Nestlé and Booktrust have agreed to end the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize after 23 years of partnership.

Booktrust has been reviewing the organisation’s priorities and how prizes and awards fit in with its strategic objectives. In addition, Nestlé has been increasingly moving its community support towards the company strategy of nutrition, health and wellness. It is timely that both parties move away from the prize, confident that increased importance has been placed on children’s books.

The teams at Booktrust and Nestlé who have worked on the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize are immensely proud of the contribution that the award has made over the past 23 years.

Booktrust and Nestlé would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the Book Prize – authors, judges, publishers, teachers and the thousands of children – which has helped inspire children and improve the quality of children’s literature.

The Nestlé Children’s Book Prize (formerly the Smarties Prize) was one of the UK’s longest running prizes and helped to launch the careers of many of today’s top children’s writers, including JK Rowling and Lauren Child, who have each won the prize three times.

The Prize was awarded to the best work of fiction or poetry by a British author for children in three age categories (up to 11 years).

Over the years around half a million schoolchildren have been involved in choosing the winning authors.

For news about previous winners, visit Booktrust's children's books website.

2007 gold medal winners

9 to 11 years category
Shadow Forest by Matt Haig (Bodley Head)

6 to 8 years category
Ottoline and the Yellow Cat by Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children's Books)

5 years and under category
When a Monster is Born by Sean Taylor and Nick Sharratt (Orchard Books)

2006 gold medal winners

9 to 11 years category
The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding (Egmont)

6 to 8 years category
Mouse Noses on Toast by Daren King, illustrated by David Roberts (Faber Children's Books)

5 years and under category
That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell and Neal Layton (Orchard Books)