The adult judging panel for the Children’s Booker Prize 2027 supported by AKO Foundation is announced today as the prize opens for submissions from publishers and a UK-wide competition for children to become a judge begins.

Launching today, the new annual prize will celebrate the best contemporary fiction for children aged eight to 12 years old, written in or translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland. The first winner will be announced on 2 February 2027. 

The multi-award-winning children’s book author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce, who is the current Waterstones Children’s Laureate and the inaugural Chair of judges for the prize, is joined on the first judging panel for the Children’s Booker Prize by the acclaimed actor, writer and comedian Lolly Adefope and award-winning children’s bookseller and owner of the Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, Sanchita Basu De Sarkar. 

Uniquely, the prize will be judged by a mixed panel of adult and child judges. Cottrell-Boyce, Adefope and Basu De Sarkar will select a shortlist of eight books to be announced on 24 November, and three child judges aged between eight to 12 years old and living in the UK will join the adults in choosing the winning book. The process will give children a direct voice in the outcome, ensuring the winning book is a recommendation from young readers to their peers. 

Applying to be a child judge 

The competition to find the three child judges opens today on the Booker Prizes website with entries invited from parents, carers and educators on behalf of their children, pupils and young people. In the online form, 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 alongside the shortlist on Tuesday, 24 November. 

In a video for potential child judges broadcast today on the Booker Prizes website, Cottrell-Boyce says: ‘I’ve been asked to find three book-loving kids to join me in judging the first ever Children’s Booker Prize. 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.’ 

Speaking about the winner judging day he says: ‘We will get together for a special judging day, when we’ll argue and laugh and eat loads of snacks and decide which is the very best. And then we’ll have picked the winner.  

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

Watch the video here.

The successful child entrants will each get: the eight shortlisted books to read and keep; a judges’ medal; a trip to London for a fun day choosing the winner with the adult judges; a bespoke portrait by Beano illustrator Nigel Parkinson; a Beano comic strip capturing their judging experience; and another trip to London for the ceremony at  Young V&A, which will feature a red carpet with VIP guests, entertainment stations, and the chance to present the winner/s their trophy on stage.  

The aims of the prize 

The Booker Prizes have rewarded and celebrated world-class talent for over 55 years, helping to shape the canon of 20th and 21st century literature, transforming the careers of writers and building a global community of readers. 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 prize is being launched at a time when children’s reading for pleasure is reportedly at its lowest in 20 years, and as the UK government’s National Year of Reading is underway to help more people (re)discover the joy of reading.  

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. Their nominated works will join around 700 books in the Booker library. At least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to children who need them the most, ensuring that more children can read and own the world’s best fiction. 

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 generously committed to supporting the prize for its first three years. The development of the prize over the last three years has been made possible thanks to donations from a small group of philanthropic supporters.   

Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, says:  

‘We are beyond delighted by the enthusiastic response to the news, late last year, that we would be launching a Children’s Booker Prize. And we’re hugely grateful to AKO Foundation for making it possible.  

‘Now we have three phenomenal adult judges at the ready: the trailblazing children’s book author, screenwriter and champion of children’s rights Frank Cottrell-Boyce; the brilliant actor and comedian Lolly Adefope, adored for her performance as Kitty in Ghosts; and Sanchita Basu De Sarkar, esteemed owner of the nation’s oldest children’s bookshop and rarely out of a primary school assembly. 

‘Perhaps most exciting of all: we’re ready to invite children to enter our nationwide competition to become one of three child judges.  

‘This new prize is underpinned by a social mission: to create future generations of lifelong readers. We feel confident that we can enthuse children if we are armed with the very best. By ‘best’, we mean books that readers will love, books that can be read over and over again or enjoyed just once. Books that contain great characters, emotion, wit, action, adventure, imagination, magic. Books that take readers to other places – in the world, in their minds or in their hearts.  

‘To foster those adventures we are thrilled to be collaborating with Beano and Young V&A – organisations that spark joy and creativity in children. We can’t wait for everything that’s about to unfold.’ 

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.’ 

Lolly Adefope, actor, comedian, writer and Children’s Booker Prize 2027 judge, says:  

‘I’m so excited to judge the Children’s Booker Prize. I love that the prize recognises the importance of judging children’s books with the same rigour and respect as the adult fiction prizes, and can’t wait to hear the perspectives of my fellow judges, none more so than the child judges whose input matters most of all.  

‘As a child I was a voracious reader; much like film and television the opportunity to be lost within and consumed by a new world is one that should be encouraged for children everywhere. I can’t wait to get started.’ 

Sanchita Basu De Sarkar, owner of The Children’s Bookshop and Children’s Booker Prize 2027 judge, says: 

‘I’m thrilled to be a judge for the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize – it brings together everything I love. Reading loads of children’s books; getting to discuss them with some utterly brilliant people; and sharing the books with children all over the country so we can continue the conversation.  Reading, talking, sharing. What more could anyone want? 

‘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.’ 

Prize money and eligibility  

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.  

The prize will be open to authors worldwide, both for books written originally in English and for those translated into English, as long as they are published in the UK and/or Ireland within the eligibility period. This fuses the eligibility of the two existing Booker Prizes. If a book that has been translated into English wins, the author and translator will share the prize money equally, as with the International Booker Prize. If a graphic novel wins the author and illustrator will share the prize money equally; if an illustrated book wins, the author and illustrator will share the prize money in a 50:50 or 75:25 split, as determined by the Booker Prize Foundation. 

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 2025 and 31 October 2026. Key deadlines are staggered between May and June 2026. 

About the judges  

Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Chair of Children’s Booker Prize 2027 judges) is a multi-award-winning author, screenwriter and the Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2024-2026 (managed by BookTrust). Millions, his debut children’s novel, won the prestigious Carnegie Medal. His other books include Cosmic, Runaway Robot, The Wonder Brothers and many more which have been shortlisted for a multitude of prizes. He is also a highly successful screenwriter and along with Danny Boyle, he devised the Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics. Cottrell-Boyce is a lifelong champion of children’s books. In 2023 he launched a successful podcast with Nadia Shireen, The Island of Brilliant!, celebrating writing and illustration for children of all ages.  

His latest book, A British Childhood: How Our Children Live Now is a non-fiction account of our failure to look after the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, and a call to arms to all of us to protect the innocence of childhood. It will be published in June 2026 by Picador. 

Lolly Adefope is a BAFTA-nominated actress best known for her role in the hit BBC sitcom Ghosts. The acclaimed comedy ran for five seasons, earning two BAFTA nominations and winning the Broadcast Press Guild Award for Best Comedy in 2024. She is currently working on the Ghosts film. 

Adefope starred opposite Richard E. Grant in HBO’s superhero satire The Franchise, earning her a BAFTA nomination for Female Performance in a Comedy. Her previous TV credits include Horrible Histories (Series 7), Black Mirror, Shrill, This Time with Alan Partridge, and guest roles in We Might Regret This and Lovesick. On film, she has appeared in Wicked Little Letters and Saltburn. 

Adefope’s upcoming projects include Will Sharpe’s Apple TV series Prodigies. 

She was named one of Vanity Fair’s Rising Stars of 2025. 

Sanchita Basu De Sarkar is the owner of the Children’s Bookshop in Muswell Hill, London. It is the oldest running children’s bookshop in the UK, and has inspired generations of young readers. The bookshop sits at the heart of children’s literature, and works with schools, charities, and organisations all over the country to ignite children with the reading spark. It was awarded the double accolade of Children’s Bookseller of the Year and Book Retailer of the Year at the British Book Awards 2024.  

Basu De Sarkar has judged for numerous awards including the Costa Book Award, the British Book Awards, amongst others. She sits on the Children’s Laureate Steering Group and is a co-founder of SAIL Fest, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of South Asian children’s authors and illustrators in the UK.  

She was made an Honorary Fellow at the Royal Society of Literature in 2024. 

Delivering the Children’s Booker Prize with partners 

The Booker Prize Foundation will be working with publishers and a range of partners, including the National Literacy Trust, The Reading Agency, Onside, Bookbanks, and the Children’s Book Project to gift and deliver the 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books each year to children who need them the most.  

It is collaborating with Young V&A on an unprecedented takeover of the London museum for the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize ceremony. Young V&A is designed to spark creativity in young people and families, and the event will be a high-profile celebration of books for young readers featuring exciting activities in the museum’s inspiring spaces, as well as the announcement of the first winner of the prize. A livestream of the ceremony will ensure schools across the UK can join in with the celebrations.    

Today also marks the start of a partnership with Beano – the world’s longest-running weekly comic. 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 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. It will also be working with the National Literacy Trust to measure longer term trends in children’s reading. 

Organisations and brands interested in coming on board to inspire children to read the world’s best fiction can find out more by getting in touch with the Booker Prize Foundation at thebookerprizes.com/children. 

The impact of the existing Booker Prizes  

The Booker Prizes exist to celebrate the world’s best fiction. The Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize honour adult fiction on a global basis, whether that work was originally written in English (the Booker Prize) or translated into English (the International Booker Prize). The addition of the Children’s Booker Prize means that readers can now see the Booker Prizes as a partner for life.  

As well as bringing recognition to the nominated authors, increasing their profile and readership, winners can expect a significant boost in sales and rights deals. According to The Bookseller, the “Booker bounce” in sales volume for winners is bigger than that associated with any other prize.  

Celebrating 10 years in its current form in 2026, the International Booker Prize, has become the world’s most influential award for translated fiction, and continues to build in global importance each year. The prize’s influence also extends to other awards, with five authors – Han Kang, Jon Fosse, Annie Ernaux, Olga Tokarczuk, and László Krasznahorkai – recognised by the International Booker Prize going on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. 

The cultural impact of the prizes extends beyond books. Nominated works for the Children’s Booker Prize could also enter into a tradition of Booker Prizes adaptations. More than 70 books that have been longlisted or shortlisted for the Booker or International Booker Prize have been adapted for the big or small screen over the years, with several going on to win Oscars, BAFTAS and Emmys. They range from The Remains of the Day to Atonement, Normal People to The Handmaid’s Tale, Wolf Hall to Life of Pi, True History of the Kelly Gang to The Line of Beauty, The Underground Railroad to Small Things Like These, Hurricane Season to Elena Knows, and in the last year, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Harvest, and Hot Milk. 

Since 2022, the Booker Prize Foundation has commissioned a range of talented directors to create a series of short films to showcase the books shortlisted for its annual prizes. The films, released in spring and autumn, have become one of the highlights of the Booker Prize and International Booker Prize seasons, with the 2025 films viewed online more than 100 million times on the Booker Prizes social channels. The films are award-winners themselves: the shorts produced for the Booker Prize 2025 shortlist, directed by Sasha Nathwani, have just won a Webby Award – which recognise excellence on the internet – whilst the Booker Prize 2022 films, directed by Kevin Thomas, won the Culture category of The Drum Awards for Marketing EMEA 2023. The International Booker Prize 2026 shortlist films were released in mid April. Directed by Holly Blakey, they feature a stellar cast including Toby Jones, Indira Varma and Toheeb Jimoh and feature collaborations with the Southbank Centre in London and Vivienne Westwood fashion house.