Eligibility and Selection Process

Deadline of submission of nominations is May 5, 2026.

1. Children’s Book

A printed and bound volume that explicitly states it is for children and/or young people, hereby understood to refer to those falling within the ages 0-19 years is a children’s book. These include works like fiction (e.g. storybooks, young adult novels, fantasy, science), non-fiction (e.g. poetry, biographies/autobiographies, developmental books, reference books, board books, bath books, pop-up books, how-to books, etc.), picture books (wordless or otherwise), graphic novels or comic books expressly labeled for children. The awards do not cover textbooks and activity works/workbooks.

2. Eligible Book

A book is eligible to be nominated and considered for the NCBA if it is:

a. Published in the Philippines by an NBDB-registered publisher;

b. Published within 2024 and 2025, two (2) years preceding the year of selection; and,

c. Written in Filipino or English.

3. Ineligible Book

A book is ineligible to be nominated and considered for the NCBA if it is:

a. Authored by any member of the Board of Judges (BOJ) in the current NCBA cycle; and,

b. Authored by a National Artist.

4. Nomination

Anybody may nominate a book for the NCBA, as long as the publisher, author, or illustrator is registered with the NBDB. The nomination form duly accomplished and signed by the nominating party shall serve as the official letter of nomination and shall be submitted to the address below together with the books, at one form per nominated title. Seven (7) copies of the nominated title for consideration must be submitted.

Those who wish to nominate titles for the Kids Choice Awards must submit three (3) additional copies of their book. Books for the Kids Choice Awards must be packaged and labeled separately from the regular NCBA entries.

All submissions must be addressed to:

NATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS
The National Library of the Philippines
1000 Kalaw Ave, Ermita, Manila, 1000
Metro Manila

Deadline of submission of nominations is May 5, 2026.

5. Board of Judges (BOJ)

The BOJ will be composed of five (5) members jointly chosen by the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) and the Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP). Both parties shall ensure that no BOJ member will be selected who is part of the PBBY Board or an interested party of a nominated book, such as the book’s publisher or any of its employees, the author and illustrator, or any similar person of interest. The members of the BOJ should not be restricted from judging again for future awards.

6. Voting Process

Each member of the BOJ is entitled to one (1) vote. A vote must be explained, preferably in writing, but may be done so verbally during the voting process, taking into consideration factors that determine the quality of the nominated book. A book to be selected for the NCBA must get a majority vote from the BOJ to be selected as an awardee.

7. Selection of Awardees

The BOJ shall select a maximum of ten (10) titles from all the nominees to be proclaimed as the recommended reading titles. The BOJ, on the other hand, is not obliged to select any minimum number of recommended titles, should it not find any nominee deserving of recommendation. A copy of the official list of the awardees shall be furnished to the non-partisan members of the PBBY.

8. Special Awards

The PBBY shall give special awards such as the Kids’ Choice Awards.

9. Announcement of Winners

The winners for the 9th National Children’s Book Awards will be announced during the celebration of the Manila International Book Fair in September 2026.

10. Others:

a. Requests for special consideration are strongly discouraged but if any party insists on making such a request, these must be made in writing with both hard and digital copies to the PBBY and RAP.

b. SMS messages, informal email, direct voice calls to individual members of the PBBY, RAP and/or the BOJ are strictly discouraged and could be grounds for the rejection or disqualification of entries.

c. Reasons such as the failure to comprehend the posted rules or any written communication from the NCBA, a special relationship with members of the PBBY, RAP or the BOJ, failure to learn about the details of the NCBA are not considered sufficient reasons for special consideration.

d. Any adjustments or changes in the rules are to be made in the interests of the public at large and not for ad hoc or case-to-case requests.

e. Failure to comply with all the requirements on or before the deadline shall render the nominated title ineligible.

f. Books that are only in the big book format of previously published books will not be considered new books.

g. Books that were re-illustrated will be considered new books.

h. Reprint of an earlier edition shall be ineligible.

i. Translated books shall be eligible as long as all other requirements in these guidelines are present.

Illustrations by Sergio Bumatay III from Bum Tiyaya Bum (Tahanan Books, 2023), 8th NCBA Best Reads.