Award-winning picture books

Who this page is for

Parents, grandparents, teachers and nursery staff choosing picture books that won or were shortlisted for a book prize. Each entry lists the prize, says what the book is about and, where the publisher or catalogue gives one, the age range it is listed for. Longlisted and nominated books are not included.

Prize-winning picture books

• The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please (Winner: Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2025). Rene opens a café beside an enchanted wood, and her waiter Glumfoot has to cope with local customers who ask for disgusting things; a 48-page picture book listed for ages 4–8.
• When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth by Sean Taylor (Winner: Oscar's Book Prize 2024). Smallasaurus, who eats plants, is chased by Badasaurus and then by the enormous Worseasaurus in a funny picture book about the food chain; for ages 3–5.
• The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish by Chloe Savage (Winner: Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2024 (Illustrated Books); Shortlisted: Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2024). Dr Morley and her crew sail to the Arctic to find a creature that everyone talks about but nobody has ever seen; a picture book for ages 3–5 in Chloe Savage's Hidden Wonders series.
• The Hare-Shaped Hole by John Dougherty (Winner: UKLA Book Awards 2024 (Ages 3–6+); Shortlisted: Oscar's Book Prize 2024). When one of two best friends, a turtle and a hare, is gone for good, the other is left with a hole where his friend should be; a picture book that explores grief and loss, for ages 3–5.
• Amy Gets Eaten by Adam Kay (Winner: The Week Junior Book Awards 2024 (Picture Book)). Amy, a piece of sweetcorn, travels through a boy's body in a funny picture book full of facts about digestion, illustrated by Henry Paker.
• I Did See a Mammoth by Alex Willmore (Winner: Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2024 (Best Laugh Out Loud Picture Book)). On an Antarctic expedition to study penguins, one young explorer spots a woolly mammoth that nobody believes in; for ages 3–5.
• The Gecko and the Echo by Rachel Bright (Winner: Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2024 (Best Laugh Out Loud Poetry Book)). Goldy the gecko wants to be a star and learns that friendship matters more than fame; a rhyming story illustrated by Jim Field, for ages 3–5.
• The Boy with Flowers in His Hair by Jarvis (Winner: Oscar's Book Prize 2023). When David's flowers begin to fall, his best friend stays by his side and finds a way to give him his colour back; a picture book about being there for someone when they are vulnerable, for ages 3–5.
• Flooded by Mariajo Ilustrajo (Winner: Klaus Flugge Prize 2023). The animals of a slowly flooding city ignore the water until they have to work together to save it; for ages 3–5.
• Julian Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (Winner: Klaus Flugge Prize 2019). After seeing three women dressed as mermaids on the subway, Julian makes his own mermaid costume and wonders what his Nana will think; for ages 3–5.
• The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Winner: Caldecott Medal 2015). An imaginary friend who is never picked by a child sets off into the real world and meets a shy girl called Alice; for ages 3–5.
• This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (Winner: Kate Greenaway Medal 2014; Winner: UKLA Book Awards 2014 (Ages 3–6); Winner: Caldecott Medal 2013). A tiny fish steals a blue hat and hopes he will get away with it; a picture book for ages 3–5, the second of Jon Klassen's three hat books.
• The Storm Whale by Benji Davies (Winner: Oscar's Book Prize 2014). Noi, who lives by the sea with his fisherman father, finds a baby whale on the beach after a storm and tries to keep it at home; for ages 3–5.

Shortlisted picture books

• Geoffrey Gets the Jitters by Nadia Shireen (Shortlisted: UKLA Book Awards 2025 (Ages 3–6+); Shortlisted: Oscar's Book Prize 2024). Geoffrey's worry about school becomes a wiggly feeling in his tummy that starts talking to him; a funny picture book about understanding worries, for ages 3–5.
• The Midnight Panther by Poonam Mistry (Shortlisted: Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2024). Small, shy Panther sets out one night to find where he belongs in the jungle; a fable illustrated by Poonam Mistry, listed for ages 3–5.
• I'm Sticking With You Too by Smriti Halls (Shortlisted: Oscar's Book Prize 2022). Bear and Squirrel's friendship is tested when Chicken wants to join in; the follow-up to I'm Sticking with You, for ages 3–5.
• Meesha Makes Friends by Tom Percival (Shortlisted: Oscar's Book Prize 2021). Meesha loves making things but finds it hard to make friends, until she discovers a talent that helps; part of the Big Bright Feelings series, for ages 3–5.
• The Extraordinary Gardener by Sam Boughton (Shortlisted: Klaus Flugge Prize 2019). Joe plants a seed on the balcony of his tower block, and soon the whole neighbourhood is growing plants; a picture book about nature, listed for ages 3–5.
• Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover by Markus Motum (Shortlisted: Klaus Flugge Prize 2018). The search for life on Mars told from the point of view of NASA's Curiosity rover, with illustrations and diagrams; a 56-page non-fiction book listed for ages 9–11.
• The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson (Shortlisted: Kate Greenaway Medal 2014). A string of paper dolls escapes a toy dinosaur and an oven-glove crocodile in a story about childhood, memory and imagination, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb; for ages 3–5.
• Varmints by Helen Ward, illustrated by Marc Craste (Shortlisted: Kate Greenaway Medal 2009). A 40-page picture book that opens in a quiet world of buzzing bees, murmuring moles and birdsong. It suits readers who care about the natural world: others arrive and fill the sky with noise, and the spare text follows those who love the place enough to help it recover.
• Window by Jeannie Baker (Shortlisted: Kate Greenaway Medal 1991). A wordless collage picture book: a mother and baby look out at wilderness, and with each page the boy grows older and the view changes; listed for ages 4–8.

Questions people ask

Which picture book won Oscar’s Book Prize in 2024?

When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth by Sean Taylor. The 2023 winner was The Boy with Flowers in His Hair by Jarvis, and the first winner, in 2014, was The Storm Whale by Benji Davies.

What is the Kate Greenaway Medal?

It is the UK medal for outstanding illustration in a book for children and young people, judged by children’s librarians. It is now called the Carnegie Medal for Illustration.

Which of these prizes are chosen by children?

The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards, known as the Lollies, are voted for by children. The UKLA Book Awards are judged by teachers, and the Kate Greenaway Medal by librarians.

Which picture book won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2025?

The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please was the overall winner in 2025.

How were these books checked?

Every win and shortlisting on this page was checked against the prize organisers’ published winners and shortlists or Wikipedia’s prize lists.

Selected by Fox & Fable from books in stock. Last updated 30 September 2026.