When 11 year old Addie, who is autistic, learns about the 16th century women who were persecuted for witchcraft, she starts to lobby for a local memorial in her small Scottish village. With the help of a new girl at school, she fights valiantly against injustice and oppression.
Life of Riley: Beginner's Luck
Following a badly timed sneeze at a funfair, Riley finds himself cursed - everything he does is doomed to be a complete disaster, whether it's wetting himself onstage or losing the school rabbit. Could his cool new friend Brad Chicago be the antidote?
Anisha Accidental Detective: School's Cancelled!
Can Anisha Mistry find out who sabotaged her science experiment and flooded the school with foam when all the potential suspects have alibis?
Read more about Anisha Accidental Detective: School's Cancelled!
Check out fun features on the books
- "I write about anything and everything, but I always write about neurodiversity": Elle McNicoll on being a neurodivergent author
- Dreaming the Big Dream: Serena Patel on the importance of children seeing themselves in books
- Odd Kid Out: In praise of the underdog in children's books
Longlisted books in this category
- Be Plastic Clever by Amy and Ella Meek
- Copycat Science by Mike Barfield
- Fearless! How to be your true, confident self by Liam Hackett, illustrated by Mike Perry
- I Like Animals... What Jobs Are There? by Steve Martin, illustrated by Roberto Blefari
- Professor Astro Cat’s Deep Sea Voyage by Dr Dominic Walliman, illustrated by Ben Newman
- Question Everything! An Investigator's Toolkit by Susan Martineau, illustrated by Vicky Barker
- Who Do You Think You Are? by Alice Harman, illustrated by Blok Magnaye
Blue Peter Book Awards 2021: Best Book with Facts
Shortlisted books
A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu, and You
A very unusual fact book with laugh-out-loud strip cartoons about everything from eyeballs to Bactrian camels.
This engaging non-fiction book celebrates more than 50 incredible inventors from across the globe and throughout history.
This highly-illustrated reference book celebrates the incredible achievements of various ancient civilisations, exploring their lifestyles, discoveries and inventions, many of which have influenced modern-day society.
Check out fun features on the books
- The Humans: A stupendously brief history of books and stories
- Inventors: 9 incredible people who changed the world we live in
- A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu and You: Test your knowledge in a fun quiz
Longlisted books in this category
- Adventures on Trains: The Highland Falcon Thief by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli
- Llama Out Loud by Annabelle Sami, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan
- Pizazz by Sophy Henn
- Snow Foal by Susanna Bailey
- Tamarind and the Star of Ishta by Jasbinder Bilan
- The Girl Who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook
- Where the Wilderness Lives by Jess Butterworth
Resources to use
-
The Wizards of Once: word search
Can you find all the words listed below?
-
The Wizards of Once: Lost Words
Link lost and endangered words to their meaning, based on Cressida Cowell's book