Children's book honors
- IBBY announced the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Award winners in children's literature today. - The awards named Michael Rosen and Cai Gao as the 2026 laureates. - Meanwhile Bookchella at the LA Times Festival of Books ran April 18–19 with celebrity appearances ( ).
Michael Rosen and Cai Gao have won the 2026 Hans Christian Andersen Awards, the top international career honor in children’s literature. (ibby.org) The International Board on Books for Young People announced the winners on April 13 at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, giving Rosen the writing award and Cai the illustration award. (ibby.org) The award is presented every two years to one author and one illustrator for lifetime achievement, and IBBY said 78 candidates from 44 countries were nominated for the 2026 edition. (ibby.org) Rosen, from the United Kingdom, is one of Britain’s best-known children’s authors and poets, with work that ranges from picture books to poetry and nonfiction for young readers. Cai, from China, became the first Chinese illustrator to win the Andersen illustration prize. (publishersweekly.com) (global.chinadaily.com.cn) The Hans Christian Andersen Awards sit near the top of the children’s-book calendar because they recognize an entire body of work, not a single new title or one publishing season. The 2026 shortlist included six authors and six illustrators announced in January. (ibby.org) The timing also lands in the middle of a busy April for the book world. The 31st Los Angeles Times Festival of Books ran April 18 and 19 on the University of Southern California campus, with free general admission and some ticketed events. (latimes.com) (festivalofbooks.usc.edu) Festival organizers said more than 550 writers, celebrities, and experts were scheduled to appear, alongside more than 350 exhibitors and independent booksellers, with an expected crowd of about 155,000. (ktla.com) Among the best-known names in Los Angeles were Sarah Jessica Parker, Lionel Richie, and Larry David, part of a lineup that showed how literary festivals now mix publishing with film, television, music, and podcast audiences. (foxla.com) That puts the Andersen announcement and the Los Angeles festival in the same week: one honors a lifetime in children’s books, while the other shows how wide the audience for books has become in 2026. (ibby.org) (latimes.com)
