The Queen’s Knickers Award

2022 Queen's Knickers Award winners David Roberts (left) and Alastair Chisholm (right) with prize founder Nicholas Allan (photograph © Adrian Pope)
2022 Queen's Knickers Award winners David Roberts (left) and Alastair Chisholm (right) with prize founder Nicholas Allan (photograph © Adrian Pope)
For an outstanding children's illustrated book

This annual prize, generously funded by Nicholas Allan, author of The Queen’s Knickers, is awarded to an outstanding children’s original illustrated book for ages 0-7.

It will recognise books that strike a quirky, new note and grab the attention of a child, whether this be in the form of curiosity, amusement, horror or excitement.

The winner will receive £5,000, as well as a golden Queen’s Knickers badge, as depicted in Nicholas Allan’s original book.

The runner-up will receive £1,000 and a silvered badge. 

The 2024 Queen’s Knickers Award has now closed for submissions.


The 2023 Queen’s Knickers Award Winner


Olaf Falafel for Blobfish published by Walker Books Ltd


‘I loved the way Olaf Falafel combined a simple cartooning style with texture and magic underwater lighting that occasionally gave the goofy story and character brief touches of the sublime. His varied page layouts paced the story beautifully, enlivened by gentle jokes. As judges, we all liked the way the story had an environmental message about keeping our beaches clean, but we appreciated how it didn’t do it in a way that would children feel sad and helpless. Rather, it showed people on the beach doing the right thing, naturally tidying up and being helpful, in a simple, concrete way that children could immediately put into practice. I love how simple Olaf has made his main character to draw: I hope children will be inspired to write and draw the further comic adventures of Blobfish!‘—Sarah McIntyre, 2023 Queen’s Knickers judge

The 2023 Queen’s Knickers Award Runner-Up:

John Agard and Satoshi Kitamura for When Creature met Creature published by Scallywag Press

The 2023 Queen’s Knickers Award Shortlist:

Beach for The Knight with the Blazing Bottom published by Simon & Schuster

Chris Naylor-Ballesteros for Frank and Bert published by Nosy Crow Ltd

Caspar Salmon and Matt Hunt for How to Count to One published by Nosy Crow Ltd

If you are interested in buying any of the books shortlisted here, please visit Bookshop.org. A percentage of each sale will go to the Authors’ Contingency Fund, providing hardship grants to authors in financial difficulty.


2023

  • Winner: Olaf Falafel for Blobfish published by Walker Books Ltd
  • Runner-up: John Agard and Satoshi Kitamura for When Creature met Creature published by Scallywag Press

2022

  • Winner : Alastair Chisholm and David Roberts for Inch and Grub (Walker Books) £5,000
  • Runner-up: Mick Jackson and John Broadley for While You’re Sleeping (Pavilion Children’s) £1,000

2021

  • Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Daine Ewen for Never Show a T-Rex a Book (Puffin) £5,000
  • Runner-up: Alex T. Smith for Mr. Penguin and the Catastrophic Cruise (Hachette) £1,000

2020

  • Elena Arevalo Melville for Umbrella (Scallyway Press) £5,000
  • Runners-Up: Didier Lévy and Frederic Benaglia for How to Light Your Dragon (Thames & Hudson) £1,000

With thanks, the judges of the 2023 Queen’s Knickers Award:

Smriti Halls

Smriti Halls is an award-winning, critically acclaimed children’s author. Since publication of her first picture book in 2012, she has had a U.S. number 1 bestseller and been published in more than 30 languages, from Arabic to Afrikaans and from Catalan to Korean.

Sarah McIntyre

© Sarah McIntyre

Instantly recognisable in her pointy specs, Sarah McIntyre writes and illustrates the Grumpycorn picture books, as well as Dinosaur Firefighters and The New Neighbours. Her co-author collaborations with Philip Reeve include Oliver and the Seawigs and Pugs of the Frozen North, and they’ve had a lot of fun creating their new four-book series about Kevin the Roly-Poly Flying Pony. Sarah loves drawing and creating characters that make her laugh out loud. Visit her website for activities based on each book: jabberworks.co.uk
Children’s Book website: jabberworks.co.uk
Twitter: @jabberworks
Instagram: @jabberworks

Ken Wilson-Max

Ken was born and raised in Zimbabwe, where I trained to be a graphic designer and discovered illustration.
He learned by observing how similar people are, whether they are learning to read, or running large corporations, and He put those observations into my work.
After a decade of designing books for children and young adults, he became a children’s author and illustrator. He love working with children and teachers or parents. They help him improve and keep my work relevant.
He believes that it is worth celebrating how people are more similar than different. He has also se

Nicholas Allan

Nicholas Allan © nicholasallan.co.uk

Nicholas Allan is a full-time writer and illustrator. He published his first book, The Hefty Fairy, in 1989 and has since written over thirty children’s books. Many of his books are bestsellers, including The Queen’s KnickersFather Christmas Needs a WeeJesus’ Christmas PartyCinderella’s BumHeaven, and Where Willy Went. His books have won awards, been translated into twenty languages and adapted into television shows and West End musicals.

Nicholas has also been the Chairman of the Society of Authors’ Children’s Group and is currently the Patron of the Isle of Wight Children’s Literary Festival.