The Children's Booker Prize

The Booker Prize Foundation has announced the Children’s Booker Prize supported by AKO Foundation, the first prize for children’s fiction from the charity that awards the prestigious Booker Prize and International Booker Prize. 

The Booker Prizes have rewarded and celebrated world-class talent for over 55 years, helping to shape the canon of 20th and 21st century literature, transforming the careers of writers and building a global community of readers. The Children’s Booker Prize is the first major new prize from the Foundation in two decades, since the launch of the International Booker Prize in 2005. 

The Children’s Booker Prize, which will launch in 2026 and be awarded annually from 2027, 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. The aim of the prize is to engage and grow a new generation of readers by recognising and championing the best children’s fiction from writers around the world. Their nominated works will join almost 700 books in the Booker Library.

The founding partner and principal funder of the Children’s Booker Prize is AKO Foundation, a grant-giving charitable foundation focused on supporting charities that improve education and the wellbeing of young people, promote the arts, and combat the climate emergency. AKO Foundation has generously committed to supporting the prize for its first three years. The development of the prize over the last three years has been made possible with thanks to donations from a small group of philanthropic supporters. 

Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, 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 have been laying the groundwork for this prize for the past three years, and in that time we have been buoyed by many fruitful conversations with prospective partners: we could not do this alone. And we absolutely could not have launched it without the generosity of its founding partner and principal funder, AKO Foundation, to whom we are enormously grateful. 

“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. 

“The Booker Prize Foundation exists to inspire more people to read the world’s best fiction – because if you can imagine a different world, you can help to create a better one. The possibility of welcoming young readers into our growing global community is hugely exciting. We hope they discover stories and characters that will keep them company for life.” 

The inaugural prize will open for submissions from publishers in spring 2026, when the remaining two adult judges will be made public. The shortlist of eight books—and the three child judges—will be announced in late November 2026, with the winner revealed at a high-profile event for young readers in February 2027. The eligibility period for the 2027 prize is 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026. 

As with the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize, the shortlisted authors will each receive £2,500 and the winning author £50,000, ensuring that children’s prize recipients are given the same level of financial reward and recognition as their counterparts writing fiction for adults. The prize will be open to authors worldwide, both for books written originally in English and for those translated into English, as long as they are published in the UK and/or Ireland within the eligibility period. This fuses the eligibility of the two existing Booker Prizes. If a book that has been translated into English wins, the author and translator will share the £50,000 equally, as with the International Booker Prize. If a graphic novel wins the author and illustrator will share the £50,000 prize equally; if a highly illustrated book wins, the author and illustrator will share the £50,000 in a manner to be agreed with the publisher. 

Philip Lawford, Chief Executive Officer, AKO Foundation says: 

“We are very pleased to support the Booker Prize Foundation in launching the Children’s Booker Prize. At AKO Foundation we believe strongly in the importance of nurturing a love of reading from an early age. The evidence linking reading for pleasure to improved educational outcomes and greater social mobility is compelling, and this initiative aligns closely with our priorities as a funder. We are proud to contribute to a project that will inspire and empower young readers.” 

The judging process

The multi-award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who is the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate, will become the inaugural Chair of judges for the prize. Uniquely, the prize will be judged by a mixed panel of adult and child judges. Cottrell-Boyce and 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 book is recommended by young readers to their peers.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024–2026 and Chair of judges for the Children’s Booker Prize 2027, says:  

“Stories belong to everyone. 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 best that current fiction can offer. 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.” 

Putting children’s books at the centre of our culture 

The Booker Prize Foundation announces 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.

The prize is being launched to inspire more children to discover and read great contemporary fiction and will tackle the challenge in a number of ways.

These include:

• consulting with children to inform the ongoing development of the prize 
• involving children directly in judging so that the winning book is a peer-to-peer recommendation, underpinned by the quality stamp of the Booker Prizes’ rigorous selection process 
• collaborating with experienced organisations including publishers, schools, libraries, and bookshops 
• ensuring that more young people have access to the best new children’s fiction through targeted gifting of the shortlisted and winning books, delivered by a range of partners
• partnering with brands that children love, creating effective campaigns to engage them outside of traditional book and educational spaces 
• and tracking trends in children’s reading for pleasure to measure impact and keep the prize relevant.