Waterstones Children's Book Prize
Written in witty, lilting rhyming text and boasting warm, colourful illustrations, Huw Aaron’s adorably original Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob demonstrates that all little monsters need to get ready for bed and makes for the perfect read-along picture book to lull little ones off to sleep.
It’s the end of another spooky day and bedtime for little Disgusting Blob. But they’re not the only one, as all creatures from demons to dragons and the Cyclops to cyborgs need to get settled down for the night. Written in witty, lilting rhyming text and boasting warm, colourful illustrations, Huw Aaron’s adorably original Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob charmed our booksellers from the very first line and makes for the perfect read-along picture book to lull little ones off to sleep.
'Huw Aaron is a storyteller and illustrator of staggering talent, a new voice to be seriously excited about: we are extremely proud to name him the overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2026. Booksellers everywhere hailed Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob an instant bedtime story classic.'
BEA CARVALHO, WATERSTONES HEAD OF BOOKS
'Huw Aaron is a storyteller and illustrator of staggering talent, a new voice to be seriously excited about: we are extremely proud to name him the overall winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2026. Booksellers everywhere hailed Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob an instant bedtime story classic, falling in love with Huw’s dreamy, painterly style and sweet rhyming text. Blob is a character for the picture book hall-of-fame: we can’t wait to share his delightful story with children everywhere as the winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2026 alongside our brilliant category winners, Evie and Maryam's Family Tree and A Language of Dragons.'
BEA CARVALHO, WATERSTONES HEAD OF BOOKS
A sensitive and engrossing story about identity, difference and personal history, Hayat's children's debut centres on two schoolgirls investigating their family trees who discover they have much more in common than they thought.
A heart-pounding dark academia YA fantasy, A Language of Dragons takes readers into an alternate Bletchley Park in 1923 as civil war threatens a fragile truce with ancient beasts and a resourceful girl takes on a perilous codebreaking mission.
Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob
My Rice is Best
Milo and The Mountain
The Great Green Island
Evie and Maryam's Family Tree
Spirit Warriors
A Language of Dragons
And the River Drags Her Down
The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods
Greenwild: The World Behind The Door
The Cats We Meet Along the Way
The Last Bear
A Kind of Spark
The Boy At the Back of the Class
The Hate U Give
The Girl of Ink & Stars
My Brother Is a Superhero
Blown Away
Rooftoppers
Ketchup Clouds
The Pirates Next Door
Artichoke Hearts
The Great Hamster Massacre Volume 1
The Thirteen Treasures Volume 1
Ways to Live Forever (2019 NE)
Since we announced Stuart Hill’s The Cry of the Icemark as our inaugural winner way back in 2005, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize has discovered a wealth of new writing and illustration talent, helped forge the careers of children’s favourites like Katherine Rundell, Angie Thomas and Rob Biddulph and even celebrated our own twentieth anniversary in 2024! Join us on a trip down memory lane as we remember over two decades-worth of fantastic and inspiring winners.
Children’s stories have the power to transport the reader into enchanting – and enchanted – lands and many of our previous winners are sprinkled with irresistible literary fairy dust.
We applaud Young Adult works that refuse to speak down to their readers, covering gritty and controversial topics with intelligence and sincerity.
Whether outlandish and imaginative or inspiring and relatable, picture book characters hold a special place in all our hearts. Our winning choices introduce unforgettable figures who will live rent-free in readers’ heads for a long time to come.
There is nothing more magical than the perfect union of words and images that the very best picture books bestow. Over the years it has been our pleasure to shine a light on a host of wonderful tales that are simply a joy to read aloud.
Feeding young imaginations with the fuel to build universes of their own, we have always championed sweeping adventures of new worlds and daring deeds.
We know it is a rare storytelling skill to be able to bring past eras to vibrant life, and that is why we adore the very best historical fiction for children.
We know that one of the hardest challenges for a writer is making readers laugh and that's why we love to celebrate books that raise either a chuckle or a full-on guffaw.
Our choices always put readers first, spotlighting the books that matter to them and reflecting the topics young people of all ages are most passionate about.
Throughout the history of the prize, we’ve rewarded books that really understand the dynamics of children’s relationships with both family and friends. These uniquely emotive connections have been brilliantly explored with humour, tenderness and power by a number of our winners.
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
