It’s been a stellar 12 months for the acclaimed illustrator Rob Biddulph. Sales of I Follow the Fox marked his biggest picture-book sales ever and the paperback edition of Gigantic resulted in a 63% sales uplift on his previous second-format outing. But this award is never only about the numbers. Biddulph worked tirelessly in 2024 to bring the joy of reading and drawing into children’s lives, appearing at more than 36 events and continuing his enormously popular #DrawWithRob video series that went viral during the Covid pandemic.

With reading for pleasure under threat, last year Biddulph, in his capacity as a World Book Day author, visited 10 Downing Street as part of the WBD campaign, and created the 100 Story Hotel exhibition, an interactive world of storytelling for children aged one to eight. With this award, we celebrate Biddulph as an illustrator and torchbearer for children’s reading.