Shortlist announced for the Klaus Flugge Prize 2025
The shortlist for the Klaus Flugge Prize has been announced, with Emma Farrarons, Mikey Please and Rhian Stone chosen from a longlist of 15 titles.
This is the tenth year of the award which was established in 2016 to honour Klaus Flugge, founder of Andersen Press and a significant figurein the world of children’s publishing and illustration. The £5,000 prize is awarded to the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s picture book illustration, and is the only prize specifically to recognise a published picture book by a debut illustrator.
The 2025 judging panel is headed by award-winning author illustrators Yasmeen Ismail and Bruce Ingman. Ingman also leads the MA Children’s Literature: Children’s Book Illustration course at Goldsmiths, University of London, an AOI College member. They are joined as judges by teacher and educational consultant Rachna Joshi; and 2024 Klaus Flugge Prize winner Kate Winter. Julia Eccleshare is chair of the judging panel.
Winning the Klaus Flugge Prize brings real prestige, and past winners include New York Times bestseller Flavia Z. Drago (2021), Mariajo Ilustrajo (2023), twice shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, and most recently Kate Winter, who won with The Fossil Hunter in 2024.
My Hair is as Long as a River illustrated by Emma Farrarons, written by Charlie Castle (Macmillan)
Some people don’t understand why the boy in this story has long hair, but through a series of wonderful metaphors, gloriously illustrated by Emma Farrarons, he shows us why it’s so important, how it is part of him, even his ‘happy ever after’. The judges highlight the sense of playfulness and imagination captured in the illustrations and admire the loose artwork style and gorgeous colour palette.
The Café at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Rene’s dream of serving haute cuisine in her café at the edge of the woods seems doomed to failure when it fails to attract any customers. But then her resourceful waiter Glumfoot takes matters into his own hands and finds a new and enthusiastic clientele. Mikey Please won the Waterstones Children’s Book Award with this book. The judges admire the tempo very much and the story structure. It’s a book to appeal to a wide range of readers and will inspire future picture book makers.
Grandad’s Star illustrated by Rhian Stone, written by Frances Tosdevin (Rocket Bird Books)
When Grandad was younger, he was an astronomer, and he’s full of stories about the stars. But now he’s getting older, he’s starting to forget things including the stories that he has always known so well, and even his granddaughter’s name. But the love between them doesn’t dim. The judges admire the sense of feeling created in this story and strong sense of narrative. They also highlight the loose and light artistic approach and the expressive body language.
Chair of the judges Julia Eccleshare says, “Once again, the longlist reflected the creative ambitions of new illustrators and their publishers, but these three books stand out. Emma Farrarons, Mikey Please and Rhian Stone are exceptionally talented illustrators, and their books demonstrate powerfully all that picture books can do, taking young children into new and different worlds, explaining emotions through the medium of illustration, and creating a sense of self and identity. We are delighted to spotlight them and their artform as the Klaus Flugge Prize celebrates its tenth anniversary.”
The winner will be announced on 11 September 2025 and will receive a cheque for £5,000.
The Klaus Flugge Prize is funded by Klaus Flugge and run independently of Andersen Press. It is administered by Julia Eccleshare, children’s director of the Hay Festival; and by Andrea Reece, managing editor of Books for Keeps.
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