The Readings Children’s Prize has been celebrating emerging Australian authors writing for children since 2014. In 2026, we will be making some changes to how the prize operates, but we’ll still be focused on supporting debut and emerging authors and finding rich, varied reads for kids. See more about the changes here.
The timing of the prizes will also be different in 2026. Rather than being announced with The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize in October 2026, The Gab Williams and Children’s Prizes will be announced in early 2027. Our staff will still be reading for the prize and compiling a shortlist in 2026. More information on the dates for these announcements will be shared later in 2026.
Enquiries
Eligible books stocked by Readings will automatically be considered for The Children’s Prize, but if you would like more information on the process or eligibility criteria, please contact the prize manager, Angela Crocombe.
Eligibility guidelines for entering a book into the Children's Prize:
- The author must be an Australian citizen or hold permanent residency at the time of entry
- The book must be the author’s first or second published work of fiction
- The book must be a full-length novel
- The work must be published or distributed in Australia by an Australian publisher or the Australian publishing wing of an international publisher as recognised by Readings
- Entries must be published in English
- Authors must be living at the date of publication
- The publisher of the work must be willing to provide reading copies upon request
- The Readings Children’s Prize is open to a work of published fiction, written for children aged 5–12
- Graphic novels are eligible for entry into The Readings Children’s Prize
Ineligible for entry into the Children's Prize:
- Books published only in e-book form
- Self-published or hybrid-published works
- Books published by authors who are employed by Readings during the judging period
- Authors who have previously won The Readings Prize
- Picture books, memoirs, short story collections, modified-for-younger-readers editions of previously published works
Previous winners of The Readings Children’s Prize: Julie Hunt (2014), Trace Balla (2015), J.C. Jones (2016), Karen Foxlee (2017), Jo Sandhu (2018), Carly Nugent (2019), Matilda Woods (2020), Penny Tangey (2021), Charlie Archbold (2022), Maryam Master (2023), Tylissa Elisara (2024) and Raidah Shah Idil (2025).
