Saving Mr Hoot by Helen Stephens, emphasise the importance of working together to achieve change. The final book in this category is Who are you? by Smriti Halls, which celebrates and prompts lots of discussion about what makes each of us special.

The 7-10+ category features a repeat of Katya Balen’s extraordinary achievement of being shortlisted for both the Carnegie medal for Writing and the UKLA 7-10+, this time with The Light in Everything, which could produce another double win as she did with October, October in 2022. There will be stiff competition, however, from the likes of acclaimed authors such as Ross Montgomery, here shortlisted with The Chime Seekers, a trademark magical fantasy quest to restore an abducted baby sister, and Onjali Q Raúf with The Lion Above the Door, exploring themes of historical racism in a wonderful story about family and identity, fitting in and having the courage to stand out. Joining them in this hotly contested category are acclaimed poet Cora Rumble with her first verse novel Little Light that tells the sensitive and empathetic story of Ava, a young girl at the end of primary school as she faces challenging circumstances; Eve Ainsworth whose All to Play For is an accessible story of one boy’s love for football and the family grief which separates him from it, and Holly Goldberg Sloan’s The Elephant in the Room, an emotional and heart-warming read about unwavering family love, the power of friendship and the bonds between humans and animals.

In the 11-14+ category, past winner Manjeet Mann’s second UKLA shortlisting this year is for The Crossing, the stunning verse novel which won The Costa Children’s Book Award and was also previously shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Writing and is a profound story of hope, grief, and the very real tragedies of the refugee crisis. Competing for the prize are Susin Nielsen, who has won this category twice before, with her brilliantly constructed, compassionate and hilarious coming of age story, Tremendous Things, and award-winning Welsh author Manon Steffan Ros. The Blue Book of Nebo, translated by the author, is also on the current Carnegie shortlist and is a tender and brutal post-apocalyptic novel about a mother and son trying to survive. The second success for Andersen Press in this category is Jeff Zentner’s In The Wild Light a beautiful, moving story about family in all its forms, a theme echoed in Sue Divin’s powerfully authentic Truth Be Told, where two teens across the sectarian divide discover the truth of their family history. A rare appearance of a beautifully illustrated novel completes this category. Julia and The Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston has illustrations in monochrome and yellow that effectively complement the poetic language in a deeply moving story of a mother and daughter relationship with powerful themes about mental health, the environment, and the importance of science.

Judges of the category of Information Books 3- 14+ commented that it had “opened our eyes to the rich and varied world of information books and the diverse themes and topics they explore.” The judges’ selections span a range of subjects from the heartfelt, engagingly written history of being Black and British since Windrush in Musical Truth by Jeffrey Boakye; to a clear pocket sized guide to everything that LGBTQ+ teenage girls need to know in Here and Queer by Rowan Ellis; to the history of the Earth as told by a friendly theatre troop of insects in Mini Grey’s innovative The Greatest Show on Earth and a cinematic journey through the Seoul subway that masterfully portrays the many unique lives we travel alongside whenever we take the train in I am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun, a poetic translation by Deborah Smith of the bestselling Korean picture book. Flying Eye Books has a double shortlisting in this category making them the most successful publisher overall. Amazon River by Sangmar Francis is a spectacularly illustrated, by Rômolo D'Hipólito, look at the largest river on earth, showing how it impacts the lives of wild animals and diverse human communities and Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue, by the award-winning author illustrator William Grill, shows his trademark passion for his subject and the depth of his research into the true story of Bandoola and James Howard Williams.

The fact that these shortlists are judged by class teachers and can be heartily recommended to their peers makes them particularly useful as co-sponsor Deborah Maclaren, Director of Lovereading4kids said: “The UKLA Awards have done it again. What a celebration of reading for pleasure these Awards are. What a stunning selection of books for children. The only national awards to be judged entirely by teachers, the UKLA Awards are a special thing, with the added bonus that practitioners can see and appreciate first-hand the impact these beautiful books have on their audience - the children themselves in their classrooms. Congratulations to all of the shortlisted authors and illustrators, it was an impressive longlist so it's a great achievement to get this far. We can't wait to see who the winners are!"

Sue Polchow, Library Advisor at co-sponsor Reading Cloud, said: “Encouraging reading for enjoyment and improving literacy are very much at the heart of Reading Cloud, so we are delighted to support these worthwhile and unique children’s book awards as co-sponsors again this year. We are always heartened to see so many dedicated teacher judges all over the UK working with the longlisted, shortlisted, and winning books to inspire a love of reading in their pupil groups and beyond. We look forward to hearing more about the winning titles in due course.”

12 teachers nominated from the 87 involved in the shortlisting will now form the final judging panel and have the challenging task of reading all the shortlisted books in all categories. The winner’s announcement will take place at the UKLA International Conference at the University of Exeter on June 23rd.

The Shortlists in full

3-6+
Saving Mr Hoot by Helen Stephens
Who are you? by Smriti Halls and illustrated by Ali Pye 
The Comet by Joe Todd- Stanton 
Flooded by Mariajo Ilustrajo 
Small's Big Dream by Manjeet Mann and illustrated by Amanda Quartey
We're Going to Find the Monster by Malorie Blackman and illustrated by Dapo Adeola

7-10+
All to Play For by Eve Ainsworth and illustrated by Kirsty Beautyman
The Light in Everything by Katya Balen
The Lion Above the Door by Onjali Q Raúf
The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Little Light by Coral Rumble
The Chime Seekers by Ross Montgomery

11-14+
Tremendous Things by Susin Nielsen
In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros
Truth Be Told by Sue Divin
Julia and the Shark by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and illustrated by Tom de Freston
The Crossing by Manjeet Mann

Info 3-14+
Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs by Jeffrey Boakye and illustrated by Ngadi Smart
Amazon River by Sangma Francis illustrated by Rômolo D'Hipólito
Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue by William Grill
Here and Queer by Rowan Ellis and illustrated by Jacky Sheridan
The Greatest Show on Earth by Mini Grey
I am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun. Translated by Deborah Smith