Bologna awards named

Michael Rosen and Cai Gao were named the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award winners on April 13 at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy. (ibby.org) The International Board on Books for Young People gives the prize every other year to one writer and one illustrator for lifetime achievement in children’s books. This year’s field included 78 nominees from 44 countries, narrowed to a shortlist of six authors and six illustrators. (ibby.org) The award has been given to writers since 1956 and to illustrators since 1966, and IBBY calls it the highest international distinction in children’s literature. The 2026 medals will be presented at the 40th IBBY World Congress in Ottawa, Canada, from August 6 to 9. (ibby.org.uk) Rosen won for writing after more than 50 years as a poet, performer, broadcaster, teacher, and children’s author in Britain. Publishers Weekly said he has written more than 200 books, including *We’re Going on a Bear Hunt* and *Michael Rosen’s Sad Book*, and he served as the United Kingdom’s Children’s Laureate from 2007 to 2009. (publishersweekly.com) In its jury statement, IBBY said Rosen’s work speaks to children with “honesty, humour, intelligence, and respect” and moves across poetry, novels, and nonfiction. The jury said his books open discussions about history, family, loss, identity, and society. (ibby.org) Cai Gao won for illustration, and IBBY said her art combines “technical mastery with creativity, sensitivity, and innovation.” The organization’s winner profile says Gao was born in 1946 in Changsha, China, and developed her visual storytelling from nursery rhymes and oral storytelling she heard as a child. (ibby.org) Chinese state and provincial outlets said Gao is the first Chinese illustrator to win the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Her win follows a 2024 shortlist appearance and returns China to the center of a prize long dominated by European and North American names. (enghunan.gov.cn) The previous winners, announced in Bologna in April 2024, were Heinz Janisch of Austria for writing and Sydney Smith of Canada for illustration. That keeps the award’s two-year rhythm intact as Bologna remains one of the main global stages for children’s publishing. (ibby.org) For Rosen, the award crowns a career built on speaking directly to children in schools, books, radio, and video. For Gao, it puts a first-time Chinese winner into a prize that IBBY reserves for a body of work, not a single book. (publishersweekly.com)