The annual awards, also known known as the Nibbies, are hosted by UK book trade magazine The Bookseller. The awards ‘celebrate books and everyone who brings them to life’ (The Bookseller.com): from illustrators to authors, bookshops to agents, adult books to children’s books!
UPDATE: Congratulations to the 2022 Illustrator of the Year: Dapo Adeola! Dape is a talented illustrator who has worked on titles including We’re Going to Find The Monster with author Malorie Blackman. His début picture book Hey You! (also written by Adeola) won the Children’s Illustrated Book Of The Year award this year, and has previously won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.
The British Book Awards began in 1990, and for the past few decades has celebrated talent across the publishing world from bookshops to agents, from authors to illustrators. They also present awards for the best new books in fiction and non fiction, across a wide variety of genres.
The Illustrator of the Year category showcases tremendous talent from illustrators over the past year. A shortlist of illustrators is chosen prior to the awards ceremony held on Monday 23rd May in London. The 2022 Nibbies will be the first in-person ceremony since 2019, but it will also be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend.
Past winners of the Illustrator of the Year Award include Charlie Mackesy (2021), David McKee (2020) and Judith Kerr (2019).