The Children's Wainwright Prize for Picture Books

Shortlist 2026

Firefly

By Robert Macfarlane & Luke Adam Hawker

Written in lyrical verse, this story follows one light-seeking child who discovers a meadow illuminated by fireflies: “fallen constellations” that dance like stars among the summer grasses, setting fears to flight. Enchanting to read aloud and exquisite to hold in the hand, each scene is rendered in spellbinding detail, showing the power of hope in a world steeped in darkness.

About Robert Macfarlane & Luke Adam Hawker

Robert Macfarlane is internationally known for his writing on nature, people and place. His bestselling books include Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places, Mountains of the Mind and, most recently, Is A River Alive?. With the artist Jackie Morris he co-created the much-loved books of nature-poetry and art, The Lost Words and The Lost Spells. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, won many prizes around the world and been widely adapted for film, music, theatre, radio and dance. He has also written operas, plays, and films including River and Mountain, both narrated by Willem Dafoe, and collaborated with artists including Olafur Eliasson and Stanley Donwood. As a lyricist and performer, he has written albums and songs with musicians including Cosmo Sheldrake, Julie Fowlis and Johnny Flynn. In 2017, the American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the E.M. Forster Prize for Literature. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Luke Adam Hawker is an artist with a background in Architecture and Design. Luke commenced his career as a designer before he became a full-time artist in 2015. He has a fascination with drawing on location as well as taking the time to notice the world around him. He primarily uses his art as a means to connect with places and people. In 2021, Luke published his first book titled Together and it quickly became a Sunday Times Best Seller. It has been well-received and over 130,000 copies have been purchased worldwide in eleven different languages.

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