The Waterstone's Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is therefore open only to authors who have published no more than three books.
For the first two years, the award was known as the Ottakar's Children's Book Prize, but when all Ottakar's stores were rebranded as Waterstone's following the HMV Group takeover of the Ottakar's chain, the prize also changed its name.
Beginning in 2012, the prize was divided into three categories: Picture Books, Fiction 5–12, Teen. Each category winner receives £2,000 with an overall winner chosen from the three getting an additional £3,000 (thus the overall winner receives £5,000 in-total).
Read more about Waterstone's Children's Book Prize: Winners and Shortlists
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