The Adventures of Portly The Otter, a children’s book by award-winning Brighton-based author M.G. Leonard and illustrated by Polly Dunbar is among the titles shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2026.
Every year Waterstones booksellers are called on to nominate an outstanding book of any genre that they most enjoyed recommending to readers this year. The Waterstones Book of The Year title is a much-coveted award, with the illustrious list of past winners ranging from Philip Pullman and Maggie O’Farrell to Paul McCartney and Katherine Rundell. Many previous winners, including Butter by Asako Yuzuki and Murdle by G. T. Karber, went on to become Christmas Number One bestsellers in the UK, testament to the powerful impact of bookseller recommendation.
The Adventures of Portly the Otter by M.G. Leonard revisits the world of The Wind in the Willows through ten exquisite untold tales, with the charming young otter, Portly, at its centre. Beautifully illustrated in full colour by Polly Dunbar, this gorgeous hardback gift book is perfect for both new readers and existing fans.
M.G. Leonard has made up stories ever since she was a little girl. Back then, adults called them lies or tall tales, so she didn’t think to write them down. Now she makes up stories about beetles, birds, trains or anything that sparks her imagination. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and won many awards. She is the vice president of the insect charity Buglife, and a founding author of Authors4Oceans. She lives in Brighton, by the sea, with her husband, two sons, a dog called Nell, and a variety of exotic beetles.
Polly Dunbar is an award-winning author-illustrator whose books include Red, Red, Red, Put Your Shoes On, and Penguin. When Polly was little, she listened to The Wind in the Willows on her cassette player every night to help her fall asleep. She lives in the Waveney Valley with her family and a very lively dog called Frankie, who loves walking by the river.
M.G. Leonard says: “Waterstones championing The Adventures of Portly the Otter on this amazing shortlist feels like a miracle. I’m filled with delight by the news. I wrote this book for families to read together. This will enable more of them to discover the joy of Portly’s adventures and I couldn’t be happier.”
She added: “Portly the Otter is a small character from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. When I was a child, I wanted to know everything about the adorable chubby otter. I had a thousand questions, but there were never any answers. What happened to Portly when he went missing for days? Where was he? How did he end up asleep between the cloven hooves of the god Pan? The only way to find out the answers was to write the story myself. That journey is the inspiration behind The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from The Wind in the Willows. I hope Grahame would have approved.”
Polly Dunbar says: “Collaborating with M. G. Leonard on The Adventures of Portly the Otter was such a joy. The whole process flowed so easily, and I feel that really comes across in the finished book. It’s a thrill and an honour to have it recognised by Waterstones, and wonderful to think that being on this shortlist could bring Portly and his adventures to so many more children, and introduce them to the beloved world of The Wind in the Willows.”
Bea Carvalho, Waterstones Head of Books, says: “We are delighted to announce the shortlist for Waterstones Book of the Year 2026, as voted for by booksellers. This bumper crop reflects an impressive year of publishing, with zeitgeist capturing triumphs of word of mouth, storytelling excellence, and future classics across fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. Here booksellers champion books from prize winners and literary heavyweights, as well as newcomers who seem set for glittering careers, alongside stunningly produced gifts for every home. We cannot wait to share these wonderful books with our customers everywhere.”
Elsewhere on the Waterstones Book of the Year shortlist:
In fiction, established authors rub shoulders with new voices and freshly discovered fiction in translation. Maggie O’Farrell’s Land, a haunting and lyrical, intergenerational story of one family, set against Ireland’s historic landscape, is joined by Douglas Stuart’s starkly beautiful John of John, a Hebrides based novel of homecoming, identity and a community as austere as the terrain.
Lázár by Nelio Biedermann (translated by Jamie Bulloch) tells the epic story of a dynasty from the turn of the century to the 1956 Hungarian Uprising. Meanwhile, 1938 set Taiwan Travelogue, by Yáng Shuāng-zi (translated by Lin King), is a love story and an exploration of language, history and power, packed with delicious depictions of Taiwanese cuisine.
Louise Kennedy’s Stations is a devastating yet deeply humane novel about first love, friendship and being an Irish immigrant in 1980s London, whilst The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout compassionately examines how secrets affect our relationships and grief reverberates through decades.
Yesteryear is Caro Claire Burke’s sharp and funny take on the Tradwife movement, with a very surprising twist; and Will Maclean’s strange and imaginative Solace House is part gothic horror, part psychological thriller and a lot of delightfully sinister fun.
Last, but by no means least, we have May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry, which won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize earlier this year. A beautiful gem of a book that is a wildly original, clever twist on the historical novel.
The non-fiction selection covers brilliant books for all tastes from investigative journalism and bird watching to history and cookery. Patrick Radden Keefe’s gripping London Falling, forensically investigates a riveting story of power and deception surrounding the tragic death of a London teenager. Meanwhile, Ben Macintyre’s stranger than fiction tale of Cold War espionage, Redwood, exposes an unknown and highly significant Cold War victory in 1980s Iran.
In Said the Dead, by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, history writing and ghost story meet to create a mesmerising and unforgettable reading experience, whilst Sleeping Beauties by David Byrne revisits fascinating past ideas that history almost forgot and how they were rediscovered in surprising and wonderful ways.
Yotam Ottolenghi returns with Ottolenghi Simple Too, co-written by Verena Lochmuller and packed with mouthwatering, easy to prep dishes. It finds a perfect accompaniment in Pick Your Bottles, Noble Rot co-founder Dan Keeling’s guide to picking delicious, great-value wines for any occasion.
The Book of Birds, a breathtaking volume, combines Robert Macfarlane’s lyrical text and Jackie Morris’ gorgeous illustrations into a love letter to the wonders of British birdlife.
The children’s books line-up has something exciting for every reading age. Joining The Adventures of Portly the Otter by M.G. Leonard and Polly Dunbar is another book inspired by a beloved classic: The Neverland Thieves by Katie and Kevin Tsang which expands the Peter Pan canon.
The shortlist concludes with Is This A Plum? a playful cut out picture book by father and son duo, Dan and Finn Ojari, and The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, a locked-room thriller for young adult readers that is a propulsive rollercoaster of twists and turns.
The title named Waterstones Book of the Year 2026 will receive the full and committed backing of Waterstones shops and booksellers across the UK, as well as support online and through its loyalty card programme, Waterstones Plus, which reaches over one million readers.
The Waterstones Book of the Year 2026 shortlist in full (alphabetically by author surname):
- The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Usborne)
- Lázár by Nelio Biedermann, translated by Jamie Bulloch (Quercus)
- Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (4th Estate)
- Sleeping Beauties by David Byrne (Canongate)
- Pick Your Bottles by Dan Keeling (Quadrille)
- Stations by Louise Kennedy (Bloomsbury)
- The Adventures of Portly The Otter by M.G. Leonard, illustrated by Polly Dunbar (Farshore)
- The Book of Birds by Robert Macfarlane and illustrated by Jackie Morris (Hamish Hamilton)
- Redwood by Ben Macintyre (Viking)
- Solace House by Will Maclean (Atlantic)
- Said The Dead by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Faber)
- Land by Maggie O’Farrell (Headline)
- Ottolenghi Simple Too by Yotam Ottolenghi and Verena Lochmuller (Ebury)
- Is This A Plum? By Dan and Finn Ojari (Puffin)
- May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry (Granta)
- London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (Pan Macmillan)
- Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zi, translated by Lin King (And Other Stories)
- Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (Viking)
- John of John by Douglas Stuart (Pan Macmillan)
- The Neverland Thieves by Katie and Kevin Tsang (Simon & Schuster)
The Waterstones Book of the Year 2026 will be chosen by a panel of Waterstones booksellers and be announced on Thursday 26th November.
