Awards can be a powerful way to give profile to particular books and artists and to help incite interest and momentum in reading. Awards also play a valuable role in helping to document and record implicit cultural views on childhood, educational perspectives on reading and learning and the practices and processes of professions associated with books and reading – publishers, authors, illustrators, librarians and booksellers. They offer insight into the development of the field and the principles adhered to and valued within these. Awards can play a particularly important role for visual narratives as they place a weight of value and importance upon illustration and artwork helping to show the worth of the form overall. Awards for new illustrators can also provide access points for new talent, an important consideration for an industry that can be challenging to enter.

There are numerous international, national and regional awards for illustration. Books that are shortlisted or that win major awards can see an up-turn in sales and can influence future publishing decisions. In an age when the majority of library stock is decided through supplier selection, awards can play a key role in librarians staying up to date, keeping abreast of new talent and themes or trends that might be emerging both nationally and internationally.

Awards also offer opportunities to engage children and young people through national reading groups and shadowing schemes, or through regionally run initiatives that seek to promote reading for pleasure. Awards provide an opportunity to gain professional awareness of some of the most highly regarded titles being published. This chapter explores international, national and local book awards outlining their background, process and notable winners. Particular focus is given to the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal as I currently chair the working party for this award and with its shadowing scheme for children and young people it has considerable national and international reach.

The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal