The Booker Prize Foundation is taking its most ambitious step in two decades with the launch of the Children’s Booker Prize, a major new literary award designed to champion outstanding fiction for readers aged eight to 12.
According to a statement, the inaugural prize, supported by the AKO Foundation, will award a massive £50,000 to the winning author, matching the prestige and purse of the adult Booker Prize. It aims not only to recognise future classics written in or translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland, but also to be a “social intervention” to inspire a new generation of lifelong readers.
In a unique move for a Booker award, the winner will be chosen by a combined panel of adult and child judges.
The inaugural Chair of judges will be the UK’s Children’s Laureate and multi-award-winning author, Frank Cottrell-Boyce. He and two adult judges will select a shortlist of eight books, after which three child judges will join the panel to determine the ultimate winner.
“Stories belong to everyone. Every child deserves the chance to experience the happiness that diving into a great book can bring,” said Cottrell-Boyce. “By inviting them to the judging table, it welcomes them directly into the world of books.”
Key Details:
Target Age Group: Best contemporary fiction for children aged eight to 12 years old.
Prize Money: \textsterling 50,000 for the winner; shortlisted authors each receive \textsterling 2,500.
Submissions: Open in spring 2026.
Winner Announcement: February 2027.
Social Impact: At least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to ensure more children can own and read the featured fiction.
Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, called the new prize “the most ambitious endeavour we’ve embarked on in 20 years,” noting its launch comes as children’s reading for pleasure is reportedly at its lowest in 20 years.
The Foundation hopes the prize will become a cause that “children, parents, carers, teachers and everyone in the world of storytelling can get behind.”
•Featured image: Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Chair of judges for the Children’s Booker Prize 2027 © David Bebber
