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Revealing the Peters Children's Book of the Year Shortlist 2026
December 4th 2025
Revealing the Peters Children's Book of the Year Awards Shortlist for 2026!
The awards' mission is to celebrate and champion the power of books to inspire children to read for pleasure, ensuring all children, regardless of background, have access to the opportunities that reading holds. Browse our judges' fantastic shortlists in our four categories below: Picture Books, Junior Fiction, Teen Fiction and Non-Fiction.
The winners in each category and overall winner will be decided by teacher and librarian vote. Place your vote before the closing date of 28 February 2026.
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Picture Books Shortlist‘Unreservedly silly fun,’ ‘sweet and funny,’ and ‘plenty of laughs’ are just a few of the phrases used by Peters’ judges to describe the picture book shortlist. Bringing humour, joy and vivid illustrations, they also describe several of the books as ‘ideal for reading aloud.’ |
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Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson and Dan Santat Llama Library by Holly Ryan and Ella Bailey Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin Colfer and Steve McCarthy What's That Noise? This Is Who I Am Letters to a Monster |
Junior Fiction ShortlistJunior readers have plenty to choose from, from Lucy Strange's atmospheric ghost story The Boy at the Window to gripping debut and story of survival Wildlands by Brogen Murphy, to the heart-warming and hilarious comic Dadbot by Jack Noel – there's something for everyone. |
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Wildlands by Brogen Murphy The Boy at the Window by Lucy Strange Dadbot by Jack Noel Nate Yu's Blast From the Past by Maisie Chan Running My Own Race by Abena Eyeson The Snowman Code by Simon Stephenson and Reggie Brown |
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Teen fiction ShortlistA set of powerful and compelling stories make up a teen fiction shortlist that’s bound to grip both younger and older teen readers. Exploring issues from social media (What Happens Online by Nathanael Lessore) and the world of online influencers (I Dare You by Tamsin Winter) to virtual reality and psychological trauma in Josh Silver’s Traumaland, to the experience of refugees arriving in the UK, in the ‘moving and emotional’ Phoenix Brothers by Sita Brahmachari. |
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Phoenix Brothers by Sita Brahmachari Traumaland by Josh Silver I Dare You by Tamsin Winter What Happens Online by Nathanael Lessore Stealing Happy by Brian Conaghan A Flash of Neon by Sophie Cameron |
Non-Fiction ShortlistThis year's fantastic non-fiction shortlist packs a punch, covering topics from animals and their habitats to the Lascaux cave paintings to LGBTQ+ activism from the 1940s to the present day. |
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I'm Building A Nest by Saskia Gwinn and Adam Ming We Are Your Children: A History of LGBTQ+ Activism by David Roberts Frog: A Story of Life on Earth Tales of Scary Beasts The Cave Explorer by Kate Winter |
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Cast your vote by 28 February 2026
Now we've revealed the shortlist, it's over to you – the winners in each category and overall winner will be decided by teacher and librarian vote.
Place your vote before the closing date of 28 February 2026.
Vote now for Peters Children's Book of the Year 2026 |
Contact us
- hello@peters.co.uk
- 0121 666 6646
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- Birmingham
- B5 6RJ
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