Where have books taken you?

22 October 2026

The winners of the 2026 Otto Foundation Children’s Book Award were announced on Tuesday evening at the Hope Library in Gardens, Cape Town.

At break time on an ordinary Tuesday, the Hope Library at Good Hope Seminary High School belongs to teenagers. Some come to read. Some come because it’s quiet, or because it’s cool, or because there’s nowhere else to be.

On the Tuesday evening of 20 October it belonged to authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians and other friends of the Otto Foundation, who gathered to find out which two of eleven shortlisted books had won the second Otto Foundation Children’s Book Award.

Two prizes of R30 000 each were awarded by Otto Foundation chairperson and co-founder Zephne Ladbrook.

From left to right: Helené Coetzee (publicist at Pan Macmillan - Publishers of the winning chapter book), Bianca Flanders (Author of the winning picture book) Julia Norrish (Otto Foundation Director: Advocacy and Innovation)

Picture book winner - Pumpkin and the Hidden Heroes, "it looks and sounds like this country"

Picture book winner, for readers aged 5 to 9 - Pumpkin and the Hidden Heroes

Written by Bianca Flanders, illustrated by Zinelda McDonald

A book about heroes but not the heroes children usually meet between covers. Not the doctor, the chef, the lawyer or the princess, but the corner shop attendant, the refuse collector, the nanny, the day mother. The people who keep the country ticking along in small acts of consistent, unassuming service, and who are almost never in the pictures.

Our advisory panel called it a fresh take on a familiar idea, beautifully illustrated, and brave in refusing the obvious hero. One judge noted the neurodiverse child included without any fuss made of it; another, the rhyme that carries the whole book along; another, that it looks and sounds like this country.

One of our judges read it aloud to a circle of small children. She reported that when they reached the ending — when Pumpkin realises that her own father is one of the hidden heroes — the children squealed, and one of them shouted, my daddy is a hero too.

Pumpkin and the Hidden Heroes is published by LAPA Publishers.

Chapter book winner - The Lightning Bird, "South African junior fantasy at its best"

Chapter book winner, for readers aged 10 to 13 - The Lightning Bird

Written by Jaco Jacobs, illustrated by Iain Rennie

There is a line in this book that speaks to where books can take you: “… a book is an adventure you can enjoy while lying on your couch.”

One judge wrote that everything in this book points back to the lives lived and the stories told in townships and the boy at its centre is not rescued from any of it. He is the one who notices what nobody else does, and he is the one who acts.

Our judges used the word ‘courage’ repeatedly: the courage to leave what you know, to be the different one, and to protect something that cannot protect itself. One called it her outright favourite read of the year. Another gave it full marks and described it as South African junior fantasy at its best.

The Lightning Bird is published by Pan Macmillan.

Almost 8 000 book reviews from young readers guided the selection of the winners

This year the Award drew more than 100 nominations. The Otto Foundation team read them all and narrowed the field to six picture books and five chapter books and graphic novels.

Those eleven titles then went out to ten schools in District Six and the Cape Town city centre as part of the Foundation’s Reading Relay, where the children the books were written for actually read them, and wrote back.

Almost 8 000 reviews came in. The children were specific and thoughtful, which is exactly what made the reviews useful. The children's reviews were read and counted, and their ratings calculated. The results from this analysis were considered by the advisory panels along with the other award criteria.

Three speakers, one question

Before any envelopes were opened, three speakers were called upon to answer a single question: Where have books taken you?

Liselihle Majodina went to Zonnebloem Girls Primary School, and when the Otto Foundation opened a library there — the Sunflower Library — she was the child who gave it its name. She now works with the University of Oxford’s Global Jet Watch on STEP into the Cosmos, a project that shares the magnificence of the Universe and helps people talk about astronomy in their own languages.

Dr Flippie van der Walt manages library and information services for the City of Cape Town. He chose children’s librarianship as his specialisation, wrote a master’s on information literacy for primary school children, and has spent a career on the unglamorous question of how a child in this city actually gets hold of a book, and then the next one.

Nokuthula Mbenyane has spent more than nine years in the literacy sector, in classrooms, school libraries, teacher training rooms and community halls. She believes that every child deserves a good storybook: one that reflects their world, honours their language, and lets them see themselves in the pages.

Liselishle, Flippie and Nokuthula's stories inspired us and reminded everyone in the audience of the power of books and stories to change and shape lives.

The 2026 shortlists

Picture books shortlist

• Pumpkin and the Hidden Heroes — Bianca Flanders, illustrated by Zinelda McDonald (winner)

• Butterfly Heart — Lalu Mokuku, illustrated by Rebecca Potterton

• Neo’s Invisible Blanket — Salamina Mosese, illustrated by Subi Bosa

• Big Shoes to Fill — Upile uThixo Bongco, illustrated by Zinelda McDonald

• Show and Tell — Marleen Lammers, illustrated by Bronwyn Webb

• Cheesecake in Love — written and illustrated by Celest N. Lotter

Chapter books and graphic novels shortlist

• The Lightning Bird — Jaco Jacobs, illustrated by Iain Rennie (winner)

• Die Doodgewone Bure — De Wet Hugo

• Cook-off at Gogo’s Spaza — Salamina Mosese

• Nafu Wants Food — Subi Bosa

• The Most Amazing Story of Phoebe and the Trojan Elephant — Patricia Schonstein

About the Award

The Otto Foundation Children’s Book Award runs every second year. It exists to celebrate South African children’s books, to encourage publishers to invest in homegrown stories, and to make sure our children grow up seeing themselves and their own country reflected in what they read.

Books are assessed on authentic South African representation, originality, and outstanding writing and illustration and on something harder to name: whether a story can make a child want to read the next one.

The 2026 advisory panels were co-chaired by Pam Hoffman, Director: Literacy, Learning and Curriculum, and Tania Kliphuis, Manager: Literacy Projects.

Picture book panellists: Samantha Waligo, Thembela Mputamputa, Carmen Holtzman, Corinne Rosmarin

Chapter books and graphic novels panellists: Branden Grant, Frankie Murrey, Dr Flippie van der Walt, Nadia Davids, Liselihle Majodina

The Otto Foundation builds and runs libraries in South African schools. There are currently eleven, with a twelfth opening soon.

For more information, contact Tania Kliphuis at tania@ottofoundation.org

To learn more about the Otto Foundation and its initiatives, visit www.ottofoundation.org

Detail on the award categories, eligible titles, the reward criteria, and the process for selecting the award winners can be found in this award overview document.