Today, the Nero Book Awards have announced the Children's Fiction winner for 2025, recognising the best books from the last 12 months. These books represent the very best in literary craft and storytelling, offering readers a wide range of voices and genres.

As the only multi-category awards exclusively for writers based in the UK and Ireland, the Nero Book Awards have quickly become one of the most prestigious fixtures in the literary calendar. Since launching in 2023, they have established themselves as one of the most respected prizes, championing outstanding writing and readability. 

Children's Fiction Winner

From hundreds of submissions, judges chose that My Soul, A Shining Tree by Jamila Gavin, a children’s novel chronicling the shared human experience of those affected by WWI.

Based on the true story of an Indian World War One gunner, Khudadad Khan, the novel is told from four perspectives: Lotte, a Belgian farmgirl whose village is the flashpoint for a battle; Ernst, a German teenage cavalry soldier whose grandiose dreams of war lie in tatters; Khudadad Khan, the gunner fighting with the British Army; and a wild walnut tree. As their stories converge, in the process their shared humanity emerges as a light in the darkness of war.

The judges described the book as an ‘exceptionally powerful story…Only a writer of genius could tell a story on this scale in fewer than 200 pages, with such vivid prose it has the quality of poetry.’

Gavin is a British-Indian writer, born in the foothills of the Himalayas. After the war, her family relocated to England and her experiences in both countries have inspired her writing. She studied music and worked for the BBC before having a family of her own and becoming a children’s writer. She has written numerous award-winning children’s novels including the Children’s Whitbread Prize for Coram Boy.

Gavin receives £5,000 and is now in the running for the Nero Gold Prize, Book of the Year 2025 alongside the three winners from the adult categories.

The Nero Gold Prize

The winner will be selected by a final judging panel led by bestselling author Nick Hornby, best known for his memoir, Fever Pitch and his novel, About a Boy, both of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby will be joined by BBC correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti, a regular presenter on BBC News. Completing the panel is the screenwriter Daisy Goodwin, the New York Times bestselling novelist and creator of the ITV show Victoria. They will decide the overall winner which will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Sarah Montague on 4th March.

The Nero Books Awards Judges and Eligibility

The winners from each category were chosen by expert judging panels made up of authors, booksellers and journalists who, together, selected their best books of the year from writers based in the UK and Ireland. The full list of judges can be found here.

Gerry Ford, Founder and Group CEO of Caffè Nero commented: “The Nero Book Awards have gone from strength to strength in the past two years and our winners for 2025 are of incredible quality. The judges had a difficult job deciding on the best in each category, with so many fantastic books published this year. Their selection epitomises what we look for with the Nero Book Awards – outstanding writing, incredible storytelling, and the books you most want to press into the hands of others. Caffè Nero has been a proud supporter of the arts for many years and I look forward to celebrating all four writers and announcing our Nero Gold Prize winner in March.”

To be eligible for the 2025 Nero Book Awards, books must have been first published in English in the UK or Ireland between the 1st of December 2024 and 30th of November 2025. At the time of entry, authors must have been alive and resident in the UK or Ireland for the past three years. The Nero Gold Prize winner will receive £30,000, whilst the other category winners will each receive £5,000.

The Nero Book Awards are run as not for profit by independent, family-owned coffee house group Caffè Nero, in partnership with The Booksellers Association and Brunel University of London. The Awards form part of the premium coffee house’s long-standing commitment to supporting the arts, recognising notable talent in a particular craft and fostering a love of reading in communities across the UK and Ireland.

For full details of the category winning titles, visit: nerobookawards.com. For additional information follow Nero Book Awards on X @nerobookawards and Instagram nerobookawards. 

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If you’re interested in seeing more award-winning books for children, check out our Awards section

Photo credit: Anna Moskalkova