Hans Andersen winners named
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair announced Michael Rosen and Cai Gao as the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award winners on April 13, naming two creators at the top of the children's literature prize list this year. (publishersweekly.com)
Michael Rosen of the United Kingdom and Cai Gao of China won the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Awards, the top international prizes for children’s writing and illustration. (ibby.org) The International Board on Books for Young People announced the winners at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair on April 13, 2026. The award is given every two years to one writer and one illustrator for lifetime achievement in children’s books. (ibby.org) This year’s field included 78 candidates from 44 countries, and the final shortlist had six writers and six illustrators. Jury president Shereen Kreidieh announced the winners in Bologna. (ibby.org) The prize has carried unusual weight in children’s publishing for decades because it honors a body of work, not a single book. The International Board on Books for Young People says it recognizes “an important and lasting contribution” to children’s literature. (ibby.org) For Rosen, the award caps a career that spans poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for young readers, plus a term as the United Kingdom’s children’s laureate from 2007 to 2009. The judges said his books show that children’s literature can be “playful and profound at the same time.” (thebookseller.com, booksandpublishing.com.au) For Gao, the award marks a national first: Chinese state and trade reports said she is the first Chinese illustrator to win in the illustration category. The judges said her work combines “technical mastery” with “creativity, sensitivity and innovation.” (english.news.cn, booksandpublishing.com.au) China had previously won on the writing side in 2016, when Cao Wenxuan received the author award. Gao’s selection adds an illustrator from China to a winners list that has historically been dominated by Europe, North America, and Japan. (english.news.cn, ibby.org) The award itself dates to 1956, with the illustration prize added in 1966, and it is often treated inside publishing as the closest thing children’s books have to a global career medal. This year’s announcement put a British writer and a Chinese illustrator at the center of that list. (ibby.org, publishingperspectives.com)
