Children's Laureate

Children's Laureate, now known as the Waterstones Children's Laureate, is a position awarded in the United Kingdom once every two years to a "writer or illustrator of children's books to celebrate outstanding achievement in their field". The role promotes the importance of children's literature, reading, creativity and storytelling while promoting the right of every child to enjoy a lifetime of books and stories. Each Laureate uses their tenure to focus on an aspect of children's books – these have included poetry, storytelling, readers with disabilities and illustration. The aim of the Waterstones Children's Laureateship is to celebrate and promote creativity and storytelling, and to inspire all children to read a rich and diverse range of stories.

From the Wikipedia article “Children's Laureate”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Check the official rules of the Children's Laureate for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.