The Little Peeps Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Children’s Fiction. The Little Peeps Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring stories of all shapes and sizes written to an audience for Early Readers. Story books, Beginning Chapter Books, Picture Books, Activity Books, and Educational Books. These books have advanced to the Long List for the 2023 CIBAs. (For Young Adult Fiction see our Dante Rossetti Awards, for Middle Grade Readers see our Gertrude Warner Awards.)

These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2025 LITTLE PEEPS entries to the 2025 Little Peeps Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2025 Little Peeps Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC26.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 18th, 2026 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Bellingham Yacht Club sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference. 

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2025 Little Peeps Book Awards novel competition for Children’s Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!

• Alison Frenz – I Bet I Can Make You Yawn
• Amy B. Mccoy – Katie Finds Her Voice: A Story About Autism
• Andrew Woolnough – Nuts About Dinosaurs
• Andy M Riley – Finding Hanna’s Happy Place
• Angelina Natale – Peanut and Butter: A Sky View Farm Adventure
• Ann P. Borrmann – You Little Monkey
• Ann P. Borrmann – Never Take a Pirate’s Pearls
• Anna Gerrodette – Wild Rides with Pedal and Blaze
• Anne Polli – Mason the Magnificent
• Antonia Blackmore & illustrated by Sarah P Sharpe – Figgles & Flo the Elephant in the Room
• Ben St. James – Cowboy Cooper and the Ghost Town
• Brandon Moore – Bridget Kimble Learns Self Control
• Bridgetta Tomarchio – Monsters Don’t Say Meep Even the Tiniest Roar Can Make the Biggest Difference
• Brittany Petish- Sally the Brave
• Cal Lopez & Natalia Ulloa – Humans Are Awesome: A Kid’s Guide to Staying Smarter Than AI
• Carrie A. Buck – Ivy Learns to Share
• Christine Kessides – Tail Tale Too
• Corey Turner – Cloudy Days
• David Waugh – Benny the Lost Balloon
• Deborah L. Staunton – Owls Can’t Sing
• Dzvinka Hayda – The Legend of the Dipper
• Ellissa Schwartz – This Day I Hold Dear
• Everett Livingston – The Story of You
• G.R. Foster – The Puppy That Wanted to Be a Flower
• Gail Heath – Miracle on the Mountain: An Appalachian Christmas
• Glenda Keiper – Clancy McFancy and the Tree with Bright Green Leaves
• Gretchen K. Webber – Beanie the Weenie
• J.W. Zarek – Bella Brown Visits a Bee Farm
• J.W. Zarek – Bella Brown’s Messier Than Messy Room
• J.W. Zarek – Bella-Brown Grandma’s Missing Butterfly Locket
• J.W. Zarek – The Stomp-Clomp-Clump Monster Above the Bed
• Jane Xu – Can Pandas Be Koalas Too
• Jessica A. Macpherson – The Little Things We Do
• Jessica Mcanelly – Birdie’s Picnic Party a Tasty Take on Food Safety
• Jomo Jesus Thomas Suriel – The Angry Vacuum
• Kate Shooltz – Kate the Earthling
• Kelly Curtin and Molly Hallinan – Molly and Potato
• Kenneth Brown – Saving Private Brown
• Kim P. Chesney – A Mysterious Night at the Library
• Kim Sloan – Billy Bob’s Adventures Learning the 50 States
• Kristen J Anderson – Lorelei the Lorelei: The Problem with Science Fairs, Cicadas, and Sewers
• Kristy Whilden – Alice’s Colorful New World
• Laura Ball – Albert the Donkey Solves a Mystery
• Leslie Calimeri – One Day with Dinosaurs
• Lisa Mueller – Dot’s Spots
• Lolisa Marie Monroe – Dungoolee
• Lori Hoffman Penna – Catawampus the Story of a Crooked Cat
• Lori Orlinsky – Being Middle
• M.D. Mcalister – Phin York and the Giants of Wintercoombe
• Mark Anthony King – Trigger the Dog That Thought He Was a Horse
• Michele L Sayre – The Long Lazy Summer Wonders of Childhood Beyond
• Michelle Mcalister – Carolina Is a Knight
• Michelle Mcalister – Gilly Green Will Sing
• Michelle Mcalister – Nighttime for Everyone
• Michelle Mcalister – Snelliot the Bold
• Mike Darcy – Little Joe and the Big City
• Mike Stonecypher – There’s a Girebra in the Forest
• Miki Taylor – Bentley Finds a Hippopotomonsterous
• Mr. Steve – Fishing Is Fun
• Mr. Steve – The B Hive
• Nicole Metas – Hemi Bunny Finds a Mommy
• Olga Podoprigora – The Banana From Space and Other Stories From Riverstone
• Once Upon a Dance – Bellyrina
• Paloma Williams – Milo’s Big Beautiful Journey
• Pamela Gray Willcox – Tux the Little Emperor
• Patty York Raymond – There Was a Tenacious Teacher Who Scarfed Down a Sticker
• Payton Lynch – The Journey To You
• Rae St. Clair Bridgman – W Is for Winnipeg a Little Architect’s ABC
• Robin Currie – How Do You Sleep
• Ruth Amanda – Ess-Car-Go!
• Sally Kashner – River Song
• Sally Kashner – The Night Has a Secret
• Sherry Roberts – Amica Helps Zoe
• Sherry Roberts – Just Call Me Pardner
• Shlomo Goldman – Ryder the Spider Discovers the Body
• Svetlana Kitik – Mother’s Mega Marrow: a Gardening for Kids Nature Storybook About Growing Food, Sharing, and Outdoor Learning
• Sydney Roubian – Scarecrow Finds a Heart
• Tamara Neal – I Know Why the Red Bird Talked
• Thomas Anthony – Walter the Polar Bear
• TK Sheffield – Nellie’s Island Small Hooves Big Heart Island Adventures Start
• Tom Morency – Doris the Dragon
• Vassi Rombis – Luna the Little Witch the Magic of Teamwork
• Victoria Fletcher – Lovely Locks of Gold
• Wanda Carter Roush – The Jellybean Gospel the Born-Again Bunny

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS! 

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2024 Little Peeps Grand Prize Winner

Island Moon

By Ruth Amanda

Click here to see the full list of 2024 Little Peeps Book Award Winners for Children’s Fiction.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2026 Little Peeps Book Awards for Children’s Fiction.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2025 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2026 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 17 – 19, 2026! Save the Date for Registration!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887)  has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our annual conference and discover why!