Wainwright Prize 2025: Available winning titles along with winners and nominees from previous years.

Available print titles from the 2025 winners along with winners and nominees from previous years.

Our eAudio and eBook collection can be found at: kirklees.overdrive.com/Wainwright Prize 2025

The Wainwright Prize is awarded annually to books which most successfully inspire readers to embrace nature and the outdoors and develop a respect for the environment. This year’s winning books highlight the exploration of nature on a global scale through journeys of migration, finding beauty in the everyday, and celebrate the deep connections between humanity and nature through powerful storytelling.

https://wainwrightprize.com

Updated September 15, 2025
Kirklees Libraries
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Raising hare
Dalton, Chloe
Paper Book
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION, BOOKS ARE MY BAG READERS AWARD, HATCHARDS AND BIOGRAPHERS' CLUB FIRST BIOGRAPHY PRIZEA BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR THE HAY FESTIVAL, SUNDAY TIMES, THE...
Flower Block
Butterfield, Lanisha.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2025 Children's Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing Winner of Derby Book Festival's - Derby Children's Picture Book Award 2025 Shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2025 Illustrator Hoang Giang longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2025 ...
The Lie of the Land: Who Really Cares for the Countryside?
Shrubsole, Guy.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION 2025 A WATERSTONES AND GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2024 'Both dynamite and medicine' AMY-JANE BEER 'Timely and rousing' THE TIMES ________________________________ The lie of the land: that Britain's...
Is A River Alive?
Macfarlane, Robert.
Paper Book
At its heart is a single, transformative idea- that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings - who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law. Inspired by the activists, artists and lawmakers of the young 'Rights of Nature' movement, Macfarlane takes the reader on an...
Turtle moon
Gold, Hannah
Paper Book
'Dramatic, atmospheric and incredibly touching, this story is Gold's best yet' Daily Mail, Best Books for Christmas A Waterstones Best Children's Book of the Year Journey to the heart of the jungle in this unforgettable adventure from the bestselling author of The Last Bear....
Ettie and the midnight pool
Green, Julia
Paper Book
Ettie has lived blissfully with just her grandma for company and the wild woods as her playground.Until she meets the mysterious Cora and she starts to crave more - now she wants to explore further, to discover secrets of her own. So, when Cora leads her to the hidden quarry pool - deep, cold,...
The accidental garden : gardens, wilderness and the space in between
Mabey, Richard
Paper Book
The godfather of British nature writing reflects on the conflict between cultivation and autonomous nature
Our oaken bones : reviving a family, a farm and Britain's ancient rainforests
Hanbury-Tenison, Merlin
Paper Book
An enormously moving and inspiring story about war, trauma, nature and rebirth, written with infectious passion and unsparing honesty. I loved it. - DOMINIC SANDBROOK Scholarly, wise, funny, charming, terrifying and thrilling... I adored it all, every page. - JOANNA LUMLEY<...
Ghostlines
Balen, Katya
Paper Book
'A thrilling emotionally charged adventure, full of authentic characters, peril, humour and warmth' - Daily Mail 'Wild and brilliantly crafted' - Sarah Crossan, author of One and Where the Heart Should Be 'An accomplished...
Emily Gravett 2024
Gravett, Emily.
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the 2025 Children's Wainwright Prize for Picture Books A funny and relatable picture book in which Pete the Badger, star of Emily Gravett's award-winning books Tidy and Too Much Stuff, learns valuable lessons about the importance of all creatures, big...
The wild
Zommer, Yuval
Paper Book
Once upon a time, somewhere not far away, was the Wild. The Wild was huge and giving,and everything from insects, to birds, to humans made their home in it. At first, people lived lightly and took what they needed, but when they started to take more, the Wild suffered. For the Wild to be healthy,...
Of thorn & briar : a year with the West Country hedgelayer
Lamb, Paul
Paper Book
*** THE INSTANT TOP TEN BESTSELLER *** 'This spare but elegant account is an unexpected delight, and as soothing as a walk down a tree-dappled lane at sunset' - Daily Mail 'Gentle and timeless, Paul is the authentic voice of the countryside....
Who Owns England?: How We Lost Our Land, and How to Take It Back
Shrubsole, Guy
Paper Book
'A formidable, brave and important book' Robert Macfarlane 'Absolutely brilliant...You cannot read this book and defend the establishment' Alastair Campbell, The Rest is Politics Who owns England? Behind this simple question lies this country's oldest and best...
Leila and the Blue Fox
Hargrave, Kiran Millwood.
Paper Book
*Winner of the 2023 Wainwright Prize for Children's Writing on Nature & Conservation!* 'A captivating tale that glistens with wonder. Leila and Fox will always have a home in my heart' Sophie Anderson 'This is an extraordinary book - wild and beautiful and...
The salt path
Winn, Raynor
Paper Book
One of the most talked about books of the decade, an inspiring true story of hope and the healing powers of the natural world. OVER 2 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER INCLUDED IN THE SUNDAY...
The Lost Rainforests of Britain
Shrubsole, Guy
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION 2023 The Sunday Times Science Book of the Year As seen on Countryfile 'If anyone was born to save Britain's rainforests, it was Guy Shrubsole' Sunday Times Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Society...
The flow : rivers, water and wildness
Beer, Amy-Jane
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2023 JAMES CROPPER WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 'Unparalleled.' THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 'A true masterpiece.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'A tour de force.' GUY SHRUBSOLE 'Quietly courageous.' PATRICK...
English pastoral : an inheritance
Rebanks, James
Paper Book
As a boy, James Rebanks's grandfather taught him to work the land the old way. Their family farm in the Lake District hills was part of an ancient landscape- a patchwork of crops and meadows, of pastures grazed with livestock, and hedgerows teeming with wildlife. And yet, by the time James inherited...
Where poppies blow : the British soldier, nature, the Great War
Lewis-Stempel, John
Paper Book
The outrun
Liptrot, Amy
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2017 PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2016 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 ONDAATJE PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 WELLCOME PRIZE At the age of thirty, Amy Liptrot...
Meadowland : the private life of an English field
Lewis-Stempel, John
Paper Book
What really goes on in the long grass? Meadowland gives an unique and intimate account of an English meadow's life from January to December, together with its biography. In exquisite prose, John Lewis-Stempel records the passage of the seasons from cowslips in spring to the hay...
Foxlight
Balen, Katya
Paper Book
*** WINNER OF THE 2024 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CHILDREN'S WRITING *** From the author of October, October, winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal, comes a heartbreaking and heart-warming story about sisterhood, found family and accepting love in the most unusual and unknown...
Underland : a deep time journey
Macfarlane, Robert
Paper Book
'Into the underland we have long placed that which we fear and wish to lose, and that which we love and wish to save...' From the vast underground mycelial networks by which trees communicate to the ice-blue depths of glacial moulins, and from North Yorkshire to the Lofoten...
Late light
Malay, Michael
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2023 RICHARD JEFFERIES AWARD FOR NATURE WRITING WINNER OF THE 2024 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE
Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other
Aldred, James.
Paper Book
What happens to nature when we are no longer there? In early 2020, wildlife cameraman James Aldred was commissioned to film the lives of a family of Goshawks in the New Forest, his childhood home. He began to plan a treetop hide in a remote site that would allow him...
Diary of a young naturalist
McAnulty, Dara
Paper Book
Diary of a Young Naturalistchronicles the turning of 15-year-old Dara McAnulty's world. From spring and through a year in his home patch in Northern Ireland, Dara spent the seasons writing. These vivid, evocative and moving diary entries about his connection to wildlife and the way he sees...
12 birds to save your life : nature's lessons in happiness
Corbett, Charlie
Paper Book
Recognising his perspective on life was slipping following his mother's untimely death, Charlie turned to the rhythms of the natural world for comfort and solace - in particular its birds. He found that through reconnecting with the wildlife all around him, the grief that once felt insurmountable he...
Climate change is racist : race, privilege and the struggle for climate justice
Williams, Jeremy
CD
Entangled Life : How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures - The Illustrated Edition
Sheldrake, Merlin.
Paper Book
The million-copy bestseller now illustrated with over 100 spectacular full-colour images, showcasing this wondrous and wildly various lifeform as never before 'Astonishing ... it seems somehow to tip the natural world upside down' Observer ...
The Heeding
Cowen, Rob
Paper Book
A year of looking, listening and noticing across four unique seasons and thirty-five beautifully illustrated poems.  The world changed in 2020. Gradually at first, then quickly and irreversibly, the patterns by which we once lived altered completely. 
The hidden life of trees : what they feel, how they communicate : discoveries from a secret world
Wohlleben, Peter
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER * One of the most beloved books of our time: an illuminating account of the forest, and the science that shows us how trees communicate, feel, and live in social networks. After reading this book, a walk in...
I belong here : a journey along the backbone of Britain
Sethi, Anita
Paper Book
One woman's journey of reclamation through natural landscapes as she contemplates identity and womanhood, nature, place and belonging. Anita Sethi was on a journey through Northern England in Summer 2019 when she became the victim of a racially motivated hate crime. The crime...
The insect crisis : the fall of the tiny empires that run the world
Milman, Oliver
Paper Book
How would we live if insects no longer existed?
The instant
Liptrot, Amy
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 'I loved this book' Raynor Winn, author of The Salt Path 'Utterly absorbing' Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden Wishing to leave behind the quiet isolation of her Orkney...
Fathoms : the world in the whale
Giggs, Rebecca
Paper Book
Winner of the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction * Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award A "delving, haunted, and poetic debut" (The New York Times Book Review) about the...
Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape
Flyn, Cal.
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES' BESTSELLER AND SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER OF THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT CONSERVATION AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY...
The lost words : a spell book
Macfarlane, Robert
Paper Book
All over the country, there are words disappearing from children's lives. Words like Dandelion, Otter, Bramble, Acorn and Lark represent the natural world of childhood, a rich landscape of discovery and imagination that is fading from children's minds. The Lost Words stands...
Landmarks
Macfarlane, Robert
Paper Book
Words are grained into our landscapes, and landscapes are grained into our words. Landmarks is about the power of language to shape our sense of place. It is a field guide to the literature of nature, and a glossary containing thousands of remarkable words used in England, Scotland, Ireland...
Much ado about mothing : a year intoxicated by Britain's rare and remarkable moths
Lowen, James
Paper Book
This book narrates a year­-long quest to see Britain's rarest and most remarkable moths. This book coaxes moths out from the darkness and into the daylight; Much Ado About Moth-ing reveals that moths are so much more attractive, approachable and astonishing than...
Net zero : how we stop causing climate change
Helm, Dieter
Paper Book
What can we really do about the climate emergency? The inconvenient truth is that we are causing the climate crisis with our carbon intensive lifestyles and that fixing - or even just slowing - it will affect all of us. But it can be done. In Net Zero the economist...
The new climate war : the fight to take back our planet
Mann, Michael E.
Paper Book
A renowned climate scientist shows how fossil-fuel companies have waged a thirty-year campaign to deflect blame and responsibility and to delay action on climate change, and offers a battle plan for how we can save the planet. Recycle. Fly less. Eat less meat. These are some of...
The Easternmost Sky: Adapting to Change in the 21st Century
Blaxland, Juliet
Paper Book
The Easternmost Sky is part memoir, part elegy and part warning.It was written on the Suffolk coast, in a place known for its farmland, nature reserves and the fastest coastal erosion in Europe. By exploring how climate change and social change are already affecting this agriculturally important...
The reindeer chronicles : and other inspiring stories of working with nature to heal the Earth
Schwartz, Judith D.
Paper Book
"Compelling, Fascinating, sometimes unexpectedly moving, this vitally important book is, above all, a springboard for hope and transformation."--Isabella Tree "A lucid and compelling look at the global movement of ecological rehabilitation."-- The Boston Globe ...
Into the tangled bank : in which our author ventures outdoors to consider the British in nature
Parikian, Lev
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING  'Funny, accessible and full of wonders ' a genuine breath of fresh air.' - Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley and The Stubborn Light of Things Lev Parikian is on a journey to...
Twitch
Leonard, M. G.
Paper Book
"Twitch has three pet chickens, four pigeons, swallows nesting in his bedroom and a passion for birdwatching. On the first day of the summer holidays, he arrives at his secret hide to find police everywhere. A convicted robber has broken out of prison and is hiding in Aves Wood. Can Twitch use his...
Thin places : a natural history of healing and home
Dochartaigh, Kerri ní
Paper Book
An Indie Next Selection for April 2022 An Indies Introduce Selection for Winter/Spring 2022 A Junior Library Guild Selection Both a celebration of the natural world and a memoir of one family's experience during the Troubles...
The summer we turned green
Sutcliffe, William
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2023! A fresh, funny, heartfelt look at this generation's must-win battle: one earth, one chance. It's the summer holidays, and thirteen-year-old Luke's life has been turned upside down. First his older...
Silent Earth : averting the insect apocalypse
Goulson, Dave
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2022** We have to learn to live as part of nature, not apart from it. And the first step is to start looking after the insects, the little creatures that make our shared world go round....
Uprooting: From The Caribbean To The Countryside - Finding Home In An English Country Garden
Farrell, Marchelle.
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE A COUNTRYFILE CHRISTMAS GIFT BOOK What is home? It's a question that has troubled Marchelle Farrell for her entire life. A longed-for career in psychiatry saw her leave behind the pristine beaches and...
The sea is not made of water : life between the tides
Nicolson, Adam
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2022 'A remarkable and powerful book, the rarest of things ... Nicolson is unique as a writer ... I loved it' EDMUND DE WAAL Few places are as familiar as the shore - and few as full of mystery and surprise.
Shadowlands : A Journey Through Lost Britain
Green, Matthew.
Paper Book
The untold story of the hidden places across Britain that have slipped through the fingers of history.
Time on Rock: A Climber's Route into the Mountains
Fleming, Anna
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE AND THE BOARDMAN TASKER AWARD FOR MOUNTAIN LITERATURE With great lyricism, Anna Fleming charts two parallel journeys: learning the craft of traditional rock climbing and the developing appreciation of the natural world it brings her....
The treeline : the last forest and the future of life on earth
Rawlence, Ben
Paper Book
Winner of the 2023 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism "Original and readable." ―Financial Times' Best Environmental Books of 2022 "Superb, inspiring." ―Winner, National Academies of Science Schmidt Awards for Excellence in...
The women who saved the English countryside
Kelly, Matthew
Paper Book
A vibrant history of English landscape preservation over the last 150 years, told through the lives of four remarkable women   In Britain today, a mosaic of regulations protects the natural environment and guarantees public access to green spaces. But this was...
The wild places
Macfarlane, Robert
Paper Book
From The New York Times bestselling author of Is A River Alive and Underland, an "eloquent (and compulsively readable) reminder that, though we're laying waste the world, nature still holds sway over much of the earth's surface." --Bill McKibben Winner of...
Wild green wonders : a life in nature
Barkham, Patrick
Paper Book
The collected writings from one of the nation's most celebrated nature writers.
What if we stopped pretending?
Franzen, Jonathan
Paper Book
The climate crisis is here. Our chance to stop it has come and gone, but this doesn't have to mean the world is ending. 'If you care about the planet, and about the people and animals who live on it, there are two ways to think about this. You can keep on hoping that...
Vesper flights : new and collected essays
Macdonald, Helen
Paper Book
*A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE GUARDIAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, INDEPENDENT, BBC SCIENCE FOCUS MAGAZINE AND TIME MAGAZINE* *A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* *A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK* ...
October, October
Balen, Katya; Harding, Angela
Paper Book
_______________ WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE MEDAL 2022 WINNER OF THE YOTO CARNEGIE SHADOWERS' CHOICE AWARD 2022 _______________ 'A very special new addition to the shelf and deserves classic status' - The Times Children's Book of...
On Gallows Down: Place, Protest and Belonging
Chester, Nicola
Paper Book
"It's ever so good. Political, passionate & personal."--Robert Macfarlane (via Twitter), author of Underland Part nature writing, part memoir, On Gallows Down is an essential, unforgettable read for fans of Helen Macdonald, Terry Tempest Williams, and Robin Wall Kimmerer. ...
Otherlands : a world in the making
Halliday, Thomas, (Paleobiologist)
Paper Book
This is the past as we've never seen it before. Otherlands is an epic, exhilarating journey into deep time, showing us the Earth as it used to exist, and the worlds that were here before ours. Travelling back in time to the dawn of complex life, and across all seven continents,...
Our Biggest Experiment: A History Of The Climate Crisis
Bell, Alice.
Paper Book
It was Eunice Newton Foote, an American scientist and women's rights campaigner living in Seneca Falls, New York, who first warned the world that an atmosphere heavy with carbon dioxide could send temperatures here on Earth soaring. This was back in 1856. At the time, no one paid much attention....

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