If you are in search of some high quality children’s books for your classroom or library, the 2022 shortlists for the UKLA Book Awards are a great source of teacher-recommended titles.

The UKLA Book Awards are the only children’s book awards judged entirely by teachers. They celebrate exceptional children’s books that can be used in the classroom and that “recognise a broad range of perspectives, experiences and voices”.

This year, the 24 shortlisted titles were selected by teams of teacher judges from Birmingham and the West Midlands. Twelve teachers from the 85 involved in the shortlisting will now serve as the final judging panel, tasked with reading the shortlisted books across all four award categories and deciding on the winners. To find out more about the UKLA Book Awards and how to register to be a teacher judge, click here.

The four award categories are: Fiction and Poetry for 3-6+ year-olds, Fiction and Poetry for 7-10 year-olds, Fiction and Poetry for 11-14+ year-olds, and Information Books for 3-14+ year-olds.

Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and illustrators!

Fiction and Poetry for 3-6+ year-olds                                   

Freedom We Sing by Amyra León, illustrated by Molly Mendoza (Flying Eye)

The Invisible by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)

What Happened to You? by James Catchpole, illustrated by Karen George (Faber)

Pip and Egg by Alex Latimer, illustrated by David Litchfield (Scholastic)

I’m (Almost) Always Kind by Anna Milbourne, illustrated by Asa Gilland (Usborne)

Barbara Throws a Wobbler by Nadia Shireen (Puffin)

Fiction and Poetry for 7-10 year-olds                                            

October, October by Katya Balen, illustrated by Angela Harding (Bloomsbury)

When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson, with Omar Mohamed (Faber)

When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten (Pushkin Press)

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicholl (Knights Of)

The Valley of Lost Secrets by Lesley Parr (Bloomsbury)

Front Desk by Kelly Yang (Knights Of)

Fiction and Poetry for 11-14+ year-olds                                          

The Short Knife by Elen Caldecott (Andersen)

The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud (Walker)

Cane Warriors by Alex Wheatle (Andersen)

Tsunami Girl by Julian Sedgwick, illustrated by Chie Kutsuwada (Guppy Books)

When the World Was Ours by Liz Kessler (Simon & Schuster)

Punching The Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (HarperCollins)

Information Books for 3-14+ year-olds                                              

Fourteen Wolves by Catherine Barr, illustrated by Jenni Desmond (Bloomsbury)

What’s the T? by Juno Dawson, illustrated by soofiya (Wren & Rook)

Modern Art Explorer by Alice Harman, illustrated by Serge Bloch (Thames and Hudson)

The Great Barrier Reef by Helen Scales, illustrated by Lisk Feng (Flying Eye)

Nano by Dr Jess Wade, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon (Walker)

Ultimate Gamer – Career Mode by Craig Steele, illustrated by Berat Pekmezci (Kingfisher)

 

The winners of this year’s UKLA Book Awards will be announced at the UKLA International Conference in Birmingham on July 1^st. Watch out for our winner announcement.