The Children’s Wainwright Prize celebrates the books that encourage young readers to fall in love with the natural world. In a time of climate crisis and biodiversity loss, these stories play a vital role in nurturing curiosity, empathy and action in the next generation.
Take a look at these fiction books longlisted for the 2025 award, now available to borrow with your library card!
Wildlands
Brogen Murphy
Twenty-five years into the future, no humans are allowed in the Wildlands – a vast area in Britain where wolves, lynx and bison roam free. The only exception is a high-speed train line between London and Glasgow that crosses right through the heart of the project. Thirteen-year-old Astrid and her little sister, Indie, are onboard when their train slows to a brief, unexpected stop – and they find themselves accidentally left behind. Stranded in this place of astonishing natural wonders and terrible dangers, they have only a rucksack, a phone without signal – and each other. As every wrong turn takes them deeper into the Wildlands, do they have the ingenuity and determination to survive? How far would YOU go to find your way home?
Turtle Moon
Hannah Gold and Levi Pinfold
Silver Trevelon’s parents aren’t happy. They haven’t been happy since the nursery they decorated started gathering cobwebs, waiting for the baby brother or sister that never came. So when Silver’s dad is invited to paint at a turtle rescue centre in Costa Rica, she hopes it’ll be just the adventure the family needs. Under the hot tropical sun, Silver settles into life at the animal centre. She even witnesses a rare sighting of a leatherback turtle nesting on the beach. But when the turtle’s eggs are stolen, events take a dark and dangerous turn. Can Silver and her new friends track them down before it’s too late?
The Land of the Last Wildcat
Lui Sit and David Dean
Puffin Lau has a problem: a mythical wildcat called the kuri is depending on her for its survival. Luckily, Puffin grew up on stories of the kuri and its magical powers, and she will stop at nothing to return it to its rightful home. Standing in her way is Professor Smoult, a money-hungry scientist who wants to capture the kuri and steal its magic. Faced with a mammoth journey to Linger Island, Puffin and her best friend Lance must outsmart the professor and save the last wildcat before it’s too late.
The Haunting of Fortune Farm
Sophie Kirtley
Twelve-year-old Edie and her younger brother Pip are spending half term at Fortune Farm, high in the Irish mountains, with their grandmother Lolly. They haven’t visited Fortune Farm for YEARS and Edie has been dreading it for MONTHS. They spent all their holidays there when Dad was alive. And Edie doesn’t like thinking about Dad – even the happy memories haunt her too much. When Edie uncovers a clue that could lead her to long-lost Viking treasure, it’s just the adventure she needs to take her mind off Dad. But the adventure soon takes an unnerving and dangerous turn, and Edie discovers that Fortune Farm has more secrets, mysteries and ghosts than she had ever dared to dream.
Storm Child
Ele Fountain
Maya’s life is about to be upended. After her dad’s fishing boat is ravaged by a relentless storm, Maya’s parents make the decision to start over – by moving to a tropical island. But making a change doesn’t always make a difference. Far from her friends and her quiet seaside home where she spent all her time surfing, Maya is swept away by a storm much larger than herself. As Maya begins to realise that paradise is not always what it seems, can she bring her family back home again?
The Curse of the Silvan Oaks
Georgia Channon
All is not well in the kingdom of Silvanland. The ancient feud between Queen Titania and King Oberon has turned into a merciless war, and a deadly curse festers in the sacred woods.
When young Prince Cory is kidnapped by Oberon’s ruthless soldiers, the Silvan forces think all hope is lost. But fate has other plans. In the mortal world, hidden away in an old oak tree, there lies a portal. And through this portal a girl called Oli will soon fall. Her arrival in the magical land will change everything…
Ghostlines
Katya Balen
Everything, and everyone, is familiar on the Island of Ayrie – nothing much changes, and for Tilda, nothing ever should – it is beautiful, it is perfect and it is home. When newcomer Albie arrives, Tilda wants to show Ayrie off – Albie wants her to leave him alone. She learns quickly that it’ll take more than a tour and some seal viewings to win him around. Then, she remembers stories of the old island just an hour’s boat ride away from the shore. The old island is a death trap. The journey there is treacherous. Trips across to it are strictly forbidden. And there’s a rumour it’s haunted by the ghosts of those left there to die. But with all else having failed, the old island is the only way for Tilda to make Albie see what she sees in Ayrie. Besides, it’s a different kind of ghost that worries Tilda. The ghost that’s been following her, now, since her brother left the island.
Fia and the Last Snow Deer
Eilish Fisher and Dermot Flynn
Born under the same solstice sky 13 years ago, Fia and her reindeer Solas have a powerful and unbreakable connection. But now, struggling to survive a seemingly eternal winter, Fia’s village turn their sights on Solas – both for the meat the last remaining reindeer can provide and an ancient prophecy promise that an ultimate sacrifice will once more return sunlight and life to the world. Refusing to allow the worst to happen, Fia and her cousin Mish run from the village with Solas, seeking out the Deer Mother – the mythical being who wakes the sun at the winter solstice and who they believe is their only hope of saving Solas and their village.But the wilderness is harsh and shadows lurk at every turn. Can they make it to the Deer Mother? And, if they do, what choices will they face to bring back the sun?
Fishfolk
Steven Quincey-Jones
The High-and-Dry is a windswept land that is being fast lost to the ever-growing sea. The only things left are seagulls, seaweed, twins Luna and Oona, and their Grandad Mull. Luna and Oona have grown up listening to Grandad Mull’s stories about the dastardly shape-shifting fishfolk who live in the sea around them and cause the waves to swallow the shore with their spells. Storms sent by fishfolk are the reason why Grandad Mull is all that is left of their family, he says. But when Luna and Oona meet a fishfolk for real, Luna begins to question her grandfather’s stories much to Oona’s confusion.
Wildful
Kengo Kurimoto
Poppy’s mother hasn’t been the same since Gran passed away. She stays inside and watches TV, unable to leave the sofa. So maybe that’s why Poppy has started spending more time outside, taking her dog Pepper for walks around the neighbourhood. When Pepper leads Poppy through a hole in the fence, she finds a forgotten wood that’s been there all along, as well as a new friend named Rob. Rob teaches Poppy that you can find magic in the wild – if you know where to look! Poppy looks, and then she looks closer – and sees flowers opening before her eyes, watches animals slip into their hidden homes, and listens to the sound of water droplets falling gently on puddles, leaves and feathers. She can barely wait to tell Mum about everything she’s seen, and asks her to come see, too – but her mother rarely has the energy to leave the house.
Save Our Forest!
Nora Dasnes
When Bao finds out that the adults have decided to turn her beloved forest – the Bog – into a car park, she realises that she’s the one who must act! With her best friends Tuva and Linnéa by her side, Bao organises a protest. Do Abdi and the other boys at school really understand why it’s so important to save the forest? And how do you make the adults understand the seriousness of the situation when you’re 12 years old?
Ettie and the Midnight Pool
Julia Green and Pam Smy
Ettie has lived blissfully with just her grandma for company and the wild woods as her playground. Until she meets the mysterious Cora and she starts to crave more – now she wants to explore further, to discover secrets of her own. So, when Cora leads her to the hidden quarry pool – deep, cold, beautiful and dangerously inviting – Ettie is ready to jump straight in. But the quarry has secrets too, and Ettie will have to dive deep into the darkness to uncover them.
English 
Polish 
Lithuanian 
Romanian 
Portuguese 
Bengali