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 Crossings – 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 (W.F. 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 (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 Ltd)
• Guinness World Records 2025 (Guinness World Records Limited)
• The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys, Steve Sheinkin (Rock The Boat)
• 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 Percival (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
• Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold (HarperCollins UK)

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 Larwood, 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 Sanchez (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)
• Godrey is a Frog by Alex Latimer (Oxford University Press)
• Grandpa Kuma by Michelle Maiden (Wacky Bees Books)
• Serena and the Little Blue Dog by Rosemary Clunie (Head of Zeus)
• The Cafe 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, 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 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 and 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 Ltd)