We announced the winners of the 2026 Information Book Award, sponsored by DK, at an award ceremony in London on 2 July. The ceremony was hosted by children's author and legendary bookseller Tamara Macfarlane, with pupils aged six to fourteen attending to present this year's Children’s Choice Awards in person.
Welcome speeches were given by Victoria Dilly, CEO of the School Library Association, Sarah Larter, Managing Director at DK, and Richard Combes, Head of Rights and Licensing and Deputy CEO of ALCS, which makes the IBA Book Club possible through generous support – enabling thousands of school children to shadow the Information Book Award.
This year’s shortlist saw twelve titles recognised, with five books claiming category wins at the award ceremony. Owning It: Our disabled childhoods in our own words by James Catchpole, Lucy Catchpole, Jen Campbell and Sophie Kamlish scooped two awards, including Judges' Overall Winner, whilst Jules Howard and Gordy Wright took home three trophies, winning over both the judges and children in the 8-12 category, and receiving the Overall Children's Choice Award for Choose Your Own Evolution.
In her opening address, host Tamara Macfarlane highlighted the many ways in which different types of information books can delight and empower children, and celebrated school librarians:
“We have the great joy of being here to celebrate those books packed with facts so astonishing that children are physically incapable of keeping them to themselves… and those equally wonderful information books that answer a different kind of question, possibly the kind of question that a child may not want, or be able, to ask out loud. Maybe it is about their body, or what is happening in their family, or in the world.
What they find, and the voice of who put it there, whose innate values it carries, what is included and what is left out, is what we are here to explore and celebrate tonight.”
“We are also here to celebrate school librarians. A school librarian who puts the right book in the right child’s hands at the right moment is doing something no algorithm can replicate, no curriculum can mandate, no government policy can engineer.”
Host Tamara Macfarlane and Faber Children's Publisher, Leah Thaxton
The judges described Owning It, their overall winner, as perfectly encapsulating how books can be both a window and mirror: “For those who can relate, this book is a much-needed reflection, shining a light on experience that is largely unseen; for those who can’t, it provides much-needed insight."
The Judges' Choice winners are:
Under 7: Recycling Day: What happens to the things we throw away?, Polly Faber, illustrated by Klas Fahlén (Nosy Crow)
Age 8-12: Choose Your Own Evolution, Jules Howard, illustrated by Gordy Wright (Nosy Crow)
Age 13-16 and Overall Winner: Owning It: Our disabled childhoods in our own words, James Catchpole, Lucy Catchpole and Jen Campbell, illustrated by Sophie Kamlish (Faber)
Children from across the country also came together to select their favourite information books from the shortlist through the Information Book Award Book Club. Pupils from three shadowing schools attended the ceremony to present Children's Choice awards in person, adding additional warmth and humour to the event.
The Children's Choice winners are:
Under 7: Frog: A Story of Life on Earth, Isabel Thomas, illustrated by Daniel Egneus (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
Age 8-12 and Overall Winner: Choose Your Own Evolution, Jules Howard, illustrated by Gordy Wright (Nosy Crow)
Age 13-16: It's a Brave Young World, Anu Adebogun, illustrated by Soofiya and Lila Cruz (Little Tiger)
Victoria Dilly, CEO of the School Library Association said: “This year’s Information Book Award continues to celebrate the incredible creativity of children's publishing, as evidenced by our brilliant shortlist and deserved winners – titles which capture the artistry and high quality the best of information books can bring. I congratulate everyone involved with their production.
Each book offers a route to discovering more about the world and the amazing people and animals who live in it, their cultures and history. From feminism to frogs, from encounters with grief to evolution – the 2026 shortlist covers everything about the human experience and more.”
Sarah Larter, Managing Director at DK said: “We are thrilled to champion outstanding work that the School Library Association do by sponsoring the Information Book Award. Huge congratulations to all the shortlisted and winning authors and illustrators!”
Submissions for the 2027 Information Book Award are now open. Find out more and enter your titles: sla.org.uk/iba
Photos: Harriet Buckingham Photography