First ever Children's Booker Prize announced

A brand new prize celebrating children's books has been announced.

The Children's Booker Prize aims to celebrate the best modern fiction for children aged eight to 12 years old.

The new competition will launch in 2026, with the first award being given out in 2027.

The grown-up version - the Booker Prize - has been around for more than 55 years, and is one of the biggest and most celebrated book awards in the world.

The organisers of the award hope it will help children to discover a passion for books and fall in love with reading.

Its after a report by the the National Literacy Trust earlier this year revealed 1 in 3 children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they enjoyed reading in their free time - the lowest result in 20 years.

How will the Children's Booker Prize work?

The Children's Booker Prize will open in spring 2026 for publishers to send in books they think should win.

Books must be written or translated into English, published in the UK and Ireland and suitable for young people aged between eight and twelve.

Three adult judges, including UK Children's Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, will help to narrow them down.

By November 2026 a shortlist of the top eight books will be revealed, and three child judges will then help the adult judges to pick the winner.

The winning book will be revealed at a big award ceremony in February 2027.

The top prize is £50,000 (the same as the adult prize) with the authors who made the top eight, each taking home a prize of £2,500.

The Booker Prize Foundation works with a variety of children's literary charities to donate around 30,000 copies of the eight finalists' books to children, each year.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is the Children's Laureate for 2024-2026 and one of the judges taking part in the Children's Booker Prize 2027

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Children's Laureate for 2024-2026 and one of the judges for the Children's Booker Prize 2027, said:

"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."

"By inviting them to the judging table and by giving 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."

What is the Booker Prize?

The Booker Prize is one of the world's biggest and most recognised book prizes in the world.

The first ever Booker Prize was held in 1969 in the UK.

It used to be called the Booker Prize for Fiction between 1969–2001, then the Man Booker Prize between 2002–2019, before being changed to just The Booker Prize in 2020.

A second prize was announced in 2005 - the International Booker Prize - which began as a way for authors of any nationality, writing in a different language, and translated into English, to join the Prize.

Because prior to this only authors from Commonwealth, Irish or South African countries were able to enter the Booker Prize.

However, after 2015 the rules changed for the Booker Prize, so that an author of any nationality could enter – as long as their books were in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.

What do you think about the Children's Booker Prize? Let us know what your favourite books are in the comments below!