McNicoll, Cottrell-Boyce and Chinyanganya among judges for The Week Junior Book Awards

Radzi Chinyanganya, Liam Charles, Maddie Moate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and Elle McNicoll are joining a host of experts in children’s literature to judge The Week Junior Book Awards.

The awards are sponsored by Bookily from National Book Tokens and are in partnership with The Bookseller. Bex Lindsay, Scott Evans, A M Dassu and Lynsey Pollard will also be in the panels of judges. Together, they will decide the winners of this new award across nine categories including fiction, non-fiction, illustrated books and emerging authors.

Thousands of The Week Junior readers will also have a seat at the voting table, as they are invited to choose their Cover Of The Year. The shortlist will be announced on 26th May 2023, and all shortlisted authors, illustrators and publishers will be invited to a drinks reception and award ceremony taking place after The Bookseller Children’s Conference in London on 2nd October 2023. 

The Week Junior Book Awards were created to celebrate the “uplifting, enriching and life-enhancing power of books to change children’s lives and honour the talented people who create them”.

The awards aim to shine a light on both established children’s authors and new, diverse voices, giving them an established and trusted platform to promote their books to a wide audience.

Anna Bassi, editorial director of The Week Junior, said: “Our inaugural panel of judges offer an impressive range of experience and expertise. One thing they all share is a firm belief in the power of children’s books to ignite imaginations, increase knowledge and improve lives through reading for pleasure. I’m looking forward to working with them all to select the winners for this year’s awards.”

Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller, added: “We are delighted with the range and calibre of the judges in the first year of this award, which shows how quickly it has established itself. Great judges make for great winners, so this is a very welcome beginning.”

Bookily have also joined The Week Junior Book Awards as a sponsor. Alex de Berry, National Book Tokens m.d., said: “At National Book Tokens we’re passionate about helping to instil a love of reading and supporting access to books for all children across the UK. Having worked with The Week Junior for a number of years, most recently to launch Bookily, our new subscription product, we know they share this passion.

“We’re delighted to sponsor these new awards, and to help celebrate the authors, illustrators and publishers whose books are inspiring a love of reading among new generations of booklovers.” 

The Week Junior Book Festival will take place in London during October half term, after the awards are announced earlier that month. Attracting hundreds of young readers and their families, this event invites authors and illustrators to showcase their work on stage, in a series of interactive and inspiring sessions.

Submissions are open to publishers until 5th April and can be sent in via theweekjuniorbookawards.co.uk.