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2026 Shortlists

Shortlists Announced

From powerful conservation writing and breathtaking illustrated books to unforgettable stories for young readers, we’re delighted to reveal the 2026 Wainwright Prize Shortlists. 

Discover 43 extraordinary books across six categories, celebrating the stories helping us better understand, appreciate and protect the natural world.

2026 Shortlists

The Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing

Ancient: Reviving the Woods That Made Britain, Luke Barley
Craftland, James Fox
Ghosts of the Farm by Nicola Chester
Love is a Toad by Lucy Lapwing
Stone Lands, Fiona Robertson, illustrated by Philip Harris
The Cuckoo's Lea by Michael J. Warren
The Genius of Trees, Harriet Rix

The Wainwright Prize for Conservation Writing

Eat the Planet Well: How to Fix Our Toxic Food System — One Meal at a Time, Dave Goulson
Every Last Fish: What Fish Do For Us and What We Do to Them, Rose George
Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet, and How to Stop Them, Dr Julia Shaw
Neurodivergent, by Nature, Joe Harkness
The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet, Scott Weidensaul
The Savage Landscape, Cal Flyn
When the Forest Breathes, Suzanne Simard

The Wainwright Prize for Illustrative Books

Freshwater: The View from Above and the Life Below
Funga Obscura: Photo Journeys Among Fungi
In Botanical Time: The Extraordinary Lifespans of the World's Oldest Living Plants
The Book of Birds
Waterlands: The Coastal Areas of West Sussex and Hampshire Borders
Wild Folk: Tales from the Stones

2026 Shortlists

The Children's Wainwright Prize for Fiction

Birdlands, Anthony McGowan, illustrated by Keith Robinson
Swanfall, Sophie Kirtley
The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales From the Wind in the Willows, M.G. Leonard, illustrated by Polly Dunbar
The Danger of Small Things, Caryl Lewis
The Green Kingdom, Cornelia Funke and Tammi Hartung, illustrated by Melissa Castrillón
The Lone Husky, Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold
Tree Thing, Piers Torday, illustrated by Matthew Taylor Wilson
The Waters and the Wild, Eilish Fisher, illustrated by David Rooney

The Children's Wainwright Prize for Non-Fiction​

A Wild Child’s Guide to Nature at Night, Dara McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls
An Anthology of Remarkable Bugs, Jess French
Choose Your Own Evolution, Jules Howard, illustrated by Gordy Wright
Letters From Wonderland, Josie George, illustrated by Becky Thorns
Otherlands: An Illustrated Journey Through Earth’s Lost Worlds, Thomas Halliday, illustrated by Gavin Scott
Shapes of Nature, Ben Hoare
The Cave Explorer, Kate Winter

The Children's Wainwright Prize for Picture Books

A River Running Through You, Amy-Jane Beer, illustrated by Elin Manon
Firefly, Robert Macfarlane & Luke Adam Hawker
Isla and the Sky, Greg Stobbs
The Great Bear, Annie Booker
The Summer Puppy, Jackie Morris & Cathy Fisher
The Sun Thief, Alice Hemming & Nicola Slater
The Whale That Sings in the Deep, Yuval Zommer
Whale Song, Nicola Davies & Britta Teckentrup

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