Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards 2021

Now in their eighth year, the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards in partnership with BookTrust aim to highlight the best children's books for families to share together.

Judged by a panel of experts, the awards aim to encourage parents and carers to spend more time reading with their children.

Jill Coleman, Director of Children’s Books, BookTrust said:

“Our aim at BookTrust is to get all children reading, regularly and by choice. Having so many wonderful children’s books available where families pick up their shopping is a really important opportunity to get books into the hands of children from all backgrounds and reading levels, so we’re delighted to partner with Sainsbury’s on their Children’s Book Awards.

“This year’s shortlist was incredibly strong, and it was not an easy job for the judges to choose the winners. I want to congratulate all the winning authors and illustrators on their fantastic achievement. I know that these books will go on to capture the attention and imagination of children of all ages and inspire them to read.”

This is the fifth time that BookTrust have partnered with Sainsbury's for the awards, which honour books in six categories - and the shortlist has now been unveiled.

There is a cash prize for the winner of each category, and all of the shortlisted books are promoted in Sainsbury's stores.

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This year's winners

Discover the winning books below:

Book of the Year and Best Picture Book

Winner: The Littlest Yak by Lu Fraser, illustrated by Kate Hindley (Simon & Schuster)

Shortlisted books:

• Dream Big, Little Mole by Tom Percival, illustrated by Christine Pym (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
• Never Teach A Stegosaurus To Do Sums by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Diane Ewen (Penguin Random House)

Activity Book

Winner: Let's Go For A Walk by Ranger Hamza, illustrated by Kate Kronreif (Ivy Kids)

Shortlisted books:

• You Can Upcycle and Craft by Wastebuster (Collins)
• Supertato Sticker Skills by Paul Linnet and Sue Hendra (Simon & Schuster)

Baby & Toddler

Winner: Sometimes Babies... by Charlotte Trounce (Nosy Crow)

Shortlisted books:

• The Enormous Crocodile's Finger Puppet Book by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake (Penguin Random House)
• Fingerwiffly Elephants by Felicity Brooks, illustrated by Elsa Martins (Usborne)

Learning & Development

Winner: You Are A Champion by Marcus Rashford and Carl Anka (Pan Macmillan)

Shortlisted books:

• Fantastically Great Women Scientists and Their Stories by Kate Pankhurst (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
• A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu and You by Mike Barfield, illustrated by Jess Bradley (Buster Books)

Fiction

Winner: Twitch by M.G. Leonard (Walker Books)

Shortlisted books:

• Rainbow Grey by Laura Ellen Anderson (Farshore)
• Dragon Mountain by Kevin Tsang and Katie Tsang (Simon & Schuster)

License

Winner: Minecraft Epic Bases: 12 mind-blowing builds to spark your imagination by Mojan AB (Farshore)

Shortlisted books:

• LEGO Life Hacks by Julia March (DK)
• Find It! Explore It! Animals by National Geographic Kids (HarperCollins)

Children's Classic

Winner: Fox's Socks by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (Pan Macmillan)

Find out about the 2020 awards