Young people to help judge new Booker prize for children's authors

Cottrell-Boyce said the award would make it easier for children to discover books they enjoyed. “Every child deserves the chance to experience the happiness that diving into a great book can bring,” he said. “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. It’s going to be - as they say - absolute scenes in there,” he added. “Let the yelling commence.”

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The prize will celebrate contemporary children’s fiction written in or translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. As with the adult Booker and International Booker prizes, shortlisted authors will each receive £2,500, and the winner will receive £50,000.

The inaugural Children’s Booker prize will open for submissions in spring 2026, with the shortlist and child judges announced in November that year, and the winner revealed at a dedicated event in February 2027. The eligibility period covers books published between 1 November 2025 and 31 October 2026.