# Waterstones Children's Book Prize

The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is therefore open only to authors who have published no more than two or three books, depending on which category they are in. The prize is awarded by British book retailer Waterstones.
It was originally called the Ottakar's Children's Book Prize, after the bookshop chain. When all Ottakar's stores were rebranded as Waterstone's following the HMV Group takeover in 2006, the prize also changed its name to become the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize.
Beginning in 2012, the prize was divided into three categories: Picture Books, Fiction 5–12, and Teen. Each category winner receives £2,000 with an overall winner chosen from the three getting an additional £3,000 (thus the overall winner receives £5,000 in total).
In 2016 the categories were renamed: Picture Books became Illustrated Books, Fiction 5–12 became Younger Fiction and the Teen category became Older Fiction.

## Nominations and winners
### 2005

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Best Book | Stuart Hill | The Cry of the Icemark | Winner |
| Best Book | M. I. McAllister | Urchin of the Riding Stars | Finalist |
| Best Book | Barry Jonsberg | The Whole Business with Kiffo and the Pitbull | Finalist |
| Best Book | Livi Michael | The Whispering Road | Finalist |
| Best Book | Val Tyler | The Time Wreccas | Finalist |
| Best Book | Julie Hearn | The Merrybegot | Finalist |
| Best Book | Shannon Hale | The Goose Girl | Finalist |
| Best Book | Ann Halam | Siberia | Finalist |
| Best Book | Ellen Potter | Olivia Kidney | Finalist |
| Best Book | Kes Gray | Nelly the Monster Sitter | Finalist |
| Best Book | Bowering Sivers | Jammy Dodgers on the Run | Finalist |
| Best Book | Kenneth Oppel | Airborn | Finalist |

### 2006

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Best Book | Julia Golding | The Diamond of Drury Lane | Winner |
| Best Book | Michael Carroll | The Quantum Prophecy | Finalist |
| Best Book | Beth Goobie | The Lottery | Finalist |
| Best Book | John Boyne | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas | Finalist |
| Best Book | Heather Vogel Frederick | Spymice | Finalist |
| Best Book | Elise Broach | Shakespeare's Secret | Finalist |
| Best Book | Adam Frost | Ralph the Magic Rabbit | Finalist |
| Best Book | Edith Pattou | North Child | Finalist |
| Best Book | John Dougherty | Jack Slater, Monster Investigator | Finalist |
| Best Book | Suzanne Collins | Gregor and the Rats of Underland | Finalist |

### 2007

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Best Book | Tom Becker | Darkside | Winner |
| Best Book | Tom Kelly | The Thing with Finn | Finalist |
| Best Book | Gareth P. Jones | The Case of the Missing Cats | Finalist |
| Best Book | F. E. Higgins | The Black Book of Secrets | Finalist |
| Best Book | Christopher Russell | Smugglers | Finalist |
| Best Book | Philip Caveney | Sebastian Darke | Finalist |
| Best Book | L. Brittney | Nathan Fox: Dangerous Times | Finalist |
| Best Book | Michael Broad | Jake Cake: The Werewolf Teacher | Finalist |
| Best Book | J. A. Henderson | Bunker 10 | Finalist |
| Best Book | Siobhan Dowd | A Swift Pure Cry | Finalist |

### 2008

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Best Book | Sally Nicholls | Ways to Live Forever | Winner |
| Best Book | Emily Bearn | Tumtum and Nutmeg | Finalist |
| Best Book | Sam Enthoven | TIM Defender of the Earth | Finalist |
| Best Book | David Melling | Stone Goblins | Finalist |
| Best Book | Matt Haig | Shadow Forest | Finalist |
| Best Book | Jenny Valentine | Broken Soup | Finalist |
| Best Book | Gabrielle Halberstam | Blue Sky Freedom | Finalist |
| Best Book | Marie-Louise Jensen | Between Two Seas | Finalist |
| Best Book | Oisín McGann | Ancient Appetites | Finalist |

### 2009

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Best Book | Michelle Harrison | 13 Treasures | Winner |
| Best Book | Elen Caldecott | How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant | Finalist |
| Best Book | Vanessa Curtis | Zelah Green Queen of Clean | Finalist |
| Best Book | Steve Feasey | Changeling | Finalist |
| Best Book | Ceci Jenkinson | Gnomes Are Forever | Finalist |
| Best Book | Marie-Louise Jensen | The Lady in the Tower | Finalist |
| Best Book | Rob Stevens | Mapmaker's Monsters | Finalist |
| Best Book | Rachel Ward | Numbers | Finalist |

### 2010

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Best Book | Katie Davies | The Great Hamster Massacre | Winner |
| Best Book | Jeremy De Quidt | The Toymaker | Finalist |
| Best Book | Caro King | The Seven Sorcerers | Finalist |
| Best Book | Victoria Forester | The Girl Who Could Fly | Finalist |
| Best Book | Pat Walsh | The Crowfield Curse | Finalist |
| Best Book | A. G. Taylor | Meteorite Strike | Finalist |
| Best Book | Suzanne Lafleur | Love, Aubrey | Finalist |
| Best Book | Lucy Christopher | Flyaway | Finalist |
| Best Book | Laura Summers | Desperate Measures | Finalist |

### 2011

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Best Book | Sita Brahmachari | Artichoke Hearts | Winner |
| Best Book | Ruth Eastham | The Memory Cage | Finalist |
| Best Book | Candy Gourlay | Tall Story | Finalist |
| Best Book | Janice Hardy | The Pain Merchants | Finalist |
| Best Book | Curtis Jobling | Wereworld: The Rise of the Wolf | Finalist |
| Best Book | Anna Kemp | Fantastic Frankie and the Brain-Drain Machine | Finalist |
| Best Book | Irfan Master | A Beautiful Lie | Finalist |
| Best Book | Jon Mayhew | Mortlock | Finalist |
| Best Book | Rebecca Stead | When You Reach Me | Finalist |

### 2012

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Jonny Duddle | The Pirates Next Door | Winner |
| Fiction 5-12 | Liz Pichon | The Brilliant World of Tom Gates | Category winner |
| Fiction 5-12 | Mackenzie Crook | The Windvale Sprites | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Janet Foxley | Muncle Trogg | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Gill Lewis | Sky Hawk | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Alan Silberberg | Milo and the Restart Button | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Alex T. Smith | Claude in the City | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Jonny Duddle | The Pirates Next Door | Category winner |
| Picture Book | Marta Altés | No! | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Jon Klassen | I Want My Hat Back | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Ann Bonwill and Simon Rickerty | I Don't Want to be a Pea! | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Nadia Shireen | Good Little Wolf | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Chris Haughton | A Bit Lost | Finalist |
| Teen | Jenny Downham | You Against Me | Category winner |
| Teen | Annabel Pitcher | My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece | Finalist |
| Teen | Veronica Roth | Divergent | Finalist |
| Teen | Ruta Sepetys | Between Shades of Gray | Finalist |
| Teen | Phil Earle | Being Billy | Finalist |
| Teen | Morgan Matson | Amy and Roger's Epic Detour | Finalist |

### 2013

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Annabel Pitcher | Ketchup Clouds | Winner |
| Fiction 5-12 | R. J. Palacio | Wonder | Category winner |
| Fiction 5-12 | Catherine Constable | The Wolf Princess | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Jennifer Gray | Atticus Claw Breaks the Law | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Helen Peters | The Secret Hen House Theatre | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Geoff Rodkey | Chronicles of Egg: Deadweather and Sunrise | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Jim Smith | Barry Loser: I Am Not a Loser | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Rebecca Cobb | Lunchtime | Category winner |
| Picture Book | Jo Empson | Rabbityness | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Chris Haughton | Oh No, George! | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Anna Kemp | The Worst Princess | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Frann Preston-Gannon | The Journey Home | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Sam Usher | Can You See Sassoon? | Finalist |
| Teen | Annabel Pitcher | Ketchup Clouds | Category winner |
| Teen | Rachel Hartman | Seraphina | Finalist |
| Teen | Laura Jarratt | Skin Deep | Finalist |
| Teen | S. J. Kincaid | Insignia | Finalist |
| Teen | Sarah J. Maas | Throne of Glass | Finalist |
| Teen | Andy Robb | Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind | Finalist |

### 2014 (10th anniversary)

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Katherine Rundell | Rooftoppers | Winner |
| Fiction 5–12 | Katherine Rundell | Rooftoppers | Category winner |
| Fiction 5–12 | Soman Chainani | The School for Good and Evil | Finalist |
| Fiction 5–12 | Piers Torday | The Last Wild | Finalist |
| Fiction 5–12 | Sandra Greaves | Skull in the Wood | Finalist |
| Fiction 5–12 | Emerald Fennell | Shiverton Hall | Finalist |
| Fiction 5–12 | Laura Dockrill | Darcy Durdock | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Nicola O'Byrne | Open Very Carefully | Category winner |
| Picture Book | Elys Dolan | Weasels | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Yasmeen Ismail | Time for Bed, Fred | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Gemma Merino | The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Helen Hancocks | Penguin in Peril | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Courtney Dicmas | Harold Finds a Voice | Finalist |
| Teen | Holly Smale | Geek Girl | Category winner |
| Teen | Alexia Casale | The Bone Dragon | Finalist |
| Teen | Dawn O'Porter | Paper Aeroplanes | Finalist |
| Teen | Ruta Sepetys | Out of the Easy | Finalist |
| Teen | Emily Murdoch | If You Find Me | Finalist |
| Teen | Erin Lange | Butter | Finalist |

### 2015

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Rob Biddulph | Blown Away | Winner |
| Fiction 5-12 | Robin Stevens | Murder Most Unladylike | Category winner |
| Fiction 5-12 | Harriet Whitehorn with Beck Moor (illustrator) | Violet and the Pearl of the Orient | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Anne Booth | Girl with a White Dog | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | GR Gemin | Cowgirl | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Polly Ho-Yen | Boy in the Tower | Finalist |
| Fiction 5-12 | Lara Williamson | A Boy Called Hope | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Rob Biddulph | Blown Away | Category winner |
| Picture Book | Sophy Henn | Where Bear? | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Victoria Turnbull | The Sea Tiger | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Steve Antony | The Queen's Hat | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Suzanne Barton | The Dawn Chorus | Finalist |
| Picture Book | Lucy Letherland | Atlas of Adventures | Finalist |
| Teen | Sally Green | Half Bad | Category winner |
| Teen | Leslye Walton | The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender | Finalist |
| Teen | Sarah Moore Fitzgerald | The Apple Tart of Hope | Finalist |
| Teen | Kim Skater | Smart | Finalist |
| Teen | Louise O'Neill | Only Ever Yours | Finalist |
| Teen | Erin Lange | Dead Ends | Finalist |

### 2016

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | David Solomon | My Brother Is a Superhero | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | David Litchfield | The Bear and the Piano | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Naomi Howarth | The Crow's Tale | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Matty Long | Super Happy Magic Forest | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Nicholas John Frith | Hector and Hummingbird | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | David Barrow | Have You Seen Elephant? | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Lorraine Carey and Migy Blanco | Cinderella's Sister and the Big Bad Wolf | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Lisa Williamson | The Art of Being Normal | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Melinda Salisbury | The Sin Eater's Daughter | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Moïra Fowley-Doyle | The Accident Season | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Lisa Heathfield | Seed | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Jandy Nelson | I'll Give You the Sun | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Leo Hunt | 13 Days of Midnight | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | David Solomon | My Brother Is a Superhero | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | Sibéal Pounder | Witch Wars | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Katherine Woodfine | The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Kevin Sands | The Blackthorn Key | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Shane Hegarty | Darkmouth | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Crystal Chan | Bird | Finalist |

### 2017

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Kiran Millwood Hargrave | The Girl of Ink and Stars | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Lizzy Stewart | There's a Tiger in the Garden | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Fabi Santiago | Tiger in a Tutu | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Francesca Sanna | The Journey | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Duncan Beedie | The Bear Who Stared | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Matt Robertson | Super Stan | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Meg McLaren | Life Is Magic | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Patrice Lawrence | Orangeboy | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Nilanjana Roy | The Wildings | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Nicola Yoon | The Sun Is Also a Star | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Lisa Heathfield | Paper Butterflies | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Lindsay Eager | Hour of the Bees | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Gavriel Savit | Anna and the Swallow Man | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Kiran Millwood Hargrave | The Girl of Ink and Stars | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | Lauren Wolk | Wolf Hollow | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Ross Welford | Time Travelling with a Hamster | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Peter Bunzl | Cogheart | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Laura James | Captain Pug | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | MG Leonard | Beetle Boy | Finalist |

### 2018

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Angie Thomas | The Hate U Give | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Joe Todd-Stanton | The Secret of Black Rock | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Louise Greig | The Night Box | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Matt Carr | Superbat | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Sandra Dieckmann | Leaf | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Simon Philip | I Really Want the Cake | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Robert Starling | Fergal Is Fuming! | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Angie Thomas | The Hate U Give | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Catherine Barter | Troublemakers | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Pam Smy | Thornhill | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Emily Suvada | This Mortal Coil | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Emily Bain Murphy | The Disappearances | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Alice Broadway | Ink | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Jessica Townsend | Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | Maz Evans | Who Let the Gods Out? | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Kieran Larwood | The Legend of Podkin One-Ear | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Lisa Thompson | The Goldfish Boy | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Greg James and Chris Smith | Kid Normal | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Helena Duggan | A Place Called Perfect | Finalist |

### 2019

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Onjali Q. Raúf | The Boy at the Back of the Class | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Lauren Ace and Jenny Løvlie | The Girl | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Emily Haworth-Booth | The King Who Banned the Dark | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | John Bond | Mini Rabbit Not Lost | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Vashti Harrison | Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Jessica Love | Julián Is a Mermaid | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Michael Whaite | 100 Dogs | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Tomi Adeyemi | Children of Blood and Bone | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Tracy Darnton | The Truth About Lies | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Elizabeth Acevedo | The Poet X | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Malcolm Duffy | Me Mam. Me Dad. Me. | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Ele Fountain | Boy 87 | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Christelle Dabos | A Winter's Promise | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Onjali Q. Raúf | The Boy at the Back of the Class | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | P.G. Bell | The Train to Impossible Places | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Ewa Jozefkowicz | The Mystery of the Colour Thief | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Sophie Anderson | The House with Chicken Legs | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Andy Shepherd | The Boy Who Grew Dragons | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Vashti Hardy | Brightstorm: A Sky-Ship Adventure | Finalist |

### 2020

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Nathan Bryon | Look Up! | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Nathan Bryon | Look Up! | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Graham Carter | Otto Blotter, Bird Spotter | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Kate Read | One Fox | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Beatrice Blue | Once Upon a Unicorn Horn | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Rose Robbins | Me and My Sister | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Ben Rothery | Hidden Planet | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Liz Hyder | Bearmouth | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Emma Smith-Barton | The Million Pieces of Neena Gill | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Tamsin Winter | Jemima Small Versus the Universe | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Samira Ahmed | Internment | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | gal-dem | I Will Not Be Erased: Our Stories About Growing Up as People of Colour | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Holly Jackson | A Good Girl's Guide to Murder | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Sharna Jackson | High-Rise Mystery | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | Kirsty Applebaum | The Middler | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Meg Grehan | The Deepest Breath | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Lucy Strange | Our Castle, the Sea | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Sam Copeland | Charlie Changes into a Chicken | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Jasbinder Bilan | Asha and the Spirit Bird | Finalist |

### 2021

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| OVERALL | Elle McNicoll | A Kind of Spark | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Bethan Stevens | The Grumpy Fairies | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Eva Eland | Where Happiness Begins | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Katie Cottle | The Blue Giant | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Amyra Leon | Freedom, We Sing | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Devon Holzwarth | Found You | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden | Bear Shaped | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Darren Charlton | Wranglestone | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Dean Atta | The Black Flamingo | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Jordan Ifueko | Raybearer | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Sophie Gonzales | Only Mostly Devastated | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | A. M. Dassu | Boy, Everywhere | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Danielle Jawando | And the Stars Were Burning Brightly | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Elle McNicoll | A Kind of Spark | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | Kereen Getten | When Life Gives You Mangoes | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Jenny Pearson | The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Alastair Chisholm | Orion Lost | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Annabelle Sami | Llama Out Loud! | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Francesca Gibbons | A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth | Finalist |

### 2022

| Category | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| OVERALL | Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children's Books) | The Last Bear | HarperCollins Children's Books | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Harry Woodgate | Grandad's Camper | Andersen Press | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Andy Harkness | Wolfboy | Bloomsbury Children's | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Lu Fraser, illustrated by Mark McKinley | The Viking Who Liked Icing | Bloomsbury Children's | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Steve Small | The Duck Who Didn't Like Water | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Helen Kellock | Out to Sea | Thames & Hudson | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Barr Falls | Alone! | Farshore | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Ciara Smyth (Andersen Press) | Not My Problem | Andersen Press | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Femi Fadugba | The Upper World | PRH Children's | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Namina Forna | The Gilded Ones | Usborne | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Manjeet Mann | The Crossing | PRH Children's | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Michelle Quach | Not Here to Be Liked | Usborne | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Angeline Boulley | Firekeeper's Daughter | OneWorld | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold | The Last Bear | HarperCollins Children's Books | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | Benjamin Dean, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat | Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow | Simon & Schuster | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Kelly Yang, illustrated by Maike Plenzke | Front Desk | Knights Of | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Efua Traoré | Children of the Quicksands | The Chicken House | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Mark Bradley | Bumble and Snug and the Angry Pirates | Hodder Children's Books | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | B. B. Alston, illustrated by Godwin Akpan | Amari and the Night Brothers | Farshore | Finalist |

### 2023

| Category | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| OVERALL | Nadia Mikail | The Cats We Meet Along the Way | Guppy Publishing | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Kim Hillyard | Gretel the Wonder Mammoth | PRH Children's | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Georgia Buckthorn, illustrated by Isabella Mazzanti | The Fairy Garden | Ivy Kids | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Emma Carlisle | What Do You See When You Look at a Tree? | Big Picture Press | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Rachael Davis, illustrated by Beatrix Hatcher | I Am NOT a Prince | Hachette Children's Group | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Stephen Hogtun | The Station Cat | DK | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Jordan Stephens, illustrated by Beth Suzanna | The Missing Piece | Bloomsbury Children's Books | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Nadia Mikail | The Cats We Meet Along the Way | Guppy Publishing | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Erik J Brown | All That's Left in the World | Hachette Children's Group | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Lewis Hancox | Welcome to St Hell | Scholastic | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Christine Pillainayagam | Ellie Pillai Is Brown | Faber and Faber | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Cynthia So | If You Still Recognise Me | Stripes Publishing | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Angharad Walker | Once Upon a Fever | The Chicken House | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | M T Khan | Nura and the Immortal Palace | Walker Books | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | David Farr | The Book of Stolen Dreams | Usborne Publishing | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Hannah Moffatt | Small! | Everything with Words | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Lee Newbery | The Last Firefox | PRH Children's | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Varsha Shah | Ajay and the Mumbai Sun | The Chicken House | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | J T Williams, illustrated by Simone Douglas | The Lizzie and Belle Mysteries: Drama and Danger | Farshore | Finalist |

### 2024 (20th anniversary)

| Category | Author | Title | Publisher | Result |
| OVERALL | Pari Thomson | Greenwild: The World Behind the Door | Macmillan | Winner |
| Illustrated Book | Chloe Savage | The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish | Walker Books | Category winner |
| Illustrated Book | Marcela Ferreira, illustrated by Sally Agar | The Queen Next Door | Orchard Books | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Natalie Labarre | Incredible Jobs You've (Probably) Never Heard Of | Nosy Crow | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Ellan Rankin | The Secret Elephant | Wren & Rook | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Kate Rolfe | Wolf and Bear | Two Hoots | Finalist |
| Illustrated Book | Andrew Sanders, illustrated by Aysha Awwad | Whose Dog Is This? | Macmillan | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Kayvion Lewis | Thieves' Gambit | S&S | Category winner |
| Older Fiction | Nick Brooks | Promise Boys | Macmillan | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Mel Darbon | What the World Doesn't See | Usborne | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Bea Fitzgerald | Girl, Goddess, Queen | Penguin | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Ayaan Mohamud | You Think You Know Me | Usborne | Finalist |
| Older Fiction | Alexandra Sheppard | Friendship Never Ends | Knights Of | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Pari Thomson | Greenwild: The World Behind the Door | Macmillan | Category winner |
| Younger Fiction | J J Arcanjo | Crookhaven: The School for Thieves | Hodder | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Emily-Jane Clark | The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom: Attack of the Vampire Sheep! | Scholastic | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Lizzie Huxley-Jones | Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend | Knights Of | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | Beth Lincoln | The Swifts | Puffin | Finalist |
| Younger Fiction | G M Linton | My Name Is Sunshine Simpson | Usborne | Finalist |

### 2025

| Category | Author | Title | Result |
| Illustrated Book | Craig Barr-Green | Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf | Pending |
| Illustrated Book | Jana Curll | Mountain and Cloud | Pending |
| Illustrated Book | X Fang | Dim Sum Palace | Pending |
| Illustrated Book | Mikey Please | The Café at the Edge of the Woods | Pending |
| Older Readers | Leanne Egan | Lover Birds | Pending |
| Older Readers | Nathanael Lessore | King of Nothing | Pending |
| Older Readers | Margaret McDonald | Glasgow Boys | Pending |
| Older Readers | Emily Varga | For She is Wrath | Pending |
| Younger Readers | Piu DasGupta | Secrets of the Snakestone | Pending |
| Younger Readers | James Fox | The Boy in the Suit | Pending |
| Younger Readers | Clare Harlow | Tidemagic: The Many Faces of Ista Flit | Pending |
| Younger Readers | Carlos Sánchez | Rune | Pending |