Prizes and awards
We are lucky in Ireland to have a large number of children’s literature prizes and awards open to our resident authors and illustrators, in both the UK and Ireland.
The Alligator’s Mouth is an independent children’s bookshop in Richmond, stocking books from baby to late teen, as well as a small selection of cards and board games. The award was founded in 2018 by The Alligator’s Mouth in partnership with The Bright Agency with the aim of championing and celebrating highly-illustrated fiction for children aged 6-8-years-old. Book wholesalers Gardners joined the prize as an official partner in 2019. #AlligatorsAward
The An Post Irish Book Awards are a set of industry-recognition awards set up by a coalition of Irish booksellers in 2007. The awards are owned by Irish Book Awards Ltd, a not-for-profit company presided over by a board comprising of Executive Director: Alastair Giles, Maria Dickenson, Larry Mac Hale, Brendan Corbett, and John Treacy. These individuals also attend an advisory board along with representatives from publishers and partners.
Thousands of ordinary readers vote to select the winners every year. Libraries and bookshops showcase the best books of the year in the critical sales period of the fourth quarter. The Awards Dinner has become the major event in the literary calendar with Taoisigh and Presidents as guests of honour. Since 2011, highlights of the awards have been shown on RTÉ television. #APIBAS
Since 2000, the enormously popular and influential Blue Peter Book Awards have been recognising and celebrating the best authors, the most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children. The Awards have been managed by reading charity, Booktrust, since 2006. The Awards are made under two categories: Best Story and Best Book With Facts. #BluePeterBookAwards
BookTrust is the UK's largest children's reading charity. Each year, they reach millions of children across the UK with books, resources and support. This prize, which is now in its third year, celebrates and promotes the best books for sharing with young children and is run in association with the CILIP Youth Libraries Group. #StorytimePrize
BookTrust is the UK's largest children's reading charity. Each year, they reach millions of children across the UK with books, resources and support.
The BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award is given to a children's writer or illustrator whose body of work, in the opinion of the panel of judges, merits recognition for a lifetime's achievement in children's literature.
It is a separate recognition to the Children's Laureate in that it is purely celebratory and is not attached to any wider purpose of promoting children's literature. BookTrust intends it to be awarded to a person who is not likely to become Children's Laureate in the future.
*(open to British residents – suitable for debut authors in Northern Ireland)
The Branford Boase Award was set up in the memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase. It rewards the most promising new authors and their editors, highlighting excellence in writing and publishing for children. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for children of seven and upward by a first-time novelist and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019. #BranfordBoaseAward
The British Book Awards 2021, or Nibbies, represent the best of the book trade - the UK’s leading creative industry.
First launched in 1990 and now run by The Bookseller, the British Book Awards and its sister awards schemes – The British Book Award for Export and Library of the Year – showcase and celebrate the best books, the best bookshops and the best publishers. #BritishBookAwards
The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are the UK’s oldest and best-loved children’s book awards, recognising outstanding reading experiences created through writing and illustration in books for children and young people.
The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people.
The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. #CILIP
The CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) is the only award for published poetry for children in the UK. Established in 2003, the annual Poetry Award encourages and celebrates outstanding poetry published for children.
The CLiPPA is delivered in partnership with the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and supported by Arts Council England. #CLiPPA
Launched in 1971, the Costa Book Awards is one of the UK's most prestigious and popular book prizes and celebrates the most enjoyable books of the year by writers resident in the UK and Ireland.
Uniquely, the prize has five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book – with one of the five winning books selected as the overall Costa Book of the year and each category is judged separately by a panel of three judges per category. The Costa Book of the Year is then chosen by a nine-member panel which includes representatives from the original panels who are joined by other well-known people who love reading.
Books are entered by publishers and entry for the Awards closes at the end of June each year. The author of the Costa Book of the Year receives a cheque for £30,000, presented at an awards ceremony at the end of January. See below for all the latest news and updates. #CostaBookAwards
Is comórtas é seo atá dírithe go príomha ar fhoilsitheoirí leabhar Gaeilge cé go mbronnfar duais ar údar agus ealaíontóir na nduaisiarrachtaí. Roghnaíodh na buaic-shaothair de réir na gcritéar seo a leanas: fiúntas an ábhair; caighdeán na Gaeilge; dearadh an leabhair, ag áireamh téacs, clúdach, léaráidí agus dea-chleachtas foilsitheoireachta; caighdeán foilsitheoireachta; agus mar a fhreastalaíonn an leabhar ar riachtanais an mhargaidh léitheoireachta.
This prize is aimed primarily at publishers of Irish language books, with a prize also awarded to the author and artist of the winning entries. Winners are chosen according to the following criteria: merit of the subject; the standard of Irish; book design, including text, cover, illustrations and good publishing practice; publishing quality; and how the book meets the needs of the reading market. #GradamRéicsCarló
The ‘GRA’ award was set up in 2016 by a group of school librarians working in a variety of Irish second level schools who are passionate about introducing students to great books. The aim of the award is to highlight new authors and diversify the reading of young adults. It’s also an opportunity for students to voice their enthusiasm about good writing for their age group at a time during the school year when examinations are less pressing. #GRAIrl
*(open to British citizens or British residents – suitable for authors in Northern Ireland)
First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize and its new sister award Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize founded in 2020, seek to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers.
The prizes are unique in that they accept entries published in the UK by writers of colour. These include (and not limited to) fiction, non-fiction, short stories, graphic novels, poetry and all other genres. The Jhalak Children’s and YA Prize accepts books for children and teens and young adults including picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, poetry, non-fiction, and all other genres by writers of colour and aimed at young readers. The prizes are also open to self-published writers.
The Jhalak Prize was started in 2016 by authors Sunny Singh, Nikesh Shukla and Media Diversified, with support from The Authors’ Club and funds donated by an anonymous benefactor, the prize of £1000. The Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize was founded in 2020 with a matching amount of £1,000 for the winner. The two prizes exist to support and celebrate writers of colour in Britain. #JhalakPrize
Established in 2016, the Klaus Flugge Prize was founded to honour publisher Klaus Flugge, a supremely influential figure in picture books. Flugge set up Andersen Press in 1976 and has discovered and nurtured many of today's most distinguished illustrators including David McKee, Tony Ross, Satoshi Kitamura, Ruth Brown and Susan Varley. #KlausFluggePrize2021
The KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards (formerly the CBI Book of the Year Awards/Bisto Awards) are the leading annual children’s book awards in Ireland offering a total prize fund of €24,000 across six awards. The awards are made annually by Children’s Books Ireland and have been in operation since 1990. The KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards identify, honour and promote excellence in books for young people by Irish authors and illustrators.
The awards are the most prestigious in Ireland and offer one of the few opportunities for national and international recognition of Irish authors and illustrators. #ReadingHeroes
(open to book publishers in the UK inc. Northern Ireland)
The Little Rebels Children’s Book Award is a prize for radical fiction aimed at children aged 0-12. The award is given by the Alliance of Radical Booksellers and was established in conjunction with Letterbox Library. The award is now administered by Letterbox Library and Housmans Bookshop. #LittleRebelsAward
The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards (the Lollies) celebrates the best and funniest children’s books in the UK and Ireland, voted for by children. The Awards have been running since 2016 and are now in their fifth year.
The Awards have three categories: Picture Books, Books for 6-8-year-olds and Books for 9-13-year-olds. A shortlist is decided upon by a panel of judges, with four choices per category put to a public vote by the children of the UK and Ireland. #Lollies2022
Now in their eighth year, the Sainsbury's Children's Book Awards in partnership with BookTrust aim to highlight the best children's books for families to share together.
Judged by a panel of experts, the awards aim to encourage parents and carers to spend more time reading with their children. There is a cash prize for the winner of each category, and all of the shortlisted books are promoted in Sainsbury's stores.
The Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize was set up in 2005. With a special focus on uncovering talent relatively fresh to children’s literature, in 2012 the Prize was expanded to cover three key areas of children’s publishing – Picture Books, Younger Fiction and Older Fiction. Each year, of the three category winners from the 18-strong shortlist, one title will also receive the overall Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. #WaterstonesBookPrize
The Woke Babies Books Awards will celebrate Black creatives and their incredible work, spotlighting empowering children’s books with positive and uplifting themes, which has a black author or illustrator at its helm. On a mission to change the narrative and give Black creatives a voice, we have partnered with BookTrust, National Literacy Trust, World Book Day and Milk Honey Bees for our first ever awards, with sponsorship from DK.
There are four categories; Author of the Year, Illustrator of the Year, Picture Book of the Year and Special Recognition Award. The Special Recognition Award, sponsored by DK will celebrate a self-published author, who will receive a cash prize of £1,000 to support the funding of their next book.
With statistics showing the lack of representation in publishing, we know that Black authors and illustrators often feel shut out by the publishing industry, left paying out of their own pocket to produce their work. The Special Recognition Award will spotlight a self published author whose work deserves to be at the forefront.
