The winners of the British Book Awards 2026 have been announced, with AF Steadman taking Author of the Year for the Skandar series and Dav Pilkey named Illustrator of the Year for Dog Man and Captain Underpants.

Michael Rosen won Children's Non-Fiction Illustrated Book of the Year for Oh Dear, Look What I Got!, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, while Jamie Smart took Graphic Novel Book of the Year for Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business! The awards were decided by a panel that included Oti Mabuse, Prue Leith, Angellica Bell and Dr Ranj, placing children's publishing at the center of one of the year's biggest book prizes.

The recognition lands in 2026, a year the National Literacy Trust has declared the National Year of Reading, giving the wins a wider relevance beyond the trophy table. For publishers, booksellers and educators, the cbbc results point to a strong appetite for children's reading at a moment when reading promotion is getting a national push.

That also makes the judges' choices more than a list of names. Steadman, Pilkey, Rosen and Smart were rewarded across two major categories and beyond them, showing how children's books are still driving some of the most visible conversations in publishing. With the National Year of Reading now underway, the real question is not whether these titles have found an audience, but how widely that audience can be expanded from here.