Wednesday 9 September – Forest Xiao is the winner of the 2026 Klaus Flugge Prize awarded to the most exciting and promising newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. She wins for Seven Babies (Walker Books). Super cute and based on Forest’s own experiences as a new mum, it’s the story of the arrival, one Thursday morning, of a box containing seven babies and the chaos that ensues. Feeding, bathing and entertaining the babies exhausts the two adults in the house, who are left sound asleep at the end as the babies head out for more fun.

The £5,000 Klaus Flugge Prize is the only prize specifically to recognise a published picture book by a debut illustrator and is one of the most important and influential awards thanks to its spotlight on exciting new talent. Previous winners include Mariajo Ilustrajo, Flavia Z Drago, Joseph Namara Hollis, Eva Eland, Jessica Love, Kate Winter and Kate Milner. It was established in 2016 to honour Klaus Flugge, founder of Andersen Press and a leading figure in the world of children’s publishing and illustration.

Forest Xiao describes herself as an image maker, storyteller and treasure finder. She studied at Camberwell College of Art which led her to the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art.

Forest was mum to a small baby when she was creating the book and has said that although there was just one baby there, looking around her house felt like it had been invaded by a whole army of them. “My sketchbooks from that time are full of babies - playgroups, children's centres, playgrounds, parks, and all sorts of kids' activities. They became a visual database for me. 90% of what the babies do in the book is inspired by real baby life.

For me, becoming a new parent has been the most unpredictable journey I have ever been on. It is a season of vulnerability, growth, and shifting identity—an ongoing lesson that is teaching me to be present, to embrace the beautiful chaos, and to accept my own limitations. It often feels impossible to balance it all: a constant see-saw between family life and my creative ambitions. And out of that came Seven Babies.

It is a celebration of the discoveries, the busyness, and the exhaustion of new parenthood —and a celebration of these all-powerful, magical little humans who change our lives forever.”