Supa Nova by Chanté Timothy, a graphic novel about a young Black girl with a love for science, won the children’s fiction category and inaugural children’s choice prize
Six female authors have been crowned winners of the 2026 Inclusive Books for Children (IBC) awards.
The literacy charity’s prizes celebrate the best UK-published inclusive titles for children aged one to nine. This year marks the second time that all the winners have been women since the prizes were launched in 2023.
The authors and illustrators will share a £30,000 prize fund, and will present their work at Hay festival in May.
In the children’s fiction category, the winner was Supa Nova by Chanté Timothy, a graphic novel about a young Black girl with a love for science. The picture book award went to The Beautiful Layers of Me by Sophia Payne and Ruchi Mhasane, which tells the story of a young girl gaining the confidence to wear a salwar kameez for the first time. And the winner in the baby and toddler category was Let’s Play by Alex Strick, Annie Kubler and Sarah Dellow, a touch-and-feel book featuring words in signs and braille.
