The shortlist for this year’s Children’s Book Award has been announced. The Children’s Book Award was established in 1980 and is administered by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups. It is the only national award voted for entirely by children from beginning to end. Highly regarded by teachers, parents and librarians, previous winners include Quentin Blake, J. K. Rowling, Malory Blackman, Andy Stanton, Anthony Horowitz, Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Morpurgo.

Over the last twelve months, children in FCBG groups around the country have been reading and reviewing around 700 books to come up with a shortlist of ten titles across the three award categories: Books for Younger Children; Books for Younger Readers; and Books for Older Readers.

Commenting on the shortlist, Children’s Book Award Co-ordinator Sarah Stuffins said, “The Children’s Book Award is back and the children have had a superb year’s worth of wonderful stories to choose from. It’s children who curate the children’s book industry – they choose the bestsellers and they’re a very particular audience who know exactly what they like. We’re thrilled to be showcasing their choices in this exciting shortlist that demonstrates both the high standards children demand in their books, as well as the superb talent and creativity in children’s books today.’

Voting for the category winners and the Overall Winner of this year’s Children’s Book Award will open on March 20th for any child or young person up to the age of 18 in the UK. Voting takes place online and will close at 12 noon on Friday 12th May. Explore the accompanying resources provided for all the shortlisted titles, including links to author interviews, activity sheets and further reading suggestions.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators!

Books for Younger Children

Blobfish by Olaf Falafel (Walker Books)

My Rhinoceros by Jon Agee (Scallywag Press)

The Blue-Footed Booby by Rob Biddulph (Harper Collins Children’s Books)

Where Has All the Cake Gone? by Andrew Sanders, illustrated by Aysha Awwad (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Books for Younger Readers

Leonora Bolt: Secret Inventor by Lucy Brandt, illustrated by Gladys Jose (Puffin)

Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good by Louie Stowell (Walker Books)

Ollie Spark and the Accidental Adventure by Gillian Cross, illustrated by Alan Snow (David Fickling Books)

Books for Older Readers

Dread Wood by Jennifer Killick (Farshore)

The Light in Everything by Katya Balen (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

While the Storm Rages by Phil Earle (Andersen Press)

The winners will be announced at an award ceremony on Saturday 10th June 2023. Keep an eye out for our winner announcement.