Judges announced – and sought – for the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize

The makeup of the judging panel for the first ever Children’s Booker Prize has been announced. Joining current Waterstones Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce to select the eight books that will form the shortlist are actor, writer and comedian Lolly Adefope (best known for her role in BBC comedy drama Ghosts) and award-winning children’s bookseller, owner of the Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, Sanchita Basu de Sarkar.

In addition to these three adult judges, three child judges, aged between eight and 12 years, will choose the winning book. A UK-wide competition for children to become a judge is open now with entries invited from parents, carers and educators on behalf of their children, pupils and young people.

Children will be asked to share why they would like to be a Children’s Booker Prize judge and answer questions about books and reading. Entries for the first round close on Tuesday, 2 June 2026 and full details of the selection process are outlined on the Booker Prizes website here. The three child judges will be announced at the same time as the shortlist on Tuesday, 24 November.

The decision to include children on the judging panel will ‘give children a direct voice in the outcome, ensuring the winning book is a recommendation from young readers to their peers,’ according to the organisers.

The Booker Prizes have been running for over 55 years. The Children’s Booker Prize is the first major new prize from the Booker Prize Foundation in two decades, since the launch of the International Booker Prize in its original form in 2005.

The aim of the Children’s Booker Prize is to engage and grow a new generation of readers by recognising and championing the best children’s fiction from writers around the world (contemporary fiction for children aged eight to 12 years old, written in or translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland is eligible.) Their nominated works will join around 700 books in the Booker library and at least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to children.

The founding partner and principal funder of the Children’s Booker Prize is AKO Foundation, a grant-giving charitable foundation focused on supporting charities that improve education and the wellbeing of young people, promote the arts, and combat the climate emergency. AKO Foundation has committed to supporting the prize for its first three years.

Beano, the world’s longest-running weekly comic, is also supporting the Children’s Booker Prize. As well as the prizes for child judges, the partnership will include bespoke illustrated content celebrating the shortlisted books and the child judging experience in the magazine, lesson plan content created and delivered via Beano for Schools, and a special presence at the ceremony which will be held at Young V&A on Tuesday, 2 February 2027.

The Booker Prize Foundation has been working with Beano Brain, specialists in kids and youth insight, consulting children on the development of the Children’s Booker Prize, including co-creation sessions with eight- to 12-year-olds.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Waterstones Children’s Laureate and Chair of judges, says, ‘Every child deserves the chance to experience the happiness of diving into a great book.

‘The Children’s Booker Prize will make it easier for children to find the book that’s right for them.  The book that calls to them, that invites them on the adventure. Having children at the judging table will turn the prize into a national reading party (one of the joys of reading is arguing about books!).

‘And – maybe most of all – gifting thousands of copies of the nominated titles will open the door to that party and say, come on in, this is for you.’

Inviting children to consider becoming a judge he says, ‘’Whether you’ve read one book this year or a hundred; whether you love comic books or big thick chapter books; books with loads of pictures, books with no pictures; it doesn’t matter, YOU could be exactly the judge that we’re looking for.

‘If you love reading and you love talking about books you would be perfect to be a Children’s Booker Prize judge.’

Sanchita Basu De Sarkar, owner of The Children’s Bookshop and Children’s Booker Prize judge, says, ‘Judging with the children is going to be a completely unique experience, and one of the things I’m most excited about for the Children’s Booker. One of my favourite activities in the bookshop is our book club sessions – children make for the most passionate and opinionated readers, and whenever we sit down and discuss books together, I’m always gaining new perspectives. We all come away buzzing with ideas. What a fabulous way to celebrate the National Year of Reading.’

According to The Bookseller, the ‘Booker bounce’ in sales volume for winners is bigger than that associated with any other prize and a place on the shortlist could transform the fortunes of children’s authors.

UK and Irish publishers are now invited to submit their books for the 2027 prize. Rules and submission guidelines are available here. Eligible books are those published between 1 November 2026 and 31 October 2026.

As with the Booker Prize, the shortlist will each receive £2,500 and the winner £50,000, ensuring that Children’s Booker Prize recipients are given the same level of financial reward and recognition as their counterparts writing fiction for adults.