Announcing the Winners of the Wales Children’s & Young People’s Book Cover of the Year Awards 2025

Today, Friday 26 September, the Books Council of Wales has announced the winning titles of its Children’s & Young People’s Book Cover of the Year Awards 2025.

The awards have two categories – English-language Book Cover and Welsh-language Book Cover. The winners are:

English-language category winner:

Fishfolk (Firefly Press). Cover illustration: Hannah Doyle. Author: Steven Quincey-Jones.

Welsh-language category winner:

Nos Da Blob (Y Lolfa). Cover Illustration: Huw Aaron. Cover design: Opal Roengchai. Author: Huw Aaron.

Hannah Doyle said: “Thank you so much for choosing Fishfolk for the Children’s Book Cover of the Year Award! I am thrilled. Thank you to Firefly Press, and especially to Becka Moor for working her design magic to make the cover really stand out. And obviously to Steven Quincey-Jones for writing such an inspiring and atmospheric book. It was a wonderful project to be involved in.”

Huw Aaron said: “They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover… but everybody does, because care given to a cover indicates that the inside’s been cared for as well. So it’s great that we have these prizes celebrating the important craft of cover design. And, of course, I’m over the moon that little Blob has won this year! Huge thank you to Clare Doughty for steering this cover to its final form.”

The awards were established to celebrate the contribution of illustrators and designers in bringing stories to life, and creating eye-catching, attractive books that appeal to young readers. They were awarded for the first time in 2024.

The six shortlisted books and the winning titles were selected by members of the Books Council of Wales’ Young People’s Panel. The designer/illustrator of the winning cover in each category wins or shares a cash prize of £500.

Helgard Krause, Chief Executive of the Books Council of Wales, said: “Huge congratulations to the winners of this year’s awards. It’s wonderful to be able to showcase the hard work of designers and illustrators in this way and to celebrate the incredible talent we have working in the sector in Wales. Many thanks also go the members of our Young People’s Panel who had the difficult task of judging this year’s prize from so many worthy contenders.”

The other shortlisted titles were:

Shortlisted – English-language:

• Colours of Home (Graffeg). Cover illustration: Miriam Latimer. Author: Miriam Latimer.
• The Street Food Festival (Atebol). Cover illustration: Valériane Leblond. Cover design: Tanwen Haf, Whitefire Designs. Author: Gail Sequeira.

Shortlisted – Welsh-language:

• Gwen ac Arianrhod (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch). Cover Illustration: Lleucu Gwenllian. Cover design: Eleri Owen. Author: Lleucu Gwenllian.
• Ysgol Arswyd (Y Lolfa). Cover Illustration: Sian Angharad. Author: Catrin Angharad Jones.

The Awards are supported by the Welsh Government Education Department under the Curriculum for Wales Grant Support Programme.