Little Rebels Award paused due to lack of funding
The Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction has been paused for 2026 due to a lack of funding.
The prize, which celebrates children’s books for readers up to age 12 that promote social equality and social justice, is run on behalf of the Alliance of Radical Booksellers. Last year, Sarah Hagger-Holt won with The Fights That Make Us (Usborne 2024).
Since 2020, the award has received some funding from the Barry Amiel & Norman Melburn Trust which covers the prize money of £2,000 and a contribution towards the awards night and shortlist marketing cost.
Award organiser, Fen Coles of Letterbox Library, said: “Since its inception in 2013, the Little Rebels Award has grown immeasurably in stature. It is a testament to its success that the work it generates now exceeds the capacity of the small team who undertake running the award on top of their jobs running the not-for-profit cooperative booksellers, Letterbox Library and Housmans Bookshop.”
The organisers are now seeking funding for a part-time award administrator who will take on the larger share of the administrative and marketing tasks.
Catherine Barter of Housmans Bookshop said: “Pausing the award this year has been a really difficult decision. Like so many endeavours across the book world, the prize runs mostly on love and enthusiasm and relies on a huge amount of unpaid work. As organisers, we’ve temporarily reached a point where it’s unsustainable. But we hope that this pause will allow us to regroup and come back with a bang in 2027.”
The Little Rebels Award will continue to run its social media accounts (Bluesky + Instagram) throughout 2026 which will include highlighting children’s titles published in 2025 which might otherwise have been amplified by a longlist.
Followers and fans of the award are invited to contact the organisers via info@letterboxlibrary.com should they know of any parties interested in funding.
