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 The Royal Society Young People's Book Prize

The Royal Society Young People's Book Prize

 The Royal Society Young People's Book Prize image

The Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize celebrates the best books that are all about SCIENCE

Featuring everything from poems about amazing animals, to incredible facts about the human body and cool experiments you can try at home, these books are not to be missed!

Groups of young people all over the UK will read the books that have been shortlisted for the prize over the summer, and will help decide which one will be the winner.

Check out the contenders for this year’s prize below, then head to Chat to let us know which book you think deserves the top spot!


This Little Pebble by Anna Claybourne & Sally Garland

This Little Pebble begins with a child finding a small, forgotten pebble in his pocket.
It explores fascinating topics like the formation of the Earth, the rock cycle, volcanoes and earthquakes, where precious stones come from and what fossils are.

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IF… A Mind-Bending Way of Looking at Big Ideas and Numbers by David J Smith & Steve Adams

Some things are so big or so old that it’s hard to wrap your mind around them.
If looks at these hard-to-imagine objects and events and compares them to things we can instantly see, feel and touch.

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A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies & Petr Horáček

Polar bears playing on the ice, tigers hunting in the jungle, fireflies twinkling in the evening sky and nightingales singing in the heart of the woods – there are animals everywhere.
From blue whales to bumblebee bats and everything in between, A First Book of Animals takes you all over the planet to visit all kinds of different creatures.

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The Awesome Body Book by Adam Frost

How long are your intestines? How many mites live in your eyelashes? Do all adults wear clean underwear?
Find out disgusting, hilarious, weird and wacky facts about your body with this awesome book!

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Home Lab by Robert Winston

Stir up some sticky slime, build a Solar System with rubber bands, power a speed boat using soap, and construct an erupting volcano, all with Home Lab, exciting experiments for budding scientists.

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100 things to know about Space by Alex Frith, Alice James, Jerome Martin, Shaw Nielsen & Federico Mariani

A fun and informative book packed with 100 fascinating things to know about space, from how to escape a black hole to why astronauts learn wilderness survival skills.


What are your favourite science books? Share your top reads in Chat!

Information for adults

Schools

Visit our School Zone to access free resources and Challenge ideas for your class.

Families

Visit our Home Zone, full of useful Challenge information for parents, grandparents and carers. For information about supporting reading in the early years visit our Pre-School Zone.

Libraries

Visit our Library Zone to find libraries near you running the challenge, and how to take part.