Flying Eye dominates UKLA Book Awards shortlist

The shortlist for the UKLA Book Awards has been revealed, featuring three titles from children’s publisher Flying Eye, while author Manjeet Mann has been nominated twice across the four categories.

The UKLA Book Awards are the only UK children’s book awards judged entirely by teachers.

In the 3-6+ age category, the nominees are: Manjeet Mann with Small’s Big Dream (HarperCollins), about the importance of dreaming big; Malorie Blackman and Dapo Adeola with We’re Going to Find a Monster (Puffin), described as a “celebration of creativity, fantasy and family”; Joe Todd Stanton with The Comet (Flying Eye), which follows a child’s distress about the moving house; Mariajo Ilustrajo’s Flooded (Frances Lincoln), an illustrated tale of animals in a city that is slowly flooding; Helen Stephen with Saving Mr Hoot (Alison Green), which the panel said “emphasises the importance of working together to achieve change”; and Smriti Halls with Who Are You? (Farshore), which celebrates and prompts discussion about what makes each of us special.

The 7-10+ category features: Katya Balen’s The Light in Everything (Bloomsbury), also shortlisted for the Carnegie medal for Writing; Ross Montgomery’s The Chime Seekers (Walker), which follows the protagonist’s quest to find his abducted baby sister; Onjali Q Raúf’s The Lion Above the Door (Orion), exploring themes of historical racism; Cora Rumble’s Little Light (Troika), a verse novel that tells the story a young girl in primary school as she faces challenging circumstances; Eve Ainsworth’s All to Play For (Barrington Stoke), which follows one boy’s love for football and the grief which separates him from it; and Holly Goldberg Sloan’s The Elephant in the Room (Piccadilly), described as a “heart-warming read about unwavering family love”.

Mann makes her second appearance in the 11-14+ category with The Crossing (Penguin), which won The Costa Children’s Book Award and was previously shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Writing. The panel lauded it as a “profound story of hope, grief and the very real tragedies of the refugee crisis”. Also competing for the prize are Susin Nielsen with Tremendous Things (Andersen), about a boy whose life changes following a French exchange; award-winning Welsh author Manon Steffan Ros with The Blue Book of Nebo (Firefly), a post-apocalyptic novel about a mother and son trying to survive; Jeff Zentner with In The Wild Light (Andersen), a coming-of-age story about two best friends; Sue Divin with Truth Be Told (Macmillan), in which two teens across the sectarian divide and discover the truth of their family history and Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Tom de Freston with Julia and The Shark (Orion), an illustrated novel which tells the story of a mother and daughter relationship.

Finally, the shortlist for the Information Books 3-14+ category features: Musical Truth (Faber) by Jeffrey Boakye and illustrated by Ngadi Smart, a history of Black Britain through song; Here and Queer (Frances Lincoln) by Rowan Ellis and illustrated by Jacky Sheridan, a pocket-sized guide to everything LGBTQ+ for teenage girls; The Greatest Show on Earth (Puffin) written and illustrated by Mini Grey, in which a troop of insects recite the history of the Earth; I am the Subway (Scribble) written by Kim Hyo-eun and translated by Deborah Smith, which takes a journey through the Seoul subway to portray the lives we travel alongside when we take the train; Amazon River (Flying Eye) by Sangmar Francis and illustrated by Rômolo D’Hipólito, which looks at the how the largest river on earth impacts the lives of animals and human communities and Bandoola: The Great Elephant Rescue (Flying Eye), by author-illustrator William Grill, which tells the true story of Bandoola and James Howard Williams.

Awards co-sponsor Deborah McLaren, director of Lovereading4kids, said: “The UKLA Awards have done it again. What a celebration of reading for pleasure these awards are. What a stunning selection of books for children. The only national awards to be judged entirely by teachers, the UKLA Awards are a special thing, with the added bonus that practitioners can see and appreciate first-hand the impact these beautiful books have on their audience – the children themselves in their classrooms."

Sue Polchow, library advisor at co-sponsor Reading Cloud, said: “Encouraging reading for enjoyment and improving literacy are very much at the heart of Reading Cloud, so we are delighted to support these worthwhile and unique children’s book awards as co-sponsors again this year.”

The winner’s announcement will take place at the UKLA International Conference at the University of Exeter on 23rd June 2023.