Previous Winners

The wainwright prize
for Children’s Writing on Nature & Conservation

All Previous Winners

Flick through all the winning books of the Wainwright Prize for Children’s Writing on Nature & Conservation and click through to learn more about each author

Leila-and-the-Blue-Fox-by-Kiran-Millwood-Hargrave-and-Tom-de-Freston
2023 Winner

Kiran Millwood Hargrave, illustrated by Tom de Freston

Leila and the Blue Fox

Come with an Arctic fox on a breathtaking journey …  An enthralling story from the bestselling, award-winning creators of Julia and the Shark.

She was very tired. She lay down, her soft head on her soft paws. The sunset licked her face. The snow covered her like a blanket. Fox wakes, and begins to walk. She crosses ice and snow, over mountains and across frozen oceans, encountering bears and birds beneath the endless daylight of an Arctic summer, navigating a world that is vast, wild and wondrous.

Meanwhile, Leila embarks on a journey of her own – finding her way to the mother who left her. On a breathtaking journey across the sea, Leila rediscovers herself and the mother she thought she’d lost, with help from a determined little fox. Based on the true story of an Arctic fox who walked from Norway to Canada in seventy six days, a distance of two thousand miles, this compelling, emotional and beautifully illustrated story is the perfect gift for 9+ readers.

2022 Winner

Rob and Tom Sears

The Biggest Footprint

Say hello to the mega human: all the people in the world smooshed into one spectacular giant. Even though it’s not the smartest of creatures, the mega human is slowly beginning to understand the problems it has created for Planet Earth’s future . . . and how it might be able to fix them.

A fun, wildly original, fact-packed and beautifully illustrated book about climate change and how to make the world a better place, by bestselling author Rob Sears and illustrator Tom Sears.