Which award did J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel win as the 1997 Children’s Book of the Year?

J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel won the 1997 British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone quickly gained recognition in Britain after its publication by Bloomsbury. The British Book Awards honour achievements in the United Kingdom’s book industry, and the novel’s children’s prize marked an important early sign of its broad appeal.

The book also won other awards, including the Smarties Book Prize in the 9–11 years category. These honours helped establish Rowling as a major children’s author before the later books became global publishing events.

The award is sometimes confused with the Carnegie Medal, another prominent British children’s literature prize. The Philosopher’s Stone did not win that medal. Its first British Book Award recognition belongs to the 1997 children’s category.