Guardian Children's Fiction Prize facts for kids

The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, also known as the Guardian Award, was a special award given each year to a great fiction book for children or young adults (usually age eight and up). The book had to be published in the United Kingdom.

The newspaper The Guardian started this award in 1965, and the first prize was given out in 1967. It was a unique award because if an author won once, they couldn't win again. This meant new authors always had a chance! From the year 2000, the winner received £1,500. The prize seems to have stopped after 2016, but no official announcement was made.

How the Prize Started

The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize began in 1965. It was special because it was the "only children's book award made to writers by their fellow authors." This means other writers chose the winner!

The very first award was given in 1967 to Leon Garfield for his book Devil in the Fog. Until the year 2000, the prize celebrated books published in the UK during the previous year.

Around 2000 and 2001, the award schedule changed. The winner was announced in October during Booktrust Children's Book Week. For the 2001 prize, books published over 21 months (from January 2000 to September 2001) were allowed to enter. Publishers could submit up to ten books by April 30.

At the same time, a fun summer program was launched. It used the newspaper's website and announced a longer list of books in July. This program let young readers vote for their favorite books. It also offered advice on how to build a great children's book collection.

In 2002, a "Young Critics" contest started, and the program grew to include online discussions and interviews with authors. The longlist of books was announced earlier, in late May or early June, and the winner was announced later, in November.

How Books Were Chosen

A small group of three children's fiction writers picked the shortlist (a smaller list of finalists) and the winner. Usually, the most recent winner was one of these judges. The Guardian newspaper proudly said this was the only children's book award where other writers chose the winner.

From 2000 to 2016, Julia Eccleshare, the children's book editor for The Guardian, helped choose the longlist. She then led the group of judges who picked the final winner.

Each year until 2016, a longlist of eight books was announced in May or June. Then, a shortlist of up to four books was announced in September. Finally, a single winner was chosen. The longlist was also used for the summer program of reading, reviewing, and discussing books.

Publishers in the UK had to pay a fee to enter their books for the prize. However, the head judge could also ask for certain books to be submitted. Books published between August and July of the current year were eligible. Books originally written in another language could be entered if they were translated into English within five years.

Award Winners

Up to 2016, 52 prizes were given out over 49 years, covering books published from 1966 to mid-2015. In 1992 and 1996, two books shared the prize.

1960s Winners

1970s Winners

1980s Winners

1990s Winners

2000s Winners

Before 2000, books from the previous year could win, and the award included a winner and a shortlist. In 2001, the award schedule changed to end in the autumn instead of the spring. At this time, a longlist of seven books was introduced, with a shortlist of four to six books.

2010s Winners

Books That Won Multiple Awards

Six books have won both the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize and the Carnegie Medal. The Carnegie Medal started in 1936 and also celebrates amazing books for children and young adults.

Here are the books that won both big awards:

• Alan Garner, The Owl Service (1967)
• Richard Adams, Watership Down (1972)
• Geraldine McCaughrean, A Pack of Lies (1988)
• Anne Fine, Goggle-Eyes (1989)
• Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials 1: Northern Lights (1995)
• Melvin Burgess, Junk (1996)

In 2001, The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland also won the Tir na n-Og Award. This award is for the best English-language book for young people with a "real Welsh background."

In 2003, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon won the 2003 Whitbread Awards for "best novel" and "Book of the Year." This book was special because it was published for both adults and children. The Guardian children's book editor, Julia Eccleshare, said it truly appealed to all readers. She noted that 15-year-old Christopher Boone's voice in the story felt both childlike and deeply thoughtful.

In 2007, Philip Pullman's Northern Lights was even named "Carnegie of Carnegies" as part of the award's 70-year celebration.

Summer Reading Program

The Young Critics competition started in 2002. The newspaper asked children aged 16 and younger to write reviews (up to 200 words) about books from the longlist. The prize for winning was a day helping to edit and print their reviews at the newspaper!

Besides the competition, there was also a summer book club. It focused on one longlist book each week, with interviews from the authors and discussions about the stories.

See also

• Blue Peter Book Awards
• Carnegie Medal
• Children's Laureate
• Kate Greenaway Medal
• Nestle Smarties Book Prize