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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n The Booker Prize<\/a> has announced its \u201cmost ambitious endeavour\u201d in 20 years with the launch of its first prize for children\u2019s fiction.<\/p>\n 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 \u00a350,000.<\/p>\n The Children\u2019s Booker Prize will see an author selected annually from 2027 to celebrate the \u201cbest contemporary fiction\u201d for children aged eight to 12 years old.<\/p>\n The foundation will also gift 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books with the aim of engaging and growing a \u201cnew generation of readers by championing the best children\u2019s fiction from writers around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n Children\u2019s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson<\/a>, best known for The Story Of Tracy Beaker, praised the new award and described it as a \u201cmarvellous idea\u201d.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cNow, more than ever, children\u2019s books need a huge boost. It\u2019s so dismaying that only 30% of today\u2019s children enjoy reading for pleasure \u2013 and yet there are so many exciting and enjoyable children\u2019s books out there, many sinking without trace.<\/p>\n \u201cI think a Children\u2019s 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\u2019s literature.\u201d<\/p>\n The prize will be open to authors worldwide, both for books written originally in English<\/a> and for those translated into English, as long as they are published in the UK and\/or Ireland<\/a> within the eligibility period.<\/p>\n Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, said: \u201cThe Children\u2019s Booker Prize is the most ambitious endeavour we\u2019ve embarked on in 20 years \u2013 and we hope its impact will resonate for decades to come.<\/p>\n \u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIn other words, the Children\u2019s Booker Prize is not just a prize \u2013 it\u2019s part of a movement: a cause that children, parents, carers, teachers and everyone in the world of storytelling can get behind.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Booker Prize Foundation exists to inspire more people to read the world\u2019s best fiction \u2013 because if you can imagine a different world, you can help to create a better one.<\/p>\n \u201cThe possibility of welcoming young readers into our growing global community is hugely exciting. We hope they discover stories and characters that will keep them company for life.\u201d<\/p>\n The foundation also announced that the UK\u2019s Children\u2019s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, will be the inaugural chair of judges for 2027.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cStories belong to everyone. Every child deserves the chance to experience the happiness that diving into a great book can bring.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Children\u2019s Booker Prize will make it easier for children to find the best that current fiction can offer. To find the book that speaks to them. 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI am absolutely buzzing about the news that I\u2019m going to be chairing the\u00a0judging panel. It\u2019s going to be \u2013 as they say \u2013 absolute scenes in there. Let the yelling commence.\u201d<\/p>\n Submissions for the inaugural prize open in spring 2026, with the eligibility period ranging from November 1 2025 to October 31 2026.<\/p>\n Eight shortlisted books will be announced in late November 2026 with the winner revealed at an event in February 2027.<\/p>\n