Booker Prize announces new prize for Children's fiction

THE BOOKER PRIZE has launched its first award for children’s fiction.

The foundation will launch the literary award in 2026 with the winner to be chosen by a combined panel of child and adult judges and awarded £50,000 (€57,400).

The Booker Prize is a prestigious literary award in Ireland and the UK for fiction announced annually.

The Children’s Booker Prize will see an author selected annually from 2027 to celebrate the “best contemporary fiction” for children aged eight to 12 years old.

The foundation will also gift 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books with the aim of engaging and growing a “new generation of readers by championing the best children’s fiction from writers around the world”.

Children’s author Jacqueline Wilson, best known for The Story Of Tracy Beaker, welcomed the new award.

She said: “Now, more than ever, children’s books need a huge boost. It’s so dismaying that only 30% of today’s children enjoy reading for pleasure – and yet there are so many exciting and enjoyable children’s books out there, many sinking without trace.

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“I think a Children’s Booker Prize, like the Booker Prizes for adult fiction, will become a talking point, signposting more children, parents, carers and teachers to the best new children’s literature.”

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.

Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, said: “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,” she said. 

Submissions for the inaugural prize open in spring 2026, with the eligibility period ranging from 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026.

Eight shortlisted books will be announced in late November 2026 with the winner revealed at an event in February 2027.

As with the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize the shortlisted authors will each receive £2,500 (€2,870) and the winning author £50,000.

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. The same rule applies if a graphic novel wins, with the prize shared between the author and illustrator.

If a highly illustrated book wins, the author and illustrator will share the £50,000 in a manner to be agreed with the publisher.

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