Booker Prize launches children’s fiction award with £50,000 up for grabs
Child judges to decide new Booker Prize award
- The Booker Prize Foundation is launching its first children's fiction award, the Children's Booker Prize, set to begin in 2026.
- The annual prize will award £50,000 to the winner, who will be selected by a combined panel of child and adult judges.
- The accolade aims to celebrate the best contemporary fiction for children aged eight to 12, promoting reading for pleasure and championing global children's literature.
- As part of the initiative, 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to engage and grow a new generation of readers.
- Children's author Dame Jacqueline Wilson praised the new award, and Frank Cottrell-Boyce will serve as the inaugural chair of judges in 2027, with submissions opening in spring 2026.