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The Week Junior Book Awards 2025 shortlist unveiled
The Week Junior Book Awards shortlist for 2025 has been unveiled. Awards will be given for the best in children’s literature across 13 categories, and shortlistees include Ramzee, Deborah Meaden, Elle McNicoll and Nadia Shireen – who is nominated in two categories.
The shortlist committee, including children’s book consultant Jake Hope, award-winning bookseller Sanchita Basu de Sarkar and The Bookseller’s children’s editor Caroline Carpenter, have selected 63 books for consideration. Author and singer Geri Halliwell-Horner, CBeebies’ George Webster, presenter and actor Rhys Stephenson and lexicographer Susie Dent are among the judges who will select the winning titles. The Week Junior readers will also vote for the winners of the Children’s Choice and Cover of the Year Awards categories. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in central London on 29th September.
The awards are now in their third year, and were created "to celebrate the very best in books for young readers, increasing awareness of the lifelong benefits of reading for pleasure and ultimately inspiring children to discover their next great read".
Editorial director of The Week Junior Anna Bassi said: "From anarchic animals, rowdy Romans, riddles and rollercoasters, to magic, money and monsters, the outstanding books on this year’s shortlists are guaranteed to ignite young imaginations and spark family conversations. At a time when the world can feel unstable and overwhelming, it’s incredibly reassuring to see children’s authors, illustrators and publishers rising to the ever more important challenge of informing, entertaining and boosting empathy through their work. I’m delighted to have the help of so many expert and enthusiastic judges – including The Week Junior’s readers – to help decide which of these exceptional books should triumph."
Shireen’s Grimwood: Party Animals leads this year’s shortlist, with the fourth title of the series shortlisted for Audiobook and Fiction (Younger). Usborne and Penguin Random House lead the nominations, each securing five titles on the shortlist.
Carpenter, children’s editor and deputy features editor at The Bookseller, said: "We are delighted to support The Week Junior Book Awards again as they continue to grow their scope and reach. Initiatives to encourage children reading for pleasure are needed more than ever and these awards celebrate the whole breadth of children’s literature – from brilliant fiction to engaging non-fiction, illustration and poetry – ensuring there is something for every child to enjoy on these shortlists, while also recognising the hard work and talent of the authors, illustrators and publishers involved."
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The Week Junior 2025 shortlist:
Animals & Nature
Beasts from the Deep by Matt Ralphs, Kaley McKean (Nosy Crow)
Lots of Things to Know About Seas and Oceans by Emily Bone (Usborne)
There Is a Season by Murphy’s Sketches (Fox & Ink Books.)
Wildlife Crossing – Protecting Animal Pathways Around the World by Catherine Barr, Christiane Engel (Otter-Barry Books)
Wildlife in the Balance by Dr Sharon Wismer, Terri Po (Flying Eye Books)
Audiobook
Grimwood: Party Animals by Nadia Shireen (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
Mayowa and the Sea of Words by Chibundu Onuzo (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Myths of China by Xiaobing Wang, Katie Ponder (DK)
Totally Chaotic History: Roman Britain Gets Rowdy! by Greg Jenner, Dr Emma Southon, Rikin Parekh (WF Howes)
Breakthrough Book
Peregrine Quinn and the Cosmic Realm by Ash Bond (Bonnier Books UK)
The Boy in the Suit by James Fox (Scholastic)
The Boy to Beat the Gods by Ashley Thorpe (Usborne)
The Cheat Book vol.1 by Ramzee (Orchard Books (Hachette Children’s Group))
Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit by Clare Harlow (Penguin Random House)
Cover of the Year
A Head Full of Magic by Sarah Morrell (Hashtag Press)
Guinness World Records 2025 (Guinness World Records)
The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys, Steve Sheinkin (Rock The Boat (Oneworld Publications))
The Boy Who Fell From the Sky by Benjamin Dean (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
The Shy Book by Howard Pearlstein, James Munro (Graffeg)
Factual
Deborah Meaden Talks Money by Deborah Meaden (Farshore)
Explodapedia: Rewild (David Fickling Books)
First Questions and Answers: Why are there wars? (Usborne)
Tasty Tales (Fox & Ink Books)
The History of Information (DK)
Fiction (Older)
Keedie by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of)
Shipwrecked by Jenny Pearson (Usborne)
The Letter with the Golden Stamp by Onjali Q Rauf (Hachette Children’s Group)
The Wrong Shoes by Tom Pervical (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold (HarperCollins)
Fiction (Younger)
Badgers are GO! by Susannah Lloyd, Nici Gregory (David Fickling)
Betty Steady and the Toad Witch by Nicky Smith-Dale (Farshore)
Dungeon Runners: Hero Trial by Kieran Lawood, Joe Todd-Stanton (Nosy Crow)
Grimwood: Party Animals by Nadia Shireen (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
Watts & Whiskerton: Buried Bones and Troublesome Treasure by Meg McLaren (Bonnier Books)
Graphic Novel
Blitz: One Family’s War by Martin Impey (Harbour Moon Publishing)
Blue, Barry & Pancakes: Beach Ball Bedlam by Dan Abdo, Jason Patterson (Rock the Boat)
Pablo and Splash by Sheena Dempsey (Bloomsbury Children’s)
Rune by Carlos Sánchez (Flying Eye Books)
Unicorn Boy by Dave Roman (Hachette Children’s Group)
Hobbies and Interests
100 Things to Know About Sport (multiple authors) (Usborne)
Chefs Wanted by Allegra McEvedy (DK)
The Life-Changing Magic of Skateboarding by Sky Brown (Magic Cat Publishing)
The Ultimate Kids’ Guide to Dogs by Graeme Hall (Penguin Random House)
This Book Will Make You an Artist by Ruth Millington (Nosy Crow)
Picture Book
Blue Monster by Petr Horacek (Otter-Barry Books)
Godfrey is a Frog by Alex Latimer (Oxford University Press)
Grandpa Kuma by Michelle Maiden (Wacky Bee Books)
Serena and the Little Blue Dog by Rosemary Clunie (Head of Zeus)
The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please (HarperCollins UK)
There’s a Tiger on the Train by Mariesa Dulak, Rebecca Cobb (Faber)
Poetry
And I Hear Dragons edited by Hanan Issa, illustrated by Eric Heyman (Firefly Press)
Fia and the Last Snow Deer by Eilish Fisher, Dermot Flynn (Penguin Random House)
Out of this World by Michael Rosen, Ed Vere (HarperCollins UK)
Tomorrow We Begin by Matt Goodfellow (Bloomsbury Children’s)
We Are Family: Six Kids and a Super-Dad – A Poetry Adventure by Oliver Sykes (Otter-Barry Books)
STEM Book
Big Bad Wolf Investigates: Fairy Tales by Catherine Cawthorne (Bloomsbury Children’s)
Science Is Lit: Crazy Chemistry and Epic Experiments by Big Manny (Penguin Random House)
Scientists in the Wild: Antarctica by Helen Scales, Kate Hendry (Flying Eye Books)
The World’s First Rollercoaster by Mike Barfield (Bonnier Books UK)
Wellbeing
Every Body by Molly Forbes (Penguin Random House)
Happy Days: 365 Facts to Brighten Every Day of the Year by Emily Coxhead (Walker Books)
Little Dinosaurs, Big Feelings by Swapna Haddow (Magic Cat Publishing)
The Get Well Spell by Hannah Peckham (Award Publications)
