About the Award
The Children’s Book Award runs throughout the year. There are two voting stages:
Full testing: this creates a Top 50 Pick of the Year, from which the Top Ten books are selected. Only Federation of Children’s Book Group members take part in this element of the award. The entire process takes a calendar year and currently runs from January to December.
Top Ten testing: this leads to the selection of the Category Winners and Overall Winner. Any child or young person across the UK can participate in this element of the award and vote on-line. This process takes approximately three months and currently runs from February until May.
Children and young people to the age of 18 take part across three age-related categories:
- Younger Children (Picture Books)
- Younger Readers (age 6 – 11)
- Older Readers (age 10 – 18)
The Award Ceremony
Children from all over the country are invited to the annual Award Ceremony to meet the Top Ten authors and illustrators and present them with their prizes. This is the highlight of the year for the children and for the short-listed authors and illustrators as the award culminates in a fun-filled celebration of the children’s favourites. If there is sufficient space, other accompanied children may also be invited if they have participated in the voting.
Click here to see videos of recent ceremonies.
Each Top Ten author and illustrator receives a hand-made portfolio with reviews, pictures and poems written by any child who has taken part in the Top Ten testing, chosen by the volunteer group coordinators.
The author and illustrator who is chosen as the Overall Winner also receives a personally engraved acorn and the engraved silver oak trophy for one year.
Every author and illustrator who wins a Category receives a prize to keep.
