Booker launches children's prize submissions

The Booker Prize Foundation has opened submissions for the first Children’s Booker Prize and started a UK-wide search for three child judges. (thebookerprizes.com) (thebookseller.com) The new annual prize will honor fiction for children aged eight to 12, written in or translated into English and published in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. (thebookerprizes.com 1) (thebookerprizes.com 2) Frank Cottrell-Boyce, the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate, will chair the 2027 panel alongside actor and writer Lolly Adefope and bookseller Sanchita Basu De Sarkar. (thebookerprizes.com) (thebookseller.com) The three adult judges will choose a shortlist of eight books, due to be announced on November 24, 2026. Three children will then join them to pick the winner. (thebookerprizes.com) (thebookseller.com) The winning author will receive £50,000, while each shortlisted author will receive £2,500. The first winner is scheduled to be announced in February 2027. (thebookerprizes.com) (thebookseller.com) Eligible books for the inaugural prize must be published between November 1, 2025, and October 31, 2026. Publisher submissions opened this spring. (thebookerprizes.com) (slj.com) The Booker Prize Foundation said at least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted so more children can own and read them. AKO Foundation is supporting the prize. (thebookerprizes.com 1) (thebookerprizes.com 2) The foundation described the Children’s Booker Prize as its first new prize since the International Booker Prize was launched in 2005. Publishers Weekly said the move comes after several prominent British children’s book prizes ended in recent years. (publishersweekly.com) (thebookerprizes.com) Applications for the child-judge competition are now open, with the foundation asking children, parents and schools to enter before the 2027 prize cycle moves to its shortlist stage. (thebookerprizes.com 1) (thebookerprizes.com 2)