Each year since 2000, the influential Blue Peter Book Awards have celebrated brilliant authors, creative illustrators and the greatest reads for primary school-aged children across two categories: Best Story and Best Book with Facts.

Voted for by over 300 children from 12 primary schools across the UK, the winners of the Blue Peter Book Awards 2022 were announced live during a special edition of Blue Peter on Friday 4th March.

Congratulations to the two worthy winners!

Commenting on this year’s winners, Blue Peter Editor, Ellen Evans, said,“Blue Peter is all about our audience, and in this 100th year of the BBC, over 300 kids read the shortlisted books to pick the Blue Peter Book Award winners. They chose two books about how incredible animals are and how they help us in different ways. Invented by Animals, winner of the Best Book with Facts, shows the ways that nature inspires scientists and engineers and how much we can discover from the natural world.

The Last Bear, winner of Best Story, has a message not to be afraid to try to make positive difference because each small thing can make an impact, whether that’s to a person, an animal, or the planet. These two books show how aware the young generation are of our relationship to the natural world, how important it is to protect our planet and embrace our differences.’’

The Last Bear and Invented by Animals were each chosen from a shortlist of three titles. Also shortlisted for this year’s awards were:

Best Story

Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths by Maisie Chan, illustrated by Anh Cao (Piccadilly Press)

The Boy Who Made Everyone Laugh by Helen Rutter (Scholastic UK)

Best Book with Facts

24 Hours in the Stone Age by Lan Cook, illustrated by Laurent Kling (Usborne Publishing)

Good News: Why the World is Not as Bad as You Think by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Adam Hayes (Wren & Rook)