On behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers, we are delighted to reveal the seventeen books longlisted for the 2024 award.
A CHILD LIKE YOU Text by Na’ima B. Robert; illustrations by Nadine Kaadan (Otter Barry)
Four children witness seemingly insurmountable challenges: the climate emergency; the flight of refugees; a lack in cultural representation; corporate violence and greed. A powerfulcall for change with a direct line to the activism of real life young people, namely Greta Thunberg, Yusra Mardini, Marley Dias and Iqbal Masih.
YOU’RE SO AMAZING! Text by James & Lucy Catchpole; illustrations by Karen George (Faber and Faber)
We first met Joe in What Happened to You? (shortlisted in 2022). This time around, Joe -who has a limb difference- wonders why the people around him keep referring to him as brave, inspiring and amazing regardless of whether he‘s swinging from monkey bars or scratching his bottom! Another smart and savvy comeback to the assumptions made and the narratives told ‘about’ Disabled people.
GRANDAD’S PRIDE By Harry Woodgate (Andersen Press)
Milly and her Grandad rediscover the true origins and meaning of Pride in a joyfully illustrated picture book. Images of marches, their flags and slogans, across time and place, remember Pride’s political origins. In the present, the characters recreate a truly contemporary and recognisable Pride with its carnivalesque celebration of community and lgbtq+ identities.
A HERO LIKE ME Text by Angela Joy and Jen Reid; illustrations by Leire Salaberria (Frances Lincoln)
A child notices the people who are honoured by the statues she walks past daily and wonders where are the memorials to heroes who hold “Peace and Justice, Courage and Kindness in their hands.” Inspired by the energy and urgency of the Black Lives Matter movement and co-authored by a Bristol BLM activist, this is a perfect demonstration of how a picture book can navigate hefty social justice issues.
AJAY AND THE JAIPUR MOON By Varsha Shah (Chicken House)
Mumbai railway children, Ajay and his pals, are back, looking for ways to secure the long term success of their newspaper, The Mumbai Sun. A scoop story about a new Space Programme run by a celebrity entrepreneur, seems to land in their laps. But, as they investigate further, they discover villainy coursing through the highest echelons of society, as the most powerful aspire to unbridled capitalism, planetary colonisation and the total collapse of labour laws. A vision of dystopic, neoliberalist, deregulation shot through with wit and charm. Ajay and the Mumbai Sun was shortlisted in 2023.
NORAH’S ARK By Victoria Williamson (Neem Tree Press)
Two protagonists from very different socio-economic backgrounds are brought together through a shared passion for animal welfare. A respectful and honest insight into poverty, homelessness and job insecurity which aims a deft punch at structural injustices, exposing how our fragile welfare systems fails to meet the basic needs of so many.
IS THAT YOUR MAMA? Text by Patrice Lawrence; illustrations by Diane Ewen (Scholastic UK)
Josie’s family all look a bit different, which exposes her to curious and downright rude questions from those around her, even from strangers. But with the support of family, Josie learns how to hold her identity close. This is picture book activism for the very young;a toolkitfor the many children who have had their heritage or family origins impertinently questioned, empowering them to resist with or without words.
SOMEONE JUST LIKE YOU Text by Helen Docherty; illustrations by David Roberts (Simon & Schuster)
A familiar concept of how we are more alike than different develops in to a more sophisticated nudge to get the reader to imagine how they might reach out in meaningful ways to someone who is in need of shelter and basic necessities as well as care and compassion. Reads like a booster dose of empathy and kindness.
TO THE OTHER SIDE By Erika Meza (Hodder Children’s Books)
A child is encouraged by his older sibling to go on a long journey, disguised as an exciting game with masks and monsters. But it soon becomes clear that the monsters are real and the need for sanctuary, an emergency. A compelling story, beautifully illustrated. Provoked by the millions of child refugees and, more specifically by the injustices meted out at the Mexico/US border crossing and the US family separation policy.
WE ARE HERE By Kate Rafiq (Dune Books)
Informed by the testimonies of refugees, this story describes the perilous sea journey undertaken by a child and his mother. Our second picture book created out of the despair at the millions of displaced people, especially children, forced to undertake dangerous escape routes. A stark rejoinder to our government’s “small boats” sloganeering.
MAN-MAN AND THE TREE OF MEMORIES Text by Yaba Badoe; illustrations by Joelle Avelino (Zephyr, Head of Zeus)
Man-man is busy getting ready for the Notting Hill parade, but he can’t shake his anxiety about his mum’s mysterious illness. Just as Carnival launches, he is transported to the land of his Ancestors where he learns about the enslavement of his ancestors and its present day legacy of pain. A testament to shared heritage, alive with the hope of recovery and the resistance of Carnival.
ALBI THE GLOWING COW BOY By Georgia Byng with illustrations by Angela Cogo (UCLan Publishing)
A magical, often eccentric, fantasy starring a dairy cow. Innocent, life-loving Albi has a narrow escape with the slaughterhouse, propelling him on to an epic, knowledge-seeking, quest across continents. Along the way he discovers the cruelties of animal hunting, rearing and slaughter as well the environmental damage wreaked by humans. Never has a vegan philosophy and ethics been channelled so strongly into UK children’s publishing. Unique.
JAMIE By L. D. Lapinski (Hachette)
Jamie is proud of their non binary identity. But when they discover they’ll have to choose which single sex school to attend once they move on to secondary, they face a painful dilemma which goes to the very core of who they are. Soon, they and their friends are taking their protest beyond the school gates… Powerfully busts myths about non binary identities and role models political activism and effective campaigning. By L. D. Lapinski (Hachette).
THE LIZZIE AND BELLE MYSTERIES: PORTRAITS AND POISON By J. T. Williams with illustrations by Simone Douglas (Farshore)
The first Lizzie & Belle was longlisted in 2023. The gripping series continues to foreground the lives of Black people in Georgian England, this time offering a unique critique into the racism inherent in classic portraiture. Notable for stressing and lifting up 18th Century UK Black rebellion and resistance, including the early activism of the Sons & Daughters of Africa.
THE FINAL YEAR By Matt Goodfellow with illustrations by Joe Todd-Stanton (Otter-Barry Books)
Told in blank verse, this novel centres on a single parent, working class, family living in a small terraced house in the UK. There’s not too much to go around but there’s no paucity in the love which holds them together. A much needed, authentic, working class voice which speaks very immediately and respectfully to young readers.
THE PIANO AT THE STATION By Helen Rutter with illustrations by Elisa Paganelli (Barrington Stoke)
Lacey Layton looks set to be forever labelled a Trouble Maker. But then she is introduced to the transformative potential of music, a revelation which is just as quickly threatened. An especially contemporary indictment of cuts to the arts and a light-touch but insightful commentary on who does and doesn’t get to access artistic opportunities.
LAST GIRL IN By Cheryl Diane Parkinson (Dinosaur Books)
Kerry-Ann is in love with playing cricket but the cricket club aren’t so enthusiastic about girls in the game. These present day challenges are then thrown into even greater relief when Kerry-Ann time travels to 1958 and witnesses the obstacles faced by her Jamaican grandparents on their arrival to the UK. Foregrounds Windrush and British Black History, exposing historical racism with a brisk and necessary honesty.
The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award 