Win one of the Wainwright Prize shortlists

Stories that connect people and the planet. 

The Wainwright Prize celebrates nature, conservation, and environmental writing. Inspired by its namesake Arthur Wainwright's values, it showcases books that celebrate nature and our environment, nurture respect for our planet, and inform readers of the threats that the earth currently faces.

This year's shortlists include three new categories that reflect the evolving landscape of environmental storytelling – including the Children's Wainwright Prize, which celebrates books that encourage young readers to fall in love with the natural world.

This summer, we're delighted to give you the chance to win one of these incredible shortlists: choose from Nature Writing, Conservation Writing, Illustrative Books, Children's Fiction, Children's Non-Fiction, or Children's Picture Books.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 10th September 2025.

Here are the shortlists in full:

Nature Writing

• The Possibility of Tenderness by Jason Allen-Paisant
• Intertidal by Yuvan Aves
• Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
• Our Oaken Bones by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison
• Of Thorn & Briar by Paul Lamb
• The Accidental Garden by Richard Mabey
• Ingrained by Callum Robinson

Conservation Writing

• Nature's Genius by David Farrier
• Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane
• Red Pockets by Alice Mah
• Climate Injustice by Friederike Otto, translated by Sarah Pybus
• A Training School for Elephants by Sophy Roberts
• What the Wild Sea Can Be by Helen Scales
• The Lie of the Land by Guy Shrubsole

Illustrative Books

• Swoop Sing Perch Paddle by Carry Akroyd & John McEwen
• Homecoming by Melissa Harrison, illustrated by Amanda Dilworth
• Insectopolis by Peter Kuper
• The Perimeter by Quintin Lake
• Trees in Winter by Richard Shimell
• Feed the Planet by George Steinmetz, with Joel K. Bourne Jr. & Michael Pollan

Children's Fiction

• Ghostlines by Katya Balen
• Turtle Moon by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold
• Ettie and the Midnight Pool by Julia Green, illustrated by Pam Smy
• Wildful by Kengo Kurimoto
• Wildlands by Brogen Murphy
• Land of the Last Wildcat by Lui Sit, illustrated by David Dean

Children's Non-Fiction

• National Trust: Look What I Found by the River by Moira Butterfield, illustrated by Jesús Verona
• University of Cambridge: Think Big: Secrets of Bees by Ben Hoare, illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti
• MEGA by Jules Howard, illustrated by Gavin Scott
• Cloudspotting for Beginners by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, illustrated by William Grill
• Wildlife in the Balance by Dr Sharon Wismer, illustrated by Terri Po
• Hamza's Wild World by Hamza Yassin, illustrated by Louise Forshaw

Children's Picture Books

• Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang
• Bothered By Bugs by Emily Gravett
• HERD by Stephen Hogtun
• The World to Come by Robert Macfarlane & Johnny Flynn, illustrated by Emily Sutton
• Frog by Isabel Thomas, illustrated by Daniel Egnéus
• Leave the Trees, Please by Benjamin Zephaniah, illustrated by Melissa Castrillon
• The Wild by Yuval Zommer