Thursday Thoughts - 24th September

The Value of Book Awards

Why Children’s Book Awards Matter

There is something rather special about a children’s book award.

For authors and publishers, an award can bring recognition, prestige and a much wider readership. For readers, it can be the nudge that leads them towards a book, an author or a publisher they might otherwise never have discovered. And for parents, teachers and librarians, awards can provide something incredibly useful: a trusted marker of quality.

There are, of course, many different children's book awards, each with its own focus. The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards – the Lollies celebrate funny children's books and, importantly, the winners are chosen by children themselves. The Lollies have been running since 2016 and now include categories for picture books, 6–8, 9–12 and graphic novels

Then there are the Yoto Carnegies, one of the UK's longest-running children's book awards. Today they recognise outstanding achievement through the Carnegie Medal for Writing and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, with children and young people also involved through the Shadowers' Choice Awards.

And that is part of the beauty of having lots of different awards. They don't all look for exactly the same thing. Some celebrate humour; some focus on writing or illustration; some are judged by librarians, some by teachers and some involve children directly. Together, they shine a light on the extraordinary breadth of books being published for children.

A quality mark for parents and teachers

Choosing books for children can sometimes feel overwhelming. There are thousands of titles published every year, and it isn't always easy to know where to start.

Awards can help.

For parents looking for a great read for a particular age group, a shortlist or longlist can provide a useful starting point. For teachers trying to build classroom libraries or recommend books to individual children, awards can act as a quality mark – an indication that a book has been read, discussed and considered carefully by people who know children's literature.

The UKLA Book Awards are particularly interesting in this respect because they are the only national children's book awards judged by teachers. The awards have separate categories for 3–6+, 7–10+, 11–14+ and Information Books 3–14+, making it easier to identify books for different stages and reading experiences.

Discovering the books you might otherwise miss

One of the things I particularly value about book awards is the opportunity they give to newer authors, exciting debuts and smaller publishers.

The 2027 UKLA longlists are a great example. The organisation specifically highlights the range of publishers represented, including small independent imprints such as Troika Books, Scallywag Press, Magic Cat, Everything with Words and Old Barn Books. The awards don't involve submission fees and are not influenced by commercial factors such as sales or expensive marketing campaigns, which can help open the door to smaller publishers.

Without awards, a book from a small publisher or an author I've never encountered before could very easily pass me by. An award longlist gives it visibility. It puts that book alongside more familiar names and gives readers a reason to stop, look and, hopefully, pick it up.

My own experience as a UKLA teacher judge

This year marks my third year as a teacher judge for the UKLA 7–10+ Book Award.

I am an avid reader, so you might think that I would already have a pretty good idea of what is being published for this age group. But being a judge has introduced me to genres, writing styles, authors and publishers that I would never automatically have encountered.

And that has been one of the most rewarding parts of the experience.

Reading widely means that my recommendations to children have become wider too. I can recommend books with genuine confidence because I have read them, thought about them and discussed them with other teachers.

The UKLA judging process also makes the experience particularly meaningful because these aren't books being judged in isolation. The 2027 longlists are now being read and discussed by 89 teacher judges, who will consider the books with colleagues and classes before the shortlists are selected in March.

And this is where being a judge improves the reading ethos of real children in real schools.

When I tell my pupils that I am judging the books, many of them immediately want to get involved. They read the books themselves, come back to me with their opinions and are very keen to tell me whether they agree with my thoughts!

Sometimes their perspectives completely change the way I think about a book. Children's responses can be wonderfully direct and insightful. They notice different things, connect with characters in unexpected ways and aren't afraid to tell you exactly what they thought.

It turns reading into a conversation.

So, what should you read next?

If you're wondering what your next middle-grade fiction read should be, the 2027 UKLA 7–10+ longlist is a very good place to start.

There are twenty books on the list, covering a wonderfully varied range of stories, genres and styles – from Birdlands by Anthony McGowan and Gloam by Jack Mackay to Nate Yu's Blast from the Past by Maisie Chan, Small Wonder by Ross Montgomery and Two is a Crowd by Cath Howe. There are also books from smaller and independent publishers alongside familiar names.

I’m sure you won't be disappointed.

And if you are a teacher, school or reading group, there is another opportunity worth knowing about. The UKLA Shadower's Choice Awards allow schools to shadow the judging process, reading the shortlisted books with pupils, discussing them and ultimately voting for their favourite. The 2027 shadowing programme is due to begin when the shortlists are announced in March

For me, that is ultimately what children's book awards are about.

Yes, they bring prestige. Yes, they can raise the profile of authors and publishers. Yes, they give parents, teachers and librarians a useful starting point when looking for quality books.

But perhaps most importantly, they get books into the hands of readers.

They start conversations.

They introduce children to authors they might never otherwise have discovered.

And, sometimes, they help a child find the book that makes them think: "I love reading."

What more valuable award could there be than that?