6 November: Submissions open today for the Klaus Flugge Prize 2026. Publishers have until 14 January 2026 to submit for the £5,000 prize which is awarded to the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s picture book illustration.

Launched in 2016 and generously funded by Klaus Flugge, founder of Andersen Press and a supremely important figure in picture books, the Klaus Flugge Prize enters its second decade in 2026. In the years since it was founded, the Klaus Flugge Prize has gained recognition as one of the most significant children’s book awards. The support it gives new illustrators at the beginning of their careers is invaluable and the prize continues to raise awareness of the art of picture book illustration in general.

Winning the Klaus Flugge Prize brings affirmation and prestige and past winners include New York Times bestseller Flavia Z. Drago (2021), Mariajo Ilustrajo (2023), twice shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration, and Kate Winter, who won with The Fossil Hunter in 2024.

The 2026 judges are 2025 Klaus Flugge Prize winner Emma Farrarons; award-winning and hugely popular illustrator Rob Biddulph; Shelley Jackson, course director for the internationally renowned MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University; and Vanessa Lewis, co-owner of independent children’s bookshop The Book Nook in Hove.

Emma Farrarons says: “Recognition, such as that given by the Klaus Flugge Prize, is very important for new illustrators. It shines a spotlight on your work, gives a confidence boost, and can open doors to new opportunities. Illustrators often work alone and face impostor syndrome, so being acknowledged by peers and the industry feels especially meaningful.”

Chair of the judges Julia Eccleshare says: “2026 is the National Year of Reading and it feels more important than ever to be celebrating picture book illustrators and their role in sparking that all-important first love of books and reading. We can’t wait to share this year’s entries with our judges and are delighted to have another stellar panel of informed, enthusiastic experts.”

Publishers now have until the closing date, midnight 14 January 2026, to make their submissions. Eligible illustrators may have created book covers, or illustration for other media, or illustrated books in another genre - for example, poetry or fiction - but eligibility for the prize requires that this is their first picture book for children. The book must have been first published on a children’s list in the UK between 1 January and 31 December 2025. Books first published in another country must have been co-published in the UK within three months of the original publication date.

The longlist will be announced on Wednesday 18 February 2026.

Find film interviews with previous Klaus Flugge Prize shortlisted illustrators, winners and judges, on the Klaus Flugge Prize YouTube channel.

The submission form and full criteria can be found at https://www.klausfluggeprize.co.uk/criteria/