Fadugba and Mann in running for Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 

Authors including Femi Fadugba, Manjeet Mann, Andy Harkness and Hannah Gold have been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2022. 

Every year Waterstones booksellers are called on to vote for the books they believe are the very best in new children’s writing and illustration across three categories.   

The awards sees six books compete to be crowned a £2,000 category winner, with the winners then vying for the overall title of Waterstones Children’s Book of the Year and an extra £3,000. 

Mann’s Costa Prize-winning The Crossing (Penguin Random House Children’s) and Fadugba’s The Upper World (Penguin Random House Children’s) are up for the Books for Older Readers award alongside Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (OneWorld), The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Usborne), Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach (Usborne) and Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth (Andersen Press) 

Harkness’ Wolfboy (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) and Barry Falls’ Alone! (Farshore) will go head-to-head in the Illustrated Books category. They face competition from The Viking Who Liked Icing by Lu Fraser and illustrated by Mark McKinley (Bloomsbury Children’s Books), Out to Sea by Helen Kellock (Thames & Hudson), The Duck Who Didn’t Like Water by Steve Small (Simon & Schuster) and Grandad’s Camper by Harry Woodgate (Andersen Press). 

In the Books for Younger Readers category, Gold’s The Last Bear, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books), is in the running alongside Amari and the Night Brothers by B B Alston and illustrated by Godwin Akpan (Farshore), Bumble and Snug and the Angry Pirates by Mark Bradley (Hodder Children’s Books), Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean and illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat (Simon & Schuster), Children of the Quicksands by Efua Traoré (Chicken House) and Front Desk by Kelly Yang and illustrated by Maike Plenzke (Knights Of). 

The winners will be announced on 31st March and the books are expected to see a "significant boost in sales", said Waterstones, alongside the promise of an ongoing commitment to the author’s writing career from the chain. Last year’s winner, A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll (Knights Of), shot to the top of the bestseller charts after the winners  were announced and saw an increase in sales of 2,300% across the Waterstones estate. 

Florentyna Martin, Waterstones head of children’s, said: “At a time when books are increasingly relied on to help us navigate an uncertain world, our booksellers have keenly chosen shortlists that inspire readers. Offering varied perspectives on themes of belonging and identity, the shortlisted books invite young readers to find comfort in familiar communities, discover engaging new worlds, or adventure to the unknown, all while being guided by unique, life-changing and relatable characters. The skill and talent of these writers and illustrators showcases the dynamism of children’s books, and the power of sharing stories.”