Who, why, what and how awards work? What makes for the very best writing for children and young people? Dr Pádraic Whyte and MPhil students in Children’s Literature at Trinity College Dublin discuss the major prizes for writing for children, and the books and writers who receive them. How do prizes and awards reflect publishing and writing trends or societal influences? The conversation follows the announcement of the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards on 25th May. Pádraic is associate professor of English and the current director of the Children’s Literature MPhil programme at the School of English, TCD. He is co-editor of Children’s Literature Collections: Approaches to Research (Palgrave, 2017) which won the International Research Society for Children’s Literature Edited Book Award, 2019. In association with the MPhil in Children’s Literature, School of English, Trinity College Dublin Part of a five-part series exploring diverse aspects of childrens’ literature.