Announcing Our 2025 CNP Kids Winner & Highly Commended

Hi everyone,

 We are delighted to announce the winner and Highly commended for our Cheshire Novel Prize Kids 2025 competition. This was such a close run race but finally our judges and junior judges decided on the winning books. Here they are:

 Winner – Zoe FitzGibbon - Marty Hearst's Multi-Hearse – Middle Grade

 Highly Commended -  Eric Brandenburg - The Amazing Flying Hoosengoosen Couch – Middle Grade

Many congratulation to Zoe and Eric. Also a huge congratulations to the rest of our wonderfully talented shortlisted writers. Well done on getting this far which was no mean feat out of so many entries:

 Shortlist 2025

Alison Jones – Dark Blessings - YA

Jason Lang - Uncle Ulric's Home for Unusual Animals -First Chapter Books

Caroline Ovink - The Satsuma Street Spies – First Chapter Books

B. Wheeler - Ripples From Otherland – Middle Grade

Lorraine Birnita - A Game of Hearts and Heists - YA

Rachel Burrows - Gethyn and the Wind Dragon – Middle Grade

Tracy Tully (writing as Pat Jacobson)  – An Solas – YA

You can read the winner and Highly Commended interview and excerpts along with all our other shortlisted writers interview and bios on our website.

Also congratulations to all of our amazing longlisted writers too:

Katie Joy Blake - Ellery and the sad cloud – Picture Book

Matthew Neilson – Bang – Picture Book

Sue Rawlings  - Mimi, Spider and the Moon Rescue  - Picture Book

Helen Marie McKinney -  Astrid Skellington’s Spellbook  - Middle Grade

 Ben Smart  - Rosa Wilde Book One – Middle Grade

Angharad Thompson Rees -  Harry Haunts – Middle Grade

 Melanie Whitmarsh - The Phantom – Middle Grade

 Panni Loh - Living the Lotus. – Middle Grade

Kirstin Lewis - The river divides us – Middle Grade

Simon Bradbrook - The Song of the Silent City – Middle Grade

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition. If you are still awaiting feedback then please don’t worry. Feedback is still going out until the 30th of June 2025. If you have not received it by then, please check your junk folder and if it is not there please email us on entry@cheshirenovelprize.com after the 1st of July 2025.

Kindest  regards

 Sara

Sara Cox

CNP Kids Founder