Jamie Smart’s latest Bunny vs Monkey collection, Intergalactic Monkey Business!, was the inaugural winner of the new Graphic Novel (Book of the Year) category at the 2026 British Book Awards. Smart used his speech to highlight the often overlooked value of the British comics industry and its hardworking independent creators and small publishers. Meanwhile Dog Man author Dav Pilkey received the Illustrator of the Year Award.
Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business! – published in the UK by Phoenix Comic Books, an imprint of David Fickling Books – was picked as the winner in a curious list mixing kids and adult material. Other shortlisters included UK-editions of John Patrick Green, Steve Behling, and Chris Fenoglio‘s InvestiGators: Case Files (Macmillan Children’s Books); Dav Pilkey‘s Dog Man: Big Jim Believes (Scholastic UK); and Craig Thompson‘s Ginseng Roots (Faber); as well as home team titles by British creators’ Paul Cornell & Rachael Smith‘s Who Killed Nessie? (Avery Hill Publishing); Sophie Rickard and Scarlett Rickard‘s adaptation of Ethel Carnie Holdsworth‘s 1925 novel This Slavery (SelfMadeHero); and – of course – Jamie Smart’s Bunny vs Monkey.
Bunny vs Monkey is one of the UK’s highest selling kids books, only beaten by Dog Man in the sales charts. The anarchic comic about the misadventures of animals in the woods has been a regular strip in The Phoenix weekly anthology comic since 2012 and released in book form by David Fickling Books since 2014. Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business! is the 11th volume of the series. Union Square Kids carries the license for the US edition.
The Graphic Novel (Book of the Year) Award was the first on the bill, launching what would turn out to be a three-hour ceremony. A slightly frazzled Jamie Smart rushed to the stage to issue his thanks, saying:
“Thank you to everyone at David Fickling Books and The Phoenix Comic – so many people there, I hope you all know who you are – for letting me do this nonsense and for being so passionate about comics. Thank you Sammy [Borras] for your brilliant inks and colours on Bunny vs Monkey, thank you to my amazing agent Jodie Hodges at United Agents, to The Bookseller, to all the booksellers and the librarians encouraging children to read comics.”
He then delivered an impassioned address to highlight the level of creativity that has always existed in the UK comics industry, broadly snubbed by traditional publishers and establishment gatekeepers until recent years. It may also have been inspired by the Comics Cultural Impact Collective’s recent report on the state of the industry for creators in the UK.
“This country has long had a vibrant, thriving comics scene just bubbling under the mainstream. All the independent publishers, the small press comics, the self-published, the Kickstarted, the zines, the conventions. We have a wealth of incredible, talented comic creators in the UK.
“If comics are becoming more recognised then we need to see the UK comic scene as a whole and support all of it. With that in mind, I would really like to dedicate this, the British Book Awards’ first ever Graphic Novel award, to every other shortlisted creator in the category and every comic creator working hard to keep this industry going. Everyone in UK comics is doing incredible work and here’s to it all being celebrated. Thank you very much.”
Comics also got a showing, once more, in the Illustrator of the Year category – previous winners including Jamie Smart and Alice Oseman – with Dav Pilkey getting the 2026 trophy.
Kids author Liz Pichon (Tom Gates series) was on stage to announce Pilkey. She said:
“This year’s winner has been delighting children and adults alike for nearly four decades. Their books are hilarious action packed adventures with amazing unforgettable characters. Our winner inspires children with their creativity and positive messages about friendship and doing good. They’ve proudly shown how ADHD and dyslexia can be superpowers, making books that are perfect for reading for pleasure. With characters such as Captain Underpants and Dog Man, his graphic novels are loved all around the world – and in under ten years more than 70 million copies of Dog Man are in print, which is absolutely incredible. I am delighted to announce that this year’s Illustrator of the Year is the brilliant, really lovely person: Dav Pilkey.”
“Thank you to the British Book Awards, thank you to Gil Hess and the Writer’s House [literary agency]. I just wanted to say that – about 50 years ago, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and with what they now call ADHD. Reading was such a challenge for me. It was so hard that I actually grew up hating books. I hated to read. Fortunately I had a mom who felt like the best way to fight hate was with love. She took me to the library every week and encouraged me to pick out books that I loved. That changed everything for me. I grew up to be a lifelong reader and I am so honoured to share this award with my publisher, Scholastic. You have inspired me with your hard work and your dedication. Everything that you do to help make books feel like candy for kids, I am so honoured to share this award with you and to work with you, side by side. Thank you Scholastic. Thank you everyone.”
The British Book Awards are a calendar industry event in the UK. Besides selecting Books of the Year in multiple categories, it also recognises the work of publishers, booksellers, marketers and more. Founded in 1990, it is today operated and organised by UK trade publication The Bookseller.
Although 2026 is the year when comics (or ‘Graphic Novels’) were finally recognised in their own category, they had already been breaking in through the backdoor via Children’s Illustrated Book of the Year – with Bunny vs Monkey, Dog Man, and Heartstopper making regular appearances in the shortlist, and winning. Their success – and growing sales clout on the British book market (kids graphic novels are seeing double digit sales growth year-on-year in the UK) seems to have finally paid off.
BRITISH BOOK AWARDS: GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR, 2026
- WINNER: Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business!, by Jamie Smart (Phoenix Comic Books)
- Dog Man: Big Jim Believes, by Dav Pilkey (Scholastic UK)
- Ginseng Roots, by Craig Thompson(Faber)
- InvestiGators: Case Files, by John Patrick Green with Steve Behling and Chris Fenoglio (Macmillan Children’s Books)
- This Slavery, based on the novel by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, adapted by Sophie Rickard and Scarlett Rickard (SelfMadeHero)
- Who Killed Nessie?, by Paul Cornell & Rachael Smith (Avery Hill Publishing)
