Past winners and shortlisted books
The Wild Life of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals by award-winning author Mike Barfield, illustrated by Paula Bossio, was selected as the winner of ºìÌÒÊÓƵ Young People’s Book Prize 2025 by over 11,000 young judges across the UK.
The winning book takes readers on a colourful tour through the prehistoric animal kingdom, split into chapters covering the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. The comic book style, together with additions like the “Dead Cool” and “Living Legends” pages highlighting some of the quirkier animals, make this book a funny and accessible deep dive into prehistoric animals from all over the world.
The winner was chosen by judging panels made up of over 11,000 young readers across the country, out of a shortlist of six entries selected by a panel of adult experts.
This year’s prize was awarded in the National Year of Reading, at a time where the proportion of children who read for enjoyment is at the lowest in 20 years in the UK. ºìÌÒÊÓƵ Young People’s Book Prize highlights the very best science books for under 14s and aims to underscore the importance of non-fiction books in bringing back the joy of reading to children.
Professor Tamsin Mather FRS, chair of the shortlisting panel, said: “The Wild Life of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals is a brilliant book. The comic-book style, lively pictures and humour make it fun and engaging, the science is spot on, and the book is very informative. All of us on the shortlisting panel also really appreciated the fact that it covers an incredible span of the history of life on Earth and many fascinating creatures, not just dinosaurs. On top of that, it is great to either dip in and out of, or to read from cover to cover. We felt that the ability to choose your reading approach is especially important to encourage young readers with diverse reading styles to interact with non-fiction.”
Here’s what some of the young judges had to say about the winning book:
“This a fun, fact filled book on dinosaurs. I loved the illustrations and presentation, which made it a clear winner.” Roman, year 6.
“I thought this book was fun and interesting the pictures were good and had funny comments. This was a lively introduction to the history of dinosaurs.” Chloe, aged 11.
“It's very colourful and the pictures are accurate and beautiful.” Chioniso, aged 11.
“The pages were very busy, so there was always something new to look at and a new fact to find, it made the book exciting to look at.” Zadie, aged 9.
“I love dinosaurs so much, so this is a perfect book for me - I really liked the way the book looked and felt and the illustrations were great. It's a book you can definitely read more than once.” Anonymous, year 6.
“This is my favourite book EVER! The illustrations are so good and there is so much interesting information in the book.” Evie, aged 9.
“Absolutely fantastic. It's funny and explains stuff much easier.” Barakel, aged 13.
View a full list of past winners and shortlisted books.