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December 5th 2024
Together their choices make up our shortlists in four categories: Picture Books, Junior Fiction, Teen Fiction and Non-Fiction.
Our team praised the 'vibrant illustrations', 'hilariously funny' rhyming text and 'cuteness overload' when reviewing our picture book shortlist – see their full list of favourites below.
I Follow the Fox by Rob Biddulph (Harper Collins)
All You Need to Know About Dogs: by A. Cat by Fred Blunt (Happy Yak)
The Great Expedition by Peter Carnavas (New Frontier Publishing)
A Wild Walk to School by Rebecca Cobb (Macmillan Children's Books)
If I Had A Dragon by Gabby Dawnay and Alex Barrow (Thames & Hudson)
Tiny McToot by Barry Falls (Farshore)
Spider in the Well by Jess Hannigan (Katherine Tegen Books)
There's a Beach in My Pants! by Michelle Harrison and David Tazzyman (Simon & Schuster)
Panda & Penguin Find a Thing by Zehra Hicks (Andersen Press)
The Cat who Couldn't be Bothered by Jack Kurland (Frances Lincoln)
Bear and Bird Winter Wonderland Adventure by Jonny Lambert (Dorling K)
Godfrey is a Frog by Alex Latimer (Oxford Children's)
Otto the Top Dog by Catherine Rayner (Macmillan Children's Books)
My Bright Shining Star by Fatima Whitbread and Rhian Wright (Words & Pictures)
From gripping historical adventure (Nush and the Stolen Emerald) to magical fantasy (Starminster) and a poignant exploration of friendship (The Girl Who Couldn't Lie), there's something here for every junior reader. Tom Percival's The Wrong Shoes is a 'sensitive exploration of the experience of child poverty,' while Alex T. Smith's Murder! By Narwhal! is a 'pitch-perfect take on classic crime mysteries,' with plenty of twists and turns.
Nush and the Stolen Emerald by Jasbinder Bilan (Chicken House)
I Am Wolf by Alastair Chisholm (Nosy Crow)
The Boy in the Suit by James Fox (Scholastic)
The Great Phoenix of London by Lindsay Galvin (Chicken House)
Starminster by Megan Hopkins (Harper Collins)
Ice Cream Boy by Lindsay Littleson (Kelpies)
The Secret of the Moonshard by Struan Murray (Puffin)
The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster)
The Letter With the Golden Stamp by Onjali Q Rauf (Orion Children's Books)
Me and My Brian by Helen Rutter (Barrington Stoke)
Murder! By Narwhal! by Alex T Smith (Hodder Children's Books)
The Girl Who Couldn't Lie by Radhika Sanghani (Usborne)
Bridget Vanderpuff and the Monster Mountain Mystery by Martin J Stewart (Zephyr)
A Ship in the Dark by Yarrow Townsend (Chicken House)
Feisty female leads, compelling fantasy and fun romance all feature on our teen fiction shortlist. Don't miss Northern Soul by Phil Earle, a 'sweet and tender tale of unrequited love,' and Melinda Salisbury's AdelAIDE Just Wants to Help, a 'cautionary tale of the dangers of social media.'
A Girl Can Dream by Emily Barr (Penguin Books)
On Silver Tides by Sylvia Bishop (Andersen Press)
The Love Dare by Abiola Bello (Simon & Schuster)
Seven Million Sunflowers by Malcolm Duffy (Zephyr)
Northern Soul by Phil Earle (Barrington Stoke)
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (Electric Monkey)
If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster)
King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Hot Key Books)
Some Like it Cold by Elle McNicoll (Macmillan Children's Books)
Thunder City by Philip Reeve (Scholastic)
Twenty-Four Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds (Faber)
AdelAIDE Just Wants to Help by Melinda Salisbury (Barrington Stoke)
Us in the Before and After by Jenny Valentine (Simon & Schuster)
For She is Wrath by Emily Varga (Macmillan Children's Books)
Our shortlist highlights some of the fantastic non-fiction books published for children and teens in 2024; they're sure to capture the imagination of your pupils. From plants and life cycles, to space travel for budding astronauts, to Alastair Campbell's guide to understanding the world of politics, these books cover a wide range of topics in an engaging, informative style.
Seven Small Inventions that Changed the World by Roma Agrawal and Jisu Choi (Laurence King Publishing)
Dear Vincent by Michael Bird and Ella Beech (Thames & Hudson)
A Really Short History of Words by Bill Bryson, Emma Young and Daniel Long (Puffin)
Alastair Campbell Talks Politics by Alastair Campbell (Red Shed)
Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairytales by Catherine Cawthorne and Sara Ogilvie (Bloomsbury)
Green: The Story of Plant Life on our Planet by Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton (Walker Books)
Rewild the World at Bedtime by Emily Hawkins and Ella Beech (WideEyed Editions)
The Wild Outside by Rachel Ip and Katie Hickey (Hodder Children's Books)
What's the Point of Art? illustrated by Sania Jain (DK)
How to Say No to Your Phone by Brad Marshall, Lindsay Hassock and Lauriane Bohémier (Magic Cat Publishing)
Lost by Jess McGeachin (Welbeck)
12 Ways to Get a Ticket to Space by Kate Peridot and Terri Po (WideEyed Editions)
How to be a Genius Kid by Jim Smith (Faber)
Patience... by Rachel Williams and Leonie Ward (Magic Cat Publishing)
Diane Gill, Professional Services Manager, says: "After much discussion, the team has selected our personal favourites for the year. The shortlist beautifully reflects the quality, strength and diverse range of current publishing: it is a fantastic collection and we are sure that there will be something for everyone to enjoy – from escapism, to thrillers, to gritty current issues, to cute animals, to good old-fashioned romances."
To help schools promote the award and encourage pupils to read the shortlisted books, we've created free downloadable posters for your classroom or library.
Discounted book packs for schools will be available for each category, with Book Talk discussion resources also available for all shortlisted books in early 2025.
Now, over to you! We're asking public librarians and primary and secondary school staff from across the UK to vote for their favourites in each category.
The title with the most votes in each category will be crowned category winner, and the book with the most votes overall becoming our Peters Children's Book of the Year. Click on the link below to vote!
