Booker Prize Foundation announces The Children’s Prize worth £50,000
By Editor
A new prize has been annlounced by The Booker Foundation. It’s The Children’s Booker Prize and supported by AKO Foundation. It will celebrate the best contemporary fiction for children aged eight to 12 years old, written in or translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
According to Gaby Wood, “Our aim is to engage and grow a new generation of readers by recognising and championing the best children’s fiction from writers around the world.”
The inaugural £50,000 award will open for submissions in spring 2026, with the shortlist of eight books revealed next November. The winner, to be announced in February 2027, will be selected by a combined panel of child and adult judges, chaired by the UK’s Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce.
At least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to ensure more children can own and read the world’s best fiction. But
Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, Wood, says, “The Children’s Booker Prize is the most ambitious endeavour we’ve embarked on in 20 years – and we hope its impact will resonate for decades to come.
“It aims to be several things at once: an award that will champion future classics written for children; a social intervention designed to inspire more young people to read; and a seed from which we hope future generations of lifelong readers will grow.
“In other words, the Children’s Booker Prize is not just a prize – it’s part of a movement: a cause that children, parents, carers, teachers and everyone in the world of storytelling can get behind.
“We’re delighted that Frank Cottrell-Boyce, master storyteller and passionate advocate, will be the inaugural Chair of the judges. And we can’t wait to hear the views of the ultimate judges of the quality of children’s fiction: children themselves.”
Uniquely, the Children’s Booker Prize will be judged by a mixed panel of adult and child judges.
Multi-award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter Cottrell-Boyce will be the inaugural Chair of judges alongside two other adult judges will select a shortlist of eight books.
Three child judges will be recruited – with the support of schools and a range of partners across the culture and entertainment industries – to join the adults in choosing the winning book.
The process will give children a direct voice in the outcome, ensuring the winning book is recommended by young readers to their peers.
According to Cottrell-Boyce, “Every child deserves the chance to experience the happiness that diving into a great book can bring. The Children’s Booker Prize will make it easier for children to find the book that speaks to them.
“By inviting them to the judging table, and by gifting copies of the nominated books, it will bring thousands more children into the wonderful world of reading. I am absolutely buzzing about the news that I’m going to be chairing the judging panel. It’s going to be – as they say – absolute scenes in there. Let the yelling commence.”
The Children’s Booker Prize is exactly affirms why championing children’s fiction matters. According to The Booker Foundation, “We are announcing the Children’s Booker Prize at a time when children’s reading for pleasure is reportedly at its lowest in 20 years, and as the UK government and the National Literacy Trust have announced a National Year of Reading 2026, to change the nation’s reading habits.”
