Children’s Book Award Winners: The Definitive Guide to the Most Recent Winners
It has been a landmark year for children’s literature. At Booksfortopics, we have been tracking the winners of every major UK children’s book award to ensure the highest quality texts reach your classrooms and libraries. From the emotional depth of the Carnegie Medals to the high-energy fun of The Lollies, the past year has delivered an extraordinary range of stories that cater to every type of reader.
Award-Winning Excellence for Primary and Secondary Schools
Several of this year’s big winners are already staple favourites on our curated school book lists. King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and Jhalak Prize) is a standout title appearing across multiple children’s book award shortlists. Similarly, the powerful Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald, which swept the Carnegie Medal and the Branford Boase Award, also found itself shortlisted for multiple awards this year in the secondary age categories.
Likewise, in primary, we find award-winning excellence across all key stages. The Final Year by Matt Goodfellow, a multi-award winner, continues to be one of the most essential texts on our Year 6 book list. Equally, for lower primary, we are proud to see titles like Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf (UKLA Winner), and There’s a Tiger on the Train (The Week Junior Book Award Winner) featuring on our Year 1 booklist and Reception recommended reads list, bringing award-winning storytelling to the very start of the reading journey.
Our Expert Support for Children’s Book Awards
At Booksfortopics, we are proud to be deeply involved in the UK book award scene. Our Director, Alison Leach, brings her expertise to the industry as a key judge for several awards panels. These include The Lollies (Laugh Out Loud Book Awards), The Week Junior Book Awards, The Alligator’s Mouth Award, and The Diverse Book Awards. Because of this firsthand involvement, we ensure that our curated selections always reflect the most impactful and high-quality titles being published today.
Download Our Book Award PDF Calendar
To help you keep track of the year’s literary highlights, we have produced a dedicated Children’s Book Award PDF Calendar. This is an essential resource for literacy leads and librarians, mapping out key announcement dates throughout the academic year.
Explore our full breakdown of the past year’s winners below. Accordingly, we’ve collated the champions of the Waterstones Book Prize, Nibbies, UKLA Book Awards and more.
