@The_UKLA #UKLA22 #teachersbookawards
Awards Chair, Christine Lockwood, said “This is always an exciting but difficult job. The longlisting team were challenged to select from a very rich and varied list of submissions this year and they have come up with four sparkling longlists. It was a joy to meet the majority of our committed, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic longlisters in person, this year, after eighteen months of working on the Book Awards via digital platforms and I would like to thank them for their hard work over the summer. The longlists will now pass to our teams of teacher judges and their group leaders in Birmingham and the West Midlands, and I can’t wait to share these books with them over the next year.“
In a welcome return to normality, the selection panels (composed of experienced past teacher judges, ex-teachers, librarians and consultants), were able to meet and deliberate in person, with, in the majority of cases, the physical book in front of them. Their summer reading challenge had been to read the combined total of 496 submissions, across the four categories of these awards, which are the only national awards judged by active classroom teachers.
The lists exemplify the award criteria’s aim of encouraging teachers’ knowledge of high-quality children’s books, that can reflect all identities and promote diversity. They highlight a diverse range of international and UK based authors from exciting debuts to prize-winners and best-sellers. Once again, we see a dominance across all the categories of small publishing houses like Old Barn Books, Tate Publishing, bsmall publishing, Otter Barry Books, Scallywag Press, Guppy Books, Lantana, Knights Of, Pushkin, Everything With Words, Scribe, Firefly Press and the first appearance of international publishers, Greystone and Sunbird. Of particular note is a strong showing for graphic novels in both the fiction categories and for books in translation, with titles from Gecko and Book Island
This year there are 94 judges in total covering the four categories and they have until mid-March to read the longlisted books, discuss them with their group leaders, and share them with pupils. All the groups will then meet, hopefully in person, for the difficult task of choosing their shortlist of 6 books in each category.
Headteachers welcomed the opportunity to receive new books for their schools and for their teachers to widen their knowledge of recent children’s titles. 36 schools in total will be impacted by this injection of quality texts to inspire learning and reading for pleasure. For UKLA, giving classroom practitioners the opportunity to read a number of 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.
UKLA are grateful for the continued support of the award sponsors, which help the awards to grow and develop each year. Reading Cloud, Lovereading4schools and Lovereading4kids, recognise the value of the judging experience for schools and teachers:
“This is another wonderful longlist, a gorgeous selection of books that deserve to be celebrated. The only awards to be judged entirely by teachers, the UKLA Awards are a special thing, ensuring that the teacher judges can share the books with their classes and really find out first-hand what engages, delights, educates and inspires. The awards are equally valuable for parents looking to support the school environment and further encourage reading for pleasure. We are excited to see which books shine through this year, but they are all stars!” Deborah Maclaren Managing Director of Lovereading
“Reading Cloud are really 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. Encouraging reading for enjoyment and improving literacy are very much at the heart of Reading Cloud and through our platform, pupils can review and recommend books, sharing their enthusiasm for reading through a variety of accessible and engaging tools and features.”
Longlist 3-6+
Books Make Good Pets written by John Agard, illustrated by Momoko Abe, (Orchard)
It’s Only Stanley written and illustrated by Jon Agee (Scallywag Press)
Fred Gets Dressed written and illustrated by Peter Brown (Templar)
Clean Up! written by Nathan Bryon, illustrated by Dap Adeola (Puffin)
The Little Girl Who Was Afraid of Everything written and illustrated by Aurora Cacciapuoti (Tate Publishing)
What Happened to You? Written by James Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George (Faber)
Luna Loves Art written by Joseph Coehlo illustrated by Fiona Lumbers (Andersen Press)
Stuck Inside written by Sally Anne Garland, (Sunbird Books)
Shu-Lin’s Grandpa written by Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Yu Rong (Otter-Barry Books)
Too Much Stuff written and illustrated by Emily Gravett (Two Hoots)
Who’s Your Real Mum? Written by Bernadette Green illustrated by Anna Zobel, (Scribe)
What We’ll Build written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins)
The Little War Cat written by Hiba Noor Khan, illustrated by Laura Chamberlain (Macmillan)
Freedom We Sing written by Amyra León and illustrated by Molly Mendoza, (Flying Eye)
Pip and Egg written by Alex Latimer, illustrated by David Litchfield (Scholastic)
Taking Time written and illustrated by Jo Loring-Fisher, Jo (Lantana Publishing)
I’m (Almost) Always Kind written by Anna Milbourne, illustrated by Asa Gilland (Usborne)
The Invisible written and illustrated by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
Arlo the Lion Who Could Not Sleep written and illustrated by Catherine Rayner, Catherine (Macmillan)
Barbara Throws a Wobbler written and illustrated by Nadia Shireen, (Puffin)
The Capybaras written and illustrated by Alfredo Soderguit, translated by Elisa Amado (Greystone Kids)
Where is the Dragon? written and illustrated by Leo Timmers, translated by James Brown (Gecko Press)
I Can Catch a Monster written and illustrated by Bethan Woolvin (Two Hoots)
Longlist 7-10+
Brand New Boy written by David Almond illustrated by Marta Altes (Walker Books)
October, October written by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury)
I Am Every Good Thing written by Derek Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C James, (Farshore)
Stars With Flaming Tails written by Valerie Bloom, illustrated by Ken Wilson-Max (Otter-Barry Books)
Noah’s Gold written by Frank Cottrell Boyce illustrated by Steven Lenton, (Macmillan)
The Elephant written by Peter Carnavas (Pushkin Press)
Moo written by Sharon Creech (Guppy Books)
The Soup Movement written by Ben Davies (OUP)
Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow written by Benjamin Dean, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat (Simon & Schuster)
The Barnabus Project written and illustrated by Eric, Terry and Devin Fan (Frances Lincoln)
Voyage of the Sparrowhawk written by Natasha Farrant (Faber)
When Life Gives You Mangoes written by Kereen Getten (Pushkin Press)
A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth written by Francesca Gibbons, illustrated by Chris Riddell (HarperCollins)
When Stars are Scattered written by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, illustrated by Iman Geddy (Faber)
Across the Risen Sea written by Bren MacDibble (Old Barn Books)
A Kind of Spark written by Elle McNicholl (Knights Of)
Lori and Max and the Book Thieves written by Catherine O’Flynn (Firefly Press)
The Valley of the Lost Secrets written by Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury)
The Incredible Record Smashers written by Jenny Pearson, illustrated by Erica Salcedo (Usborne)
How to Save the World with a Chicken and an Egg written by Emma Shevah (Chicken House)
Starboard written by Nicola Skinner(HarperCollins)
Front Desk written by Kelly Yang (Knights Of)
Longlist 11- 14+
No Country written by Joe Brady, illustrated by Patrice Aggs (David Fickling Books)
The Short Knife written by Elen Caldecott (Andersen Press)
We Were Wolves written and illustrated by Jason Cockcroft (Andersen Press)
The Girl Who Became a Tree written by Jospeh Coehlo illustrated by Kate Millner (Otter-Barry Books)
Cardboard Cowboys written by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury)
The Rules written by Tracey Darnton (Little Tiger)
Boy, Everywhere written by A.M Dassu (Old Barn Books)
Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town written by Bonnie Sue Hitchcock, (Faber)
When the World Was Ours written by Liz Kessler (Simon & Schuster)
The Wolf Road written by Richard Lambert (Everything With Words)
The Supreme Lie written by Geraldine McCaughrean (Usborne)
I Am the Minotaur written by Anthony McGowan (OUP)
The Swallow’s Flight written by Hilary McKay (Macmillan)
The Silent Stars Go By written by Sally Nicholls (Andersen Press)
After the War: from Auschwitz to Ambleside written by Tom Palmer (Barrington Stoke)
The Great Godden written by Meg Rosoff (Bloomsbury)
The Acrobats of Agra written by Robin Scott- Elliot (Everything With Words)
Tsunami Girl written by Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada,(Guppy Books)
The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne written by Jonathan Stroud (Walker Books)
Cane Warriors written by Alex Wheatle (Andersen Press)
Talking to Alaska written by Anna Woltz, translated by Laura Watkinson (Rock the Boat)
Punching The Air written by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (HarperCollins)
Longlist Information Books 3-14+
Fourteen Wolves written by Catherine Barr, illustrated by Jenni Desmond (Bloomsbury)
How Do Bridges Work? Written and illustrated by Roman Belyaev, translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp (bsmall publishing)
Britannica All New Children’s Encyclopedia edited by Christopher Lloyd, illustrated by Mark Ruffle and Jack Tite (Brittanica Books)
I am not a Label written by Cerrie Burnell, illustrated by Lauren Baldo (Wide Eyed Editions)
Escape- One Day We Had to Run written by Ming & Wah Chen, illustrated by Carmen Vela (Lantana Publishing)
What’s the T? written by Juno Dawson, illustrated by Soofiya (Wren & Rook)
Making A Baby: An Inclusive Guide to How Every Family Begins written by Rachel Greener illustrated by Clare Owen (Nosy Crow)
Modern Art Explorer written by Alica Harman illustrated by Serge Bloch (Thames and Hudson)
The Black Friend written by Frederick Joseph (Walker Books)
Kay’s Anatomy written by Adam Kay, illustrated by Henry Paker (Puffin)
Fashion Conscious written by Sarah Klymkiw illustrated by Kim Hankinson, (Red Shed)
The Bird Within Me written and illustrated by Sara Lundberg, translated by B.J. Epstein (Book Island)
Question Everything written by Susan Martineau, illustrated by Vicky Barker, (bsmall publishing)
Who Makes a Forest written by Sally Nicholls, illustrated by Carolina Rabei (Andersen Press)
Black and British- a short essential history written by David Olusuga (Macmillan)
Plasticus Maritimus: An Invasive Species written by Ana Pêgo & Isabel Minhós Martins, illustrated by Bernardo P Carvalho, translated by Jane Springer (Greystone Kids)
Climate Crisis for Beginners written by Andy Prentice and Eddie Reynolds, illustrated by El Primo (Usborne)
Fossils from Lost Worlds written and illustrated by Hélène Rajcak and Damien Laverdunt, translated by Daniel Hahn (Gecko Press)
The Great Barrier Reef written by Helen Scales, illustrated by Lisk Feng (Flying Eye)
Interview With a Tiger: And Other Clawed Beasts Too written by Amy Seed, illustrated by Nick East (Welbeck Childrens)
Dosh written by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Adam Hayes (Wren & Rook)
Ultimate Gamer- Career Mode written by Craig Steele illustrated by Berat Pekmezci (Kingfisher)
Fox: A Circle of Life Story written by Isabel Thomas illustrated by Daniel Egnéus (Bloomsbury)
Nano written by Dr Jess Wade illustrated by Melissa Castrillon (Walker Books)
Notes to Editors
About UKLA
UKLA is a registered charity, which has as its sole object the advancement of education in literacy. UKLA is committed to promoting good practice nationally and internationally in literacy and language teaching and research. The Association was founded in 1963 as the United Kingdom Reading Association. In 2003 it changed its name to the United Kingdom Literacy Association, to reflect more accurately its wider range of focus and interest.
UKLA especially supports the development of approaches to literacy learning and teaching which underpin these understandings. The Association recognises the significance for effective language and communication learning of literature, drama, the visual media, non-fiction texts and information technology, as well as welcoming approaches to teaching which draw on the resources of a wide range of cultures and which are informed by a detailed understanding of how literacy and language work.
About Reading Cloud
Sponsors Reading Cloud have over 30 years’ experience providing feature rich innovative software for schools and 6th form colleges. Our intuitive & flexible library systems support several thousand schools with managing their libraries and reading resources. Engaging their students in reading, supporting independent learning, promoting reading for pleasure and in improving literacy, with a growing 4.5 million active borrowers worldwide.
Reading Cloud provides all the tools and functionality needed for day-to-day school library management as well as a safe online student reading community to ensure all students are able to develop long lasting positive attitudes to reading.
To find out more visit www.ess-readingcloud.co.uk
About LoveReading4Schools and LoveReading4Kids
LoveReading4Kids is the biggest and best recommendation site for children’s books: reading, reviewing and recommending so that the children in your life find their next favourite book.
Since 2005 families across the nation have trusted their experts to curate a steady stream of wonderful books for every age range.
You can read opening extracts to try before you buy, you can search by age range or even select by genre if you know your child has a love of a particular subject or theme.
You can utilise their live price comparison engine, found on every book page, to enable you to get the best deal from your favourite online retailer, or support and buy from over 300,000 independent bookstores across the country.
You can track the books your child wants to read, the books your child has read and it even enables them to rate the books and get their book reviews published on the site.
You can become part of their community for free and subscribe to their personalised newsletters which help you keep up to date with the latest and greatest book releases while receiving recommendations tailored to your child.
To further cement their offering, they have The Book Box from LoveReading4Kids making it super easy to give the gift of a book to all children from toddlers to teens.
And earlier this year they launched the LoveReading LitFest, a digitally native, all-year-round, subscription based books and literature festival. With a burgeoning kids programme it’s a great way to further encourage reading for pleasure with brilliant author events, all interviewed by their reading ambassadors. Find out more here
At LoveReading it’s all about sharing book love and LoveReading4Schools is a critical part of this and one they take very seriously. As a community they believe they have a social responsibility to support time-strapped teachers and librarians in schools to help engender a lifelong love of reading in their students.
The site has tons of functionality to encourage a reading for pleasure culture in schools and homes across the country. The website offers schools an easy, impartial and free way to create and share recommended reading lists or the school’s own tailored lists with their parents and pupils, offering age appropriate books as well as themed collections of titles. This includes an annually updated set of reading recommendation lists for every year group from Early Years to Year 11.
There are also specialist categories for Reluctant and Dyslexic Readers that can make a real difference to those who struggle with their reading.
Visit the websites LoveReading.co.uk, LoveReading4Kids and LoveReading4Schools.co.uk
Past Winners
2021
3-6+
Look Up! Written by Nathan Bryon, illustrated by Dapo Adeola, Dapo (Puffin)
7-10+
Check Mates written by Stewart Foster (Simon & Schuster)
Highly Commended
Owen and the Soldier written by Lisa Thompson, illustrated by Mike Lowery (Barrington Stoke)
11-14+ (Joint Winners)
Run Rebel written by Manjeet Mann (Penguin)
The Last Paper Crane written by Kerry Drewery, illustrated by Natsko Seki (Hot Key)
Information Books 3-14+
The Undefeated written by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (Andersen Press)
2020
3-6+
Mixed written and illustrated by Arree Chung (Macmillan)
7-10+
The Eleventh Trade written by Alyssa Hollingsworth (Piccadilly Press)
11- 14+
No Fixed Address written by Susin Nielsen (Andersen Press)
Information Books 3-14+
Counting on Katherine written by Helaine Becker and illustrated by Dow Phumiruck (Macmillan)
Highly Commended
A Child of St. Kilda written and illustrated by Beth Waters (Child’s Play)
2019
3-6
After the Fall written and illustrated by Dan Santat (Andersen Press)
7-11
The Explorer written by Katherine Rundell illustrated by Hannah Horn (Bloomsbury)
Highly Commended
Running on Empty written by S. E. Durrant illustrated by Rob Biddulph (Nosy Crow)
12-16
Long Way Down written by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Chris Priestly (Faber)
Highly Commended
The Poet X written by Elizabeth Acevedo (Egmont Electric Monkey)
2018
3-6: Colin and Lee, Carrot and Pea written and illustrated by Morag Hood (Two Hoots)
7-11: (Joint Winners) Lesser Spotted Animals written and illustrated by Martin Brown (David Fickling Books)
Welcome to Nowhere written by Elizabeth Laird and illustrated by Lucy Eldridge (Macmillan)
12-16: Come Apart written by Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury)
2017
3-6: There’s a Bear on MY Chair written and illustrated by Ross Collins(Nosy Crow)
7-11: The Journey written and illustrated by Francesca Sanna (Flying Eye Books)
12-16: The Reluctant Journal of Henry K Larsen written by Susin Nielsen (Andersen Press)
Highly Commended: The Marvels by Brian Selznick ( Scholastic)
2016
3-6: Little Red and the Very Hungry Lion by Alex.T. Smith, ( Scholastic)
Highly Commended: On Sudden Hill by Linda Sarah and Benji Davies(illustrator), (Simon & Schuster)
7-11: The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold and Emily Gravett (illustrator), ( Bloomsbury)
Highly Commended: The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel, (David Fickling)
12-16+ : The Lie Tree by Francis Hardinge( Macmillan)
2015
3-6: The Day the Crayons Quit, Drew Daywalt , Oliver Jeffers (illustrator)( HarperCollins
7-11: Oliver and the Seawigs, Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre, (Oxford University Press)
Highly Commended 7-11 Award: Us Minus Mum, Heather Butler, (Little,Brown)
12-16: Every Day by David Levithan, published by Egmont
2014
3-6: This is not my Hat, Jon Klassen (Walker Books)
Highly Commended 3-6 Award: Open Very Carefully, Nick Bromley, Nicola O’Byrne (Illustrator), (Nosy Crow)
7- 11: The Story of the Blue Planet, Andri Snær Magnason, Julian Meldon D’Arcy, (translator), Áslaug Jónsdóttir (Illustrator), (Pushkin Press)
12- 16: Now is the Time for Running, Michael Williams, (Tamarind Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)
2013
3 – 6: Good Little Wolf, Nadia Shireen Rayner (Jonathan Cape)
7 – 11: The Weight of Water, Sarah Crossan (Bloomsbury)
12- 16: Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein (Electric Monkey)
2012
3 – 6: Iris and Isaac, Catherine Rayner (Little Tiger Press)
7 – 11: Sky Hawk, Gill Lewis (Oxford University Press)
12 – 16: A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay (Walker)
2011
3-11: Birdsong, Ellie Sandall (Egmont)
12-16: Out of Shadows, Jason Wallace (Andersen Press)
2010
3-11: Then, Morris Gleitzman (Puffin)
12-16: The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell (illustrator) (Bloomsbury)
Special commendation: Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan, (Templar)
2009
3-11: Archie’s War, Marcia Williams (Walker)
Highly commended 3-11: The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
12-16: Bog Child, Siobhan Dowd (David Fickling – Random House Children’s Books)
2008
Picture book category: Penguin, Polly Dunbar (Walker )
Here lies Arthur, Philip Reeve, (Scholastic)
