- The Guardian, Saturday 17 July 2004
A tradition of finding new voices in children's fiction before the rest of the world is aware of them has distinguished the prize since it was founded in 1967. Past winners include Ted Hughes, Anne Fine, Philip Pullman and Jacqueline Wilson. All have been selected by panels of their peers, and many of them have won the prize early on in their careers.
This year's judges are: Mark Haddon, who won the award last year with The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time , Adèle Geras, whose latest novel for young adults is Other Echoes, and Marcus Sedgwick, whose most recent novel is The Book of Dead Days. The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare.
The shortlist for this year's prize will be published in September and the winner will be announced on October 9.
