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IBC Awards 2025

The Prize

Free to enter and with a total winners’ prize fund of £30,000, the IBC Awards celebrate the talent behind the best new inclusive children’s books published in the UK. 

We accept new books traditionally published in the UK between November and November each year, in the following categories: 

  • Baby & Toddler Books (1–3)
  • Picture Books (3–7) 
  • Highly Illustrated Children’s Fiction (5–9)

A £10,000 prize is shared between the winning author and illustrator in each category.

The awards are now closed until next year.

Submissions are closed
IBC Awards 2025

What we’re looking for

Submissions are limited to fictional stories except in the Baby and Toddler category (see Terms and conditions).

Books must also be naturally inclusive, including AT LEAST ONE of the following forms of representation at main-character level:

  • Ethnic minority
  • Disabled
  • Neurodivergence 
  • LGBTQIA+ 

Judges will also consider whether books offer any of the following:

  • An Own-Voice perspective (i.e. books by authors/illustrators who share the same cultural, ethnic or other identities as the characters they've created)
  • A challenge to gender stereotypes
  • Representation of diverse family structures (e.g. single-­­­­­­­parent, blended or same-sex parent families)
  • A diverse cast of characters beyond the main character

For more information on eligibility and how to submit, read our Terms and conditions. 

Read Terms and Conditions
2024 IBC Awards shortlist of 13 books in a pile outside in a garden

Hay Festival partnership

Inclusive Books for Children has formed an exciting partnership with the world-renowned Hay Festival, to bring our award-winning books and their authors and illustrators to a wider UK audience.

This year’s winning authors and illustrators will participate in an exclusive Hay x IBC interactive family storytelling event with a book signing at the festival bookshop, at Hye-on-Wye in Wales this May.

Read our blog for more information about this incredible, new opportunity to showcase our award-winners and support them in building new young audiences. (Image: © Sam Hardwick and Hay Festival)

Image: ©Sam Hardwick and Hay Festival\n

Timeline

  • Submissions open: 9 August 2024 
  • Submissions close: 20 September 2024
  • Longlist announced: 9 December 2024
  • Shortlist announced: 20 January 2025
  • Winners announced: 26 February 2025

Meet the judges of the IBC Awards 2025
The six 2025 IBC Awards judges

Watch the IBC Awards 2025!

Missed the IBC Awards 2025? Catch up now over on our YouTube channel.

Click the link below to watch our awards ceremony held at the iconic London venue The Gherkin, where we honoured the outstanding contribution to inclusive children’s literature made by the shortlisted and winning authors and illustrators.