Wainwright Prize

Hannah Gold’s animal books always go down a charm in the library, and this return to the Arctic is another absolute triumph. The story follows April Wood (who we first encountered in The Last Bear,  but the story works as a standalone) as she volunteers for a long-distance dog sled race across the frozen tundra, facing both a treacherous landscape and a (somewhat ruthless) rival. This time, the spotlight is on April’s growing connection with a solitary husky named Blaze.

The evocative setting descriptions beautifully capture the wonder and peril of the icy wilderness. What we love most about Hannah Gold’s books is how tenderly she portrays human-animal bonds, and true to form this is what remains the beating heart of this latest story.

A gripping adventure that weaves themes of environmental conservation and personal integrity into a high-stakes, icy race, with a compelling choice of lead animal character that readers will quickly fall in love with.

Tree Thing offers a powerful blend of fantasy and ecological themes that resonate strongly with Key Stage 2 children. Its narrative arc – desolation, discovery, growth, threat and resolution – mirrors classic storytelling structures, making it ideal for teaching plot, character development and values-based teaching.

Fans of Piers Torday will be excited to see this latest, eco-themed story. The story’s key focus on a fragile ecosystem and the transformative power of nature provides rich opportunities for cross‑curricular learning, especially in science and geography, and will resonate with young readers who enjoy topical and climate-themed modern stories.

Marlo’s bravery and problem‑solving also lend themselves to PSHE discussions around resilience and ethical decision‑making.

The creator of The Fossil Hunter has struck gold again with this fantastically illustrated narrative non-fiction picture book. It tells the story of Marcel Ravidat and his dog, who discovered the Lascaux cave paintings.

The book is a masterclass in how to successfully weave story and history together – the pages are full of a mixture of narrative and timelines, glossaries and annotated images – all topped off with incredible artwork that leaves just the right amount to the imagination. In this, it reflects the brilliant way in which Winter describes the work of all those who have studied and hypothesised about the art in the Lascaux caves, having to use imagination to infer and fill the gap between what is discovered and what can only be guessed at.

The intrigue and mystery surrounding the cave paintings feels touchable in this book – children will feel like they’ve had an experience and discovered something for themselves (a high point in the book is one of the fold-out surprise spreads illustrating the moment when Marcel lights a match and he and his friends see the cave paintings for the very first time) – which is what the very best science based picture books are all about!

This is an essential classroom addition when teaching about prehistory and the Stone Age!

The story offers a calm, nature‑centred reading experience that encourages children to slow down, observe and connect with the world around them. Rosie’s journey mirrors a child’s own developmental arc of curiosity, exploration, risk‑taking and forming bonds. The illustrations deepen this sense of wonder, making it ideal for shared reading at home or in the classroom.

The Summer Puppy is a beautifully crafted picture book that blends poetic language with evocative illustrations. It supports curriculum learning while nurturing empathy, observation skills, and a love of nature. It’s a strong choice for whole‑class reading, small‑group discussion or quiet bedtime sharing.

A unique and interesting story about a little girl who helps the sky to reframe her discouraged feelings.

Isla loves the sky and sees its beauty no matter what. She thinks the sky is beautiful on thundery days, on rainy days and dull days, and on cloudy nights – not just on days when it is bold and bright. So Isla paints the sky and all its beauty. But Sky, who is personified in the story, can hear people complaining when she isn’t feeling bright and so she decides to try as hard as she can to smile all the time and make every day be bright, blue and brilliant (even when she is feeling stormy) because the people only seem to like her when she is happy.

However, all of Isla’s paintings start to look the same – she misses seeing all the different moods and colours of the sky. She sets about to convince Sky that it’s okay not to feel sunny all the time and that she should let all of her feelings show, whatever the weather.

This is an absolutely beautifully illustrated and captivating book, which shares the very important message about accepting and naming emotions, and helping others to navigate their own storms.

There is a lovely trend for narrative non-fiction, and I think this book fits into that category perfectly. It is the story of the whale, and it is packed with facts, as well as a double page spread of facts at the end.

Yuval Zommer is an artist, each page filled with exquisite detail, designed to be gazed at and enjoyed as well as to inform. The colours are rich and alluring, and the pictures contain movement – most appropriate for a whale’s journey through the ocean. The text is simple but also informative with small repetitions throughout. In places the font moves with the pictures as if it was moving with the motion of the sea.

This book also contains themes of marine conservation, touching upon the impact of humans on the whale and the ocean in general. The depth of this text is that it can be used by a wide range of age groups as well as just being enjoyed for the wonderful illustrations.