The Children's Wainwright Prize for Fiction

Shortlist 2026

Birdlands

By Anthony McGowan & Keith Robinson (illustrator)

An unlikely flock. The adventure of a lifetime.

Life can be tough when you’re a bird, especially for Beaky, Herman and Pidge. With the young jackdaw’s twisted beak, the crow’s broken wing and the pigeon’s fear of flying, survival seems impossible. Until, that is, they band together.

The trio set out into the wild, leaving the city far behind. But danger lurks at every turn… Will the three birds ever find a place they can call home?

About Anthony McGowan & Keith Robinson (illustrator)

Anthony McGowan is one of the most widely acclaimed young adult and children’s authors in the UK. His books have won numerous major awardsIn 2020, he was awarded the CILIP Carnegie Medal for Lark. He was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal with Rook and won the Booktrust Teenage Prize and the Catalyst Award for Henry Tumour. His YA novel The Knife That Killed Me was made into a critically-lauded film in 2014. Anthony lives in London, with his wife, two children and dog.

 

Keith Robinson loves illustrating children’s fiction. Getting lost in a good story and expressing the characters, setting and atmosphere through drawing is still the best kind of escapism he knows. It also means he no longer feels the need to walk into wardrobes. His work is informed by a love of nature, myth and history, all of which can be found in abundance where he lives, on the Devon-Dorset border. The beautiful landscape of the West Country, the stunning scenery of the Jurassic Coast and the wilds of nearby Dartmoor provide a constant source of inspiration. When Keith isn’t working he enjoys hiking, camping, beach-combing, playing the guitar and rummaging through second-hand book shops.

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