Blue Peter Book Awards 2020

Since 2000, the enormously popular and influential Blue Peter Book Awards have been recognising and celebrating the best authors, the most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children.

The Blue Peter Book Awards 2020 celebrates children's books published in the last year in two categories: the Best Story and the Best Book with Facts. 

Previous Blue Peter Book Award winners include Onjali Rauf, Cressida Cowell, Michael Morpurgo, Katherine Rundell, Oliver Jeffers and Liz Pichon.  

• For updates on this year's Awards, check back on this page; or follow @BookTrust on Twitter
• Check out our archive for information on other years
• Vote for your favourite children's book of the last 20 years 

See the news story about this year's shortlist 

Blue Peter Book Awards 2020: Best Story

Shortlisted books

Check out fun features on the books

• Ideas for school projects about invention – using Wildspark and other inventive books
• 'Stories enable us to remember': Lisa Thompson on the power of tales about war
• Here are the young activists that can make the world a better place

Longlisted books in this category:

• Bloom by Nicola Skinner, illustrated by  Flavia Sorrentino (HarperCollins Children's Books)
• Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott (Scholastic UK)
• Charlie Changes Into a Chicken by Sam Copeland, illustrated by Sarah Horne (Puffin)
• Lori and Max by Catherine O'Flynn (Firefly Press)
• Malamander by Thomas Taylor (Walker Books)
• Runaway Robot by Frank Cottrell-Boyce, illustrated by Steven Lenton (Macmillan Children's Books)
• Where the River Runs Gold by Sita Brahmachari (Hachette Children's Group)

Blue Peter Book Awards 2020: Best Book with Facts

Shortlisted books

Check out fun features on the books

• Dr Sheila Kanani: 'My top five space jobs and why they'd be so fun'
• Rise Up by Amanda Li – discover ordinary kids with extraordinary stories
• 8 favourite facts about our froggy friends

Longlisted books in this category:

• Everest: The Remarkable Story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by Alexandra Stewart, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
• Heroes by Jonny Marx, illustrated by Gerhard van Dyk (Stripes)
• Humanimal: Incredible Ways Animals Are Just Like Us! by Christopher Lloyd, illustrated by Mark Ruffle (What on Earth Books)
• Plastic Sucks! You Can Make A Difference by Dougie Pointer (Macmillan Children's Books)
• The Ladybird Big Book of Dead Things by Ned Hartley, illustrated by Binny Talib (Ladybird)
• The Lost Book of Adventure by Teddy Keen (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
• When the Stars Come Out by Nicola Edwards, illustrated by Lucy Cartwright (Stripes) 

Who judged this year's shortlist?

Meet our judges, who selected a shortlist from the longlist and are now handing the difficult task of picking the two winners to schoolchildren around the country.

Meryl Fernandes
 TV presenter and actress 

Young entrepreneur Meryl Fernandes is a stage and screen actress, a business woman and most notably an exciting new presenter who narrowly escaped life as a microbiologist. Best known for playing Afia in Eastenders, she has also performed at The National Theatre in critically acclaimed plays, and her other television credits include Doctor Who,  Demons and Minder.

Joseph Coelho
Poet, playwright and children’s author

Joseph Coelho is a poet and children’s author. His debut poetry collection Werewolf Club Rules was the winner of the 2015 CLiPPA Poetry Award and his next collection Overheard In A Tower Block was longlisted for the 2018 CILIP Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the 2018 CLiPPA Poetry Award. His debut non-fiction book How To Write Poems contains a host of tips and tricks to help engage children with poetry. As well as poetry, Joseph also writes picture books. As a playwright, Joseph has written plays for companies including Soho Theatre, Polka Theatre, Theatre Royal York, Oily Cart, The Spark Children's Festival, Islington Community Theatre, and Pied Piper Theatre Company. 

Jean Menzies
Ancient historian, podcaster and video maker

While conducting her PhD research at the University of Roehampton, Jean Menzies is also passionate about promoting classical mythology and ancient history to a wider audience. She has a background in publishing and makes a wide variety of online content exploring education, history, and literature.