English 4-11 Picture Book Awards 2025 – Winners Announced!

30 April, 2025

The winners of the 2024 English 4-11 Picture Book Awards were announced earlier this week. Awarded by the English Association to the best children’s picture books of the year, there are four award categories:

  • Fiction aged 4-7
  • Non-Fiction aged 4-7
  • Fiction aged 7-11
  • Non-Fiction aged 7-11

In addition, one of the books submitted is chosen as the recipient of the Margaret Mallett Award for Children’s Non-Fiction, a prize set up in 2017 to honour former primary teacher, Fellow of the English Association, book reviewer and passionate children’s book advocate Margaret Mallett.

This year’s winners were chosen by the editorial board of English 4-11  – the journal for primary teachers published jointly by the English Association, the National Association for the Teaching of English and the UKLA – from a shortlist selected by a panel of teachers and primary education specialists.

Congratulations to all the winning authors and illustrators!

Cover shots of the five winning titles for the English 4-11 Picture Books Award 2025

Fiction 4-7 Winner

Colin’s Castle by Holly Swain (Farshore)

Non-Fiction 4-7 Winner

Mushrooms Know: Wisdom from Our Friends the Fungi by Kallie George, illustrated by Sara Gillingham (Greystone Kids)

Fiction 7-11 Winner

Blitz: One Family’s War by Martin Impey (Harbour Moon Publishing)

Non-Fiction 7-11 Winner

Ayo’s Adventure: Across the African Diaspora from Afro to Zulu by Ain Heath Drew, illustrated by Erin K Robinson (Barefoot Books)

 Margaret Mallet Award Winner

Time Runs Like a River by Emma Carlisle (Big Picture Press)

For more children’s book awards, click here.

English 4-11 Picture Book Awards logo